Researchers at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are researching a sunlight-based method for controlling microbial contaminants—specifically, Salmonella and Escherichia coli—in irrigation water used for food crops. After enough research is conducted, the UGA team hopes to create an app that will help growers enhance food safety.

A pervasive trend exists to take larger and more frequent samples to address microbial contamination. This trend has touched almonds and is expected to hit other nut products, which can be considered for aggregated sampling as a solution.

As the intended enforcement discretion period for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Agricultural Water Proposed Rule will come to an end on January 26, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a fact sheet to help prepare growers.

Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) premarket approval of a cultured chicken meat product from UPSIDE Foods (also known as “cell-based” or “lab-grown” meat), U.S. and Chinese food safety regulatory officials conferred in an online event on the global adoption of cultivated meat and other innovative foods.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA’s AMS) has found the majority of fruits and vegetables in the U.S. to contain pesticide residues below the tolerances established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the agency’s Pesticide Data Program (PDP) summary for 2021.

Tracking environmental temperature changes for their impacts on food safety is increasingly important, as just a few degrees of change will shape how food risks develop and unfold, according to recent research.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has announced that January 1, 2026 will be the uniform compliance date for new meat and poultry product labeling regulations published January 1, 2023–December 31, 2024.

The European Commission has established maximum levels for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in certain foods.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently highlighted various fellowship projects across Europe, providing insight into the recent and ongoing work of EFSA in the realm of food safety risk assessment for various chemical and microbiological hazards. 

To help growers mitigate food safety risks posed by wild birds, an ongoing study funded by the Center for Produce Safety is examining the prevalence of different species in agriculture and whether they carry and transmit foodborne pathogens.