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Amid the ongoing global infant formula recall due to possible cereulide contamination, some countries have reported cases of mostly mild gastrointestinal illness in infants who had consumed infant formula, but confirming cereulide exposure is a challenge.

This episode of Food Safety Five discusses updated USDA-FSIS guidance on Listeria testing in RTE facilities, the latest on the Boar’s Head facility behind the fatal outbreak of 2024, and a real-world Listeria “Seek and Destroy” success story.

Affected products were sold under various brand names at numerous retailers. The products shared a single supplier of contaminated pasta, Nate’s Fine Foods Inc.

Citing reports of contamination and a lack of federal oversight, California Senator Steve Padilla introduced SB 1033, which would require manufacturers of protein products to test their products for heavy metals and publicly disclose their findings.

Following the ByHeart botulism outbreak, FDA intends to begin testing infant formula products and ingredients for Clostridium botulinum to help determine whether contamination by the pathogen is a “foreseeable hazard that companies could test for.”

Responding to the global infant formula recall affecting products from Nestlé, Danone, and other producers, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has determined concentrations of cereulide in formula that pose a safety concern to guide risk management decisions that protect public health.

Nestlé says that cereulide, the contaminant behind the recall, does not cause meningitis, the illness for which the infant was hospitalized. UK authorities say no cases of illness associated with Nestlé formula have been clinically confirmed.

When experts from human food, animal food, academia, and government sit at the same table, the common ground is often larger than expected.

USDA-FSIS has reissued its guidance on testing for Listeria species other than Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) food production facilities to reflect expansions made to the agency’s testing method and enforcement actions.

An expert panel that was convened to support FDA’s “Operation Stork Speed” emphasizes the need for streamlined FDA approval processes for infant formulas, more transparent ingredient approval processes (i.e., GRAS, food additive petitions), and enforceable limits for environmental contaminants.