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The Expanded Food Safety Investigation Act (EFSIA) was recently reintroduced to U.S. Congress. If passed, the bill would allow U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigators to enter concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and conduct microbial sampling to trace foodborne illness outbreaks.

California Assembly Bill 418, also called the California Food Safety Act, which aims to prohibit four food additives from being used or sold in the state due to associated health risks, recently passed the state Senate and is waiting to be signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.

To inform the European Commission’s decision on whether to establish maximum levels for mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) in certain foods, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently published an update of its risk assessment on dietary exposure to the chemicals.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we are joined by Darin Detwiler, LP.D., M.A.Ed., who is a food safety academic, advisor, advocate, and author with a 30-year history of working to control foodborne illness. Dr. Detwiler discusses the U.S. food safety system as portrayed in the 2023 Netflix documentary Poisoned, in which he is prominently featured. Additionally, Bob Ferguson discusses his latest Food Safety Insights column on food processors’ post-pandemic priorities and challenges.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently published translations of factsheets on the Food Traceability Final Rule for retail food establishments and restaurants in Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) recently launched the agency’s first application programming interface (API) on its website, giving software developers access to data on recalls and food safety alerts, and allowing them to integrate that information into apps and other digital services.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is calling for comment on an application to allow the sale and use of food made from a new type of corn that was genetically modified to have herbicide tolerance and protective qualities from insect pests.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $2.48 million in grants to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) for research that aims to improve food safety and animal health in swine production.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Nutrition and Food Innovation Unit is launching a project to develop a structured database containing key information from EFSA’s novel food opinions to support risk assessment activities.

On September 1, 2023, two Texas state bills went into effect for foodservice establishments: SB 577 relates to how health inspections are conducted and regulations are enforced, and SB 812 covers food allergen awareness.