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Following a 2022–2023 hepatitis A outbreak linked to contaminated frozen berries, New Zealand has issued new import rules for frozen berries to better ensure food safety.

The Consumer Goods Forum’s Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) has opened a new stakeholder consultation for IFS Food Standard, Version 8.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published its 2022 report on pesticide residues in food in the EU.

The fifth annual meeting of the International Head of Food Agencies Forum (IHFAF) convened in Singapore from April 16–20, 2024, bringing together food safety officials from 18 countries and representatives from international food safety and public health organizations.

In a letter addressed to key U.S. congressional leaders, the Safe Food Coalition (SFC) expressed its opposition to the DIRECT Act, the PRIME Act, and the New Markets Act, which would lift prohibitions on the interstate sale of meat and poultry from state inspected facilities and allow commercial sales from uninspected “custom” slaughter facilities.

The Alliance for a Stronger FDA has published its “ask” for Fiscal Year 2025 funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is $214 million more than the Presidential budget request submitted by FDA for FY 2025.

On April 18, 2024, Illinois Senate Bill 2637, also known as the Illinois Food Safety Act, passed the state Senate and was progressed to the House.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated two types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)—as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA Act, also known as the Superfund Act).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published testing results for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in foods collected as part of its Total Diet Study (TDS), and has provided an update on the agency’s activities to better understand and address PFAS in the U.S. food supply, including an updated analytical method to measure the chemicals. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is partnering with the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) and the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) to present upcoming Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards Self-Assessment and Verification Audit (SAVA) Workshops at industry events taking place during summer 2024.