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A survey of produce growers found that seven percent of respondents do not implement food safety risk reduction practices on their farms, reporting time and money to be the biggest challenges. Larger operations and farms subject to third-party audits were more likely to adopt risk reduction practices. 

FDA’s Human Foods Program has published a proposed agenda for guidance document work to be advanced in 2025, prioritizing opiate alkaloids on poppy seeds, the use of food coloring from natural sources, and new dietary ingredient (NDI) notifications, among other topics.

Local authorities have been managing high volumes of overdue inspections accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite some workforce growth, backlog issues persisted in 2024.

The new Texas law prohibits the sale of cell-cultured meat for human consumption and carries civil and criminal penalties for violation.

Announcement comes on the heels of Texas Governor Greg Abbott signing the “Make Texas Healthy Again” bill into law.

This article discusses focus points for risk-focused auditing and auditing with defined goals.

Similar to the Trump Administration’s MAHA agenda, Senate Bill 25 also has a strong focus on ultra-processed foods and food additives.

Advances in AI offer promising opportunities to strengthen food manufacturers' internal compliance efforts with FDA requirements. While FDA has issued written guidances on AI, primarily for drug and medical device companies, its direct application to food safety is still evolving. 

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Dr. Lane Highbarger, President of Highbarger Consulting LLC and former Regulatory Specialist and lead microbiologist in FDA's Office of Food Additive Safety, about his thoughts on the recent FDA workforce cuts instigated by the Trump Administration, and how these cuts may impact the agency's ability to ensure safe food for consumers.

FDA has released for public comment its proposed method for ranking chemicals in the food supply that will be prioritized in post-market safety assessments.