The Brix level for Florida oranges has been steadily declining over the past few decades due to severe weather and citrus greening, making it challenging to meet the original Standard of Identity (SOI) for pasteurized orange juice, which was established in 1963.
Given the headlines coming out of 2025, it would be reasonable to expect a shift in recall patterns in the food industry. Yet, looking past the headlines and into the numbers, 2025 remained remarkably consistent with the past decade of recall trends, in terms of count and cause.
The outbreak cluster includes more than 1,600 people in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. Outside of the outbreak cluster, Michigan and other parts of the U.S. continue to experience elevated rates of Cyclospora infections compared to previous years.
Food-related priorities under the four pillars include post-market ingredient safety reviews, GRAS reform, food labeling modernization, and reducing dietary exposure to contaminants like toxic heavy metals.
Because dietary supplements are regulated by FDA as a subcategory of food, manufacturers are generally not required to demonstrate their safety or efficacy for pre-market approval. The American College of Physicians argues this allows adulterated and mislabeled products to enter the market.
The letter to industry was issued in response to the botulism outbreaks linked to Nara Organics and ByHeart formulas, which identified Clostridia in the whole milk powder ingredient supply chain, as well as the global formula recall due to cereulide-contaminated arachidonic acid oil.
The study represents the first publication of a large FDA dataset on ochratoxin A (OTA) occurrence in U.S. foods. OTA was detected above the limit of detection in 3.5 percent of all samples (which were targeted based on their susceptibility to contamination).
L. monocytogenes is the fourth-leading foodborne illness-related cause of death in the U.S. Despite continued efforts, listeriosis incidence rates have not declined, prompting FDA to launch a series of public engagements to discuss best practices for managing the pathogen.
After losing more than 4,000 employees since the Trump Administration took office, FDA is in the process of hiring and re-hiring thousands. The agency is also close to choosing its next Commissioner and has selected a new Director of Produce Safety in the Human Foods Program’s Office of Microbiological Food Safety.
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