International Standards/Harmonization

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In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to UK food law expert Chris McGarvey about the implications of dynamic UK/EU regulatory trends and how businesses can navigate changing legislation related to trade, food substances, novel foods and technologies, and allergen labeling.

A key cause of the outbreak was determined to be contaminated eggshells used in poultry feed. Cross-sector collaboration and data-sharing were instrumental in solving the investigation.

No U.S. Salmonella outbreaks linked to Mexican papayas have been identified since 2020 thanks to collaborative efforts between regulators and industry in both countries. The case study could serve as a framework for improving food safety in other commodities and global supply chains.

The changes affect registration and licensing rules for food business operators, including specific reforms for street vendor registration, that aim to simplify compliance and reduce regulatory burden. A new technology-enabled, risk-based inspection system has also been introduced.

The report groups new food production technologies like precision fermentation, controlled environment agriculture, and cell-culturing by their expected impact and feasibility to help regulators and industry target evidence generation, guidance development, and regulatory preparedness efforts.

The information gathered will be used to support FAO/WHO scientific advice intended to inform future Codex Alimentarius discussions on frozen food handling guidance.

Ready-to-eat (RTE) pâté en croute contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and produced by Drôme Ardèche Tradition has sickened 12 people across France, resulting in two deaths. All patients were hospitalized.

Proposed certification scheme updates, such as SQF Edition 10 and ISO 9001:2026, are shifting the focus from compliance to proactive, integrated food safety management. For quality assurance teams, this represents both a challenge and an opportunity: ensuring safe, compliant operations while influencing broader operational performance and workforce capability.

UK businesses will be required to align with relevant EU regulatory requirements within the scope of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, regardless of whether they export to the EU or sell only to the UK market.

TraceMap supports national authorities in identifying food safety threats and improving EU-wide coordinated response. A pilot version of TraceMap was recently used to support the investigation of globally distributed cereulide-contaminated infant formula.