This episode of Food Safety Five discusses a new study that leverages a novel quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model that suggests that half of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses linked to romaine lettuce are caused by contamination via untreated overhead irrigation water.
England saw a 26 percent rise in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections from 2023 to 2024, and non-O157 STEC cases tripled since 2019. These trends may be driven by one foodborne illness outbreak involving contaminated salad leaves.
A laboratory study and large-scale commercial wheat mill trial demonstrated that a bacteriophage cocktail can significantly reduce Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 contamination throughout milling operations without affecting the baking qualities of flour.
Beginning September 1, the “Failure to Prevent Food Fraud” corporate offence under the UK Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act will make it so that large businesses can be held criminally accountable for acts of food fraud committed by an individual within the organization.
On July 29, the Senate confirmed Trump Nominee Susan Monarez, Ph.D. as the new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She is an immunologist and microbiologist, and the agency’s first non-physician Director in more than 70 years.
According to the 2025 International Food Information Council (IFIC) Food and Health Survey, consumer confidence in U.S. food safety has hit an all-time low in the 13 years since the survey began gauging the metric. Foodborne bacteria are the number one ranked concern in 2025, and attention to food additives and ingredients is rising.
Western Growers and FDA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve fresh produce safety and prevent foodborne illnesses through a new data-sharing framework. The MOU is aligned with the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s recently published Roadmap to Produce Safety report.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have put out a call for data on the presence of acrylamide in food to better understand the health risks of dietary exposure and support policymaking decisions.
In support of the development of a systematic post-market review process for chemicals in the U.S. food supply, FDA has published a new Expanded Decision Tree (EDT) chemical toxicity and risk screening tool, which will help prioritize chemicals for safety evaluation based on their structure and estimated toxicity.
Trump Administration appointee Trey Forsyth has been named Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at USDA, a role in which he will oversee USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS). He has expertise in agricultural policy, trade, and sustainability.
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