Bailee Henderson

AB 2034 aims to tighten oversight of ingredients used in foods sold in the state that have entered the food supply without a formal FDA safety review through the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) process.

A presidential Executive Order invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950, asserting that glyphosate-based herbicides are critical to “national security.” MAHA supporters are pushing back on the order. 

Although generally detected at low levels, mycotoxins were present in all plant-based meat alternative and beverage samples, suggesting that cumulative exposure may pose health concerns.

Establishments operating under the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System (NSIS) would be allowed to determine their own line speeds, and New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) establishment line speeds would be raised.

This episode of Food Safety Five discusses updated USDA-FSIS guidance on Listeria testing in RTE facilities, the latest on the Boar’s Head facility behind the fatal outbreak of 2024, and a real-world Listeria “Seek and Destroy” success story.

In a recent 60 Minutes interview, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said FDA will address the “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) “loophole,” which allows ingredients into the food supply without FDA review, while saying he does not plan to regulate ultra-processed foods.

New data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) shows the most recent and complete picture of workforce attrition at federal agencies responsible for food safety and public health.

Like the Healthy Florida First initiative’s previous reports on toxic heavy metals in candy and infant formula, details that would help contextualize the findings have not been disclosed, such as the sampling and testing methodology or relevant safety thresholds

The first reports from the MAHA-aligned Healthy Florida First initiatives raised concern about toxic heavy metals in infant formula and candy, but toxicologists say a lack of transparency around the methodology and risk assessment makes the findings difficult for experts to interpret and raises questions about the relevance to consumer health.

Boar’s Head has reopened its Jarratt, Virginia production facility, which was closed after being implicated in a fatal listeriosis outbreak in 2024. The company says the plant, which had exhibited serious food safety and hygiene violations, has undergone renovations and enhancements.