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.
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.
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.
The Reagan-Udall Foundation for FDA has published a report based on months of stakeholder dialogues, titled, the Roadmap to Produce Safety, which provides recommendations for a private sector-led collaborative to improve U.S. produce safety.
A peer-reviewed study led by CU Boulder researchers demonstrates that erythritol, a popular non-nutritive sugar alcohol that is commonly used as a zero-calorie sweetener in “sugar-free” snacks and beverages, may increase stroke risk by may constricting the brain’s blood vessels and lowering the body’s ability to dissolve blood clots.
The new CompreHensive European Food Safety (CHEFS) database unifies nearly 400 million chemical contaminant analytical results from two decades of EU food safety monitoring activities, enabling the analysis of this previously disparate data. Using their new database, researchers identified food safety trends across Europe between 2000 and 2024.
A study of Salmonella isolated from retail poultry meat has demonstrated a concerning presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes with the ability to transfer between bacteria.
Using a newly developed quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model, researchers have identified interventions along the U.S. romaine lettuce supply chain that would most effectively reduce E. coli contamination. The QMRA is publicly available for use.
The Ensuring Safe and Toxic-Free Foods Act of 2025 would set stricter requirements for manufactures to decide a food ingredient is “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS). It also sets an annual quota of GRAS notices for FDA to review, and lays the groundwork for a systematic chemical reassessment process.
