Bailee Henderson

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has published its annual plan for fiscal year (FY) 2024, which acts as a guide for the agency’s efforts to prevent foodborne illnesses associated with FSIS-regulated products, transform inspections, and achieve operational excellence. 

A recent systematic review has raised concerns with the presence of unregulated harmful mycotoxins in foods, finding a total of 15 unregulated mycotoxins in 38 different combinations across 19 food categories worldwide.

A recent study has provided an overview of the levels and types of microbial contaminants present in 88 different plant-based ingredients used to make dairy alternatives, finding the microbial loads in different ingredients to be highly variable depending on difficult-to-control factors, as well as a high proportion of spore-forming microbes among the total microbial counts in many samples.

Whether or not a country’s food businesses have largely achieved certification against food safety standards is the second most important predictor of instances of foodborne illness, according to a recent study.

The California Food Safety Act—statewide legislation that bans the sale of foods containing red dye 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, and propylparaben—was signed into California law by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 7, 2023.

A recent study conducted by the Japanese National Institute of Health Sciences has filled data gaps about and provided support for the safety of titanium dioxide as a food additive.

A survey sent to stakeholders in the fresh produce sector found respondents’ top food safety priorities to differ between businesses of various sizes, as well as between industry community members and those serving in upper management, regulatory, or advisory roles. 

Microfiltration—an emerging processing technology that extends milk’s shelf life by using semipermeable membranes to keep out undesirable microbes—can introduce bacteria that are resistant to pasteurization into fluid milk if equipment is not cleaned properly, Cornell researchers recently found.

Spoilage bacteria Pseudomonas are able to survive thermal processing methods commonly used in meat production and can grow in refrigerated, vacuum-sealed packaging with little to no oxygen, according to a recent study.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbial Risk Assessment (JEMRA) report on commodity specific prevention and control measures for microbial hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables.