Bailee Henderson

Following a report that revealed food safety regulatory challenges throughout the UK post-Brexit, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is proposing amendments to the Food Law Code of Practice.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently published two reports—one on control measures for Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in meat and dairy products, and another reviewing Listeria monocytogenes attribution, characterization, and monitoring in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods.

At the Global Conference on Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) stressed the need for a “One Health” approach to addressing AMR in food, introduced the AMR Codex Texts project, and highlighted FAO and Codex Alimentarius resources for mitigating foodborne AMR. 

A recent study has estimated that removing products with a concentration of Listeria monocytogenes higher than 1 CFU/g could greatly reduce food contamination and associated foodborne illness cases. The study also found ready-to-eat (RTE) foods to be of greatest concern.

Based on Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) data, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report states that the incidence of commonly foodborne enteric infections decreased in the U.S. during 2021.

A recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization raises a concern with the limited existing data on seaweed food safety, and recommends several actions to close knowledge gaps and increase the safety of seaweed consumption.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for a chance to withdraw the agency’s own decision to approve the fungicide difenoconazole for use on crops, agreeing with a lawsuit that states the agency needs to acquire more data on the fungicide’s toxicity.

A California U.S. District Court has upheld the authority of swine processing plant employees to pre-sort animals prior to slaughter as outlined in the Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection Rule under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s New Swine Inspection Service.

A recent study has demonstrated that seasonality and food type can influence the enteric toxicity and bacterial count of foodborne Staphylococcus aureus.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has estimated the annual economic burden of foodborne illness in Australia and has valuated other costs associated with business losses, regulatory activities, and outbreak investigations and surveillance.