Caitlin Karolenko Ph.D.

The threats to food safety are evolving, and so must our approaches. The traditional boundaries between safety, nutrition, and public health are increasingly artificial—and increasingly counterproductive.

Many raw foods pose a higher risk of contamination compared to their cooked or processed counterparts. Consumers making choices in pursuit of health and wellness deserve full transparency about both the risks and benefits of these foods.

While recommendations to reduce sodium consumption align with promoting public health, they may also challenge current food safety uses of sodium in products on the market. The solutions are more complicated than just cutting back on sodium levels in foods like meats and cheeses.

Dry sanitation is a pivotal practice in the food processing industry, particularly for facilities that produce low-moisture or low-water-activity foods. This article explores some of the trending technologies and approaches being developed to ensure the microbial safety of low-moisture foods in dry food processing facilities. 

Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have positively affected the food safety landscape by raising awareness of best practices and helping to identify outbreaks, but at the same time, social media has also served as a vehicle for food safety misinformation.

There is national interest in protecting public health by reducing foodborne illness from Salmonella in poultry. The University of Maryland, in partnership with IAFNS and Structured Partnerships, have been collaborating with USDA-FSIS through a Cooperative Agreement to support data sharing with the aim of reducing Salmonella illnesses in humans.

The U.S. and Canada are melting pots of cultures, and one of the most evident expressions of this diversity can be found in the variety of ethnic foods available in markets. While the influx of these foods has brought new and exciting flavors to North American palates, it has also brought the risk of new microbial hazards.

Similar to the gut microbiome, foods have a diverse community of indigenous or native microbes that reside on a food product. These microbes are influenced by changes in temperature, salinity, pH, oxygen, and exposure to other organisms, resulting in shifts in the bacterial population proportions. These dynamics can be further influenced by adding new bacteria—or bacteria already present in greater proportions—to help influence and improve food safety and quality.