Food Safety Magazine Editorial Team

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has updated its guidance for calculating retained water in meat and poultry products. Establishments will have until September 30, 2024 to submit revised retained water protocols and until April 1, 2025, to make any necessary label changes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its new Integrated Food Safety System Regulatory and Laboratory Training System (IFSS RLTS) Strategic Plan 2024–2028, and will hold a stakeholder call on April 2, 2024.

Addressing the recent wave of state-level food additives bans and bills, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) has released resources to help inform the public about the benefits of food additives and preservatives, as well as to keep industry abreast of current regulations.

Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a way to significantly reduce mycotoxin contamination of grains—plasma treatment.

Designated by the European Commission, Denmark and Sweden have formed a public health consortium to jointly establish an EU reference laboratory or antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which will contribute to diagnostics and infection preparedness.

Addressing concerns around brominated flame retardants in the environment and food, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is updating its decade-old risk assessments on different families of the chemicals. EFSA has launched a public consultation regarding the draft scientific opinion on the update of the risk assessment of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and its derivatives in food.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has opened a public consultation on the review of the Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA).

Regulated food and feed products require authorization before they can be sold in the UK. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has proposed reforms to its Regulated Products Service (RPS), for which the agency has launched a public consultation. 

FDA has partnered with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to expand the focus of the Global Business Identifier (GBI) Test, which is examining how identifiers—unique numbers that capture information about legal business entities and their functions—can be leveraged to address a range of supply chain traceability needs.

With funding from the Center for Produce Safety, a researcher from the University of Arizona is exploring the usefulness of a handheld genetic sequencing device for in-field microbial characterization of irrigation water by the produce industry.