Food Safety Magazine Editorial Team

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Dr. John Spink and Dr. Roy Fenoff about an often misunderstood but urgent topic—food fraud, and specifically how to prevent it in complex supply chains. They also discuss their upcoming food fraud workshop and certificate course to be held the 2026 Food Safety Summit.

An ongoing Center for Produce Safety-funded study is investigating the factors contributing to the persistence of a reoccurring, emerging, and persisting (REP) Escherichia coli O157:H7 subtype associated with leafy greens foodborne illness outbreaks, with the goal of developing a risk assessment tool for growers.

Although elevated levels of some PFAS were found in the blood of people who ate more highly processed foods, people who ate minimally process foods showed elevated levels of other PFAS compounds—suggesting that dietary choices cannot protect people from “forever chemicals,” and that systemic solutions are needed.

A new Southern California-based study found that food safety may play a role in UTIs. Genomic analysis of Escherichia coli isolates from UTI patients and retail meats linked 18 percent of UTIs to E. coli strains of animal origin, suggesting foodborne transmission.

The new Food Law Codes of Practice include several changes that allow local authorities to make better use of their resources through a modernized, risk-based, flexible approach.

Following the formation of a food industry-backed lobbyist group with the goal of stopping state-level food additives restrictions, 84 consumer protection and public health organizations have signed a letter urging Congress to oppose such efforts.

ECDC has provided an update on a multi-year, multi-national outbreak of Salmonella Strathcona linked to tomatoes from Sicily, Italy, which has grown to 437 confirmed cases in 17 European countries, plus the UK, the U.S., and Canada.

Although this severe Escherichia coli strain is already prevalent in countries with less robust food safety and sanitation systems, as climate change becomes more extreme and cuts are made to food safety monitoring and infrastructures, it is becoming a growing threat to developed countries as well, researchers warn.

The Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Food Safety Laboratory has developed the Salmonella Serovar Wiki—a web resource for global food safety professionals to rapidly access information about a given Salmonella serovar.

The French National Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has proposed an expanded monitoring scheme for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) based on a first-of-its-kind inventory of PFAS contamination and toxicity, comprising more than 247 “forever chemicals.”