The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) have published a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) report on the safety and quality of water used in the production and processing of fish and fishery products.

Two reports by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) have advised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) on microbial testing of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and the safety of recycled water in food production, respectively.

A group of 116 scientists, who are experts on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have written a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) to express concerns about the draft “Background document for development of WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality” regarding Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA).

A panel of experts have advised against assuming that all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are equally toxic and potent, also providing other opinions on PFAS grouping and risk assessment.

The Caribbean Public Health Agency will conduct an assessment in participating Caribbean countries to assess the impacts of unsafe food in the region, as well as to understand the Caribbean’s capacity to respond to and develop climate change-resilient food safety plans.

Cyber is the backbone for food and agriculture defense. Adversaries have the means, opportunity, and motivation to break the cyber backbone at will. If or when adversaries carry out an attack of large magnitude, the result could be a massive compromise of food safety, food defenses, and food security. To avoid that dark scenario, agriculture and food companies must properly prepare for a different kind of assault. The place to start is with their own cyber defense systems.