As of today, the USDA considers Salmonella an adulterant in raw, breaded, stuffed chicken products, making it illegal to sell them if they are contaminated with the pathogen. The decision has been almost two years in the making. In August 2022 the deputy undersecretary for food safety for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said the move would be a first step in cleaning up America’s chicken. “It is an important step because for the first time we have declared Salmonella to be an adulterant,” FSIS deputy undersecretary Sandra Eskin told Food Safety News in 2022. “But we are no ..read more

Twenty people have fallen sick, and five have died in a Listeria outbreak linked to fish that has been ongoing since 2019. Most cases have been recorded in Denmark, but there are two in Italy and one in Germany. Sliced smoked salmon products are the likely source of infection. The latest illness was reported in March 2024 in Denmark. The German patient fell sick in 2022, and the Italian patient in 2023. Of the 20 cases, 13 are female and seven male, with ages ranging from 20 to 90. Five people have died, but for the German patient, the cause of death was not Listeria monocytogenes infection. L ..read more

There is a need to get the basics right and make more time for training, according to findings from an annual survey about food safety. The eighth global food safety training survey involved Campden BRI, Intertek Alchemy, BRCGS, BSI, Intertek, SGS, SQF, and TSI. Responses were received from more than 3,000 sites globally, covering a range of sectors and company sizes. Almost three-quarters of participating businesses were in food and beverage manufacturing. Others were from associated industries, such as agriculture, packaging, distribution, retail, and food service. Campden BRI said many firm ..read more

ConSup North America Inc. of Lincoln Park, NJ is recalling approximately 85,984 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) sliced prosciutto ham product produced in Germany without the benefit of equivalent inspection, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The problem was discovered when Germany’s Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety notified FSIS that H. Klümper GmbH & Co. KG, a German establishment, produced a portion of the identified lots without the benefit of equivalent inspection and exported them to the U.S. for distribution ..read more

Federal officials are continuing to investigate an outbreak of E.coli infections, but a source of the pathogen has not yet been found. The Food and Drug Administration first announced the outbreak on April 17 when there were nine patients. The patient count has grown to 12. The agency has not yet reported where the patients live. The FDA has begun traceback efforts in the E. coli outbreak but has not reported what food or foods are being traced. The only other active outbreak investigation under FDA jurisdiction is related to organic, fresh basil. The Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak has sicken ..read more

The USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) petition on behalf of Perdue Farms LLC filed March 16, 2023, has gained many comments. The petition requests that FSIS conduct rule-making to define separate “free range” and “pasture-raised” claims for meat and poultry products. The petition also requests that FSIS update its guidance on allegations related to living/raising conditions to ensure that the claims align with consumer expectations. During the past year, Perdue’s petition, however, received almost entirely favorable comments from the Cornucopia Institute, Joe’s Farm, the Americ ..read more

Higher fridge temperatures in the homes of older people could be putting them at greater risk of Listeria infection, according to a study. Researchers looked at the temperatures of domestic refrigerators in the Netherlands and the impact on listeriosis cases related to ready-to-eat (RTE) cooked meat products. A survey among 1,020 Dutch consumers assessed their knowledge and behavior regarding refrigerators. The mean temperature of 534 domestic refrigerators on the bottom shelf was 5.7 degrees C (42.2 degrees F). The 24-hour profiles of an additional 50 refrigerators showed temperatur ..read more

Authorities in Iceland have issued a warning after six people were diagnosed with Listeria infections. The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) wanted to increase awareness of the disease among at-risk groups and of preventive measures that food companies can take. Risk groups are people with a weakened immune system, those on immunosuppressive drugs or undergoing cancer treatment, pregnant women, young children, and the elderly. The source of the foodborne infection has not yet been identified. Officials did not say if cases were sporadic or part of an outbreak. In recent years, two ..read more

The Illinois Senate has passed SB2637 over to the House. It would ban certain food additives. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act would, if enacted by the House, ban foods containing entities from manufacturing, selling, delivering, distributing, holding, or offering for sale a food product for human consumption that contains brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, or red dye 3. It passed with just one Senate floor amendment:  It was: “Provides that, beginning January 1, 2027, a person or entity shall not manufacture (rather than manufacture, sell, deliver, distribute, ho ..read more

Data showing the scale of pesticide residues on food have been published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). 110,829 food samples were collected in the European Union in 2022. Results show that 96.3 percent were within legally permitted levels. Of these, 65,374 samples did not contain quantifiable residues, while 37.3 percent had residues not above the limits. Overall, 4,148 exceeded the maximum residue level (MRL), of which 2,383 were non‐compliant after considering measurement uncertainty and triggering legal sanctions or enforcement actions. In 2021, 96.1 of the samples were withi ..read more