Food safety News

FDA works with food industry to standardize food labeling By Karen Graham If you’re like most consumers, you check the “sell by” or “use by” label before you buy food products. But, is it OK to eat an item after the date stamped on the label? The FDA wants to change those confusing labels to reduce food waste.

Salmonella outbreak hits Washington and five provinces in Canada By Karen Graham Public health officials in Canada are investigating an outbreak of Salmonella infections involving five provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec related to consuming cucumbers, as is Washington state across the border.

Walmart, 7-Eleven, Whole Foods And Trader Joe’s salads recalled By Karen Graham The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced that ready-to-eat salads made by small suppliers across the country are being recalled because they might be contaminated with listeria and salmonella.

Edible marijuana products are still illegal in Canada By Karen Graham Businesses big and small across Canada are cooking up pot-laced goodies - even though edible products made with marijuana will not be legal until sometime in 2019.

Canadian researchers develop strip to show if food is spoiled By Karen Graham A strip of plastic film may one day make "best before" dates irrelevant. Thanks to research being conducted at Canada's McMaster University, the food packaging itself may soon definitively tell you if the food is safe to eat.

This grocery chain hopes to improve food safety using blockchain By Karen Graham Carrefour SA, the big France-based hyper grocery chain wants its customers to know if that chicken they purchased led a good life, and was treated humanely. To that end, your purchase will come with its very own story, thanks to blockchain.

Food sabotage possible in recall of chicken products By Karen Graham Cold Spring, Minnesota-based GNP Company recalled approximately 55,608 pounds of chicken products late Saturday afternoon that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service.

Op-Ed: Food safety in America — FDA turns inspections into a joke By Karen Graham The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has come under fire from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for its inefficient and ineffective food recall procedures. It was also learned that CRF Foods has been in violation of food safety rules for years.

Op-Ed: Are those 'raw cookie dough' recipes on the Internet safe to eat? By Karen Graham In the wake of the huge General Mills flour recall last week, more information has come out in the news media, including the story of one young teenager who was hospitalized, fighting for her life after taking a bite of raw cookie dough a few days before.

FSIS — Most poultry plants will fail new inspection standards By Karen Graham Poultry slaughter facilities around the country have only a few weeks left to get their act together and show they have implemented the new FSIS Pathogen Reduction Standards. But the feds expect almost half to fail.

Health Canada proposal will allow sale of irradiated ground beef By Karen Graham Health Canada will propose changes to the Food and Drug Regulations next month that would allow the irradiation of packaged fresh and frozen ground beef for sale in Canada.

GMO salmon will be hard to find — Retailers refuse to sell them By Karen Graham Following Canada's approval of GMO salmon on May 20, Friends of the Earth U.S. along with a coalition of groups against GMO salmon released an updated list of more than 80 retailers refusing to sell the product.

Significant decline in food safety inspections By Tim Sandle London - In the U.K. the number of food safety inspections conducted at places where food is served to the public have declined by 15 percent, due to government cuts. Is this placing consumers at greater risk?

Op-Ed: What's so safe about all the glass in our food products? By Karen Graham It's bad enough that we have to worry about E. coli and Listeria germs in our food products. Now we have to worry about glass in our food. In the past few weeks, four recalls have been issued over pieces of glass in a variety of food products.

Lab-grown milk, eggs and meat could hit store shelves in 5 years By Claudio Buttice Meat, eggs and milk could be produced in lab without killing or harming animals thanks to microbe cultures. The future of food as we know it may be forever changed, allowing even vegetarians and vegans to eat hamburgers and milkshakes again.

Canada has two weeks left to comply with USDA regulations By Karen Graham Food safety issues are in the news and it has nothing to do with recalled products. This time, food exports from Canada to the U.S. are possibly at stake, but the CFIA says any food safety issues have been addressed.

Product recalls — Food Safety and Inspection by the FSIS (Part 2) By Karen Graham The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) is given the task of ensuring consumer's meat, poultry and egg products are safe, wholesome, properly labeled and packaged.

Chipotle briefly closing all restaurants to talk food safety By Megan Hamilton It's been a bumpy year for Chipotle after frustrating outbreaks of E. coli and norovirus, so the company has decided it's time to take a short break and have a meeting with employees to discuss this unpleasant situation.

Top five food-borne illness stories of 2015 By Karen Graham Food safety and protecting the public from pathogenic bacteria is the primary focus of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the FDA and the CDC. However, with all the regulations governing the safety of our food chain, there are harmful breakdowns.

Two dead in U.S. as preparation for hurricane Joaquin continues By Karen Graham Two people died today in the Carolinas from flooding brought on by heavy rains. And in the Bahamas, a very violent Joaquin continues to batter the islands with 130 mph winds, while the min. pressure of the storm has dropped further to 931 mb.

Warnings issued for U.S. food safety month By Tim Sandle Washington - September is National Food Safety month, although many of the issues raised are pertinent not only to the U.S. but also to most countries worldwide.

India takes action over Maggi noodles case By Tim Sandle Bombay - The Indian government is to sue Nestlé for $100 million over Maggi noodles. Maggi noodles were a popular snack in India before it was recently banned over food quality issues. The government claims that Nestlé have engaged in "unfair trade practices.”

Finding a needle in a hay stack just became easier By Karen Graham The detection of metal contaminates in our food supply is important to our health and safety, but existing methods of inspection are limited. However, researchers at Toyohashi University Of Technology may have solved that problem.

Using technology to go up against the Khapra beetle By Karen Graham Khapra beetles are a serious threat to food safety around the globe. They can destroy a significant portion of stored grains due to their "dirty eating" habits. They are difficult to control, and can survive anywhere, as long as it is warm.

Op-Ed: Ongoing budget cuts are putting food safety at risk By Karen Graham In 2010, Congress passed a sweeping food safety law that gave the FDA broader powers in preventing foodborne illness outbreaks. But with all the new powers allowed, Congress failed to give enough funding to the agency to carryout the new laws.

Summer food safety tips for a healthy Memorial Day weekend By Karen Graham Memorial Day is set aside to remember and honor the men and women who gave their lives to ensure America's freedom. It is also the unofficial start of summer, and many Americans will celebrate with cookouts, picnics and other food-related activities.

FDA insists that mechanically tenderized beef is marked-up By Tim Sandle The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has put in place measures where mechanically tenderized beef sold in the U.S. must be clearly labeled.

Most milk in India fails quality standards By Tim Sandle Mumbai - A report from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India indicates that over 68 percent of milk sold to consumers is substandard. In some cases milk has been adulterated with sugar, glucose powder and edible oil.

Budget cuts increasing risks to food safety in Canada By Karen Graham Edmonton - At a news conference on Tuesday in Edmonton, the national president of Canada's Agricultural Union said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) cutbacks in the number of inspections of processing plants is putting people at risk of foodborne illnesses.

New food safety protocols issued for reusable plastic containers Special By Karen Graham The Reusable Packaging Association has responded to a number of reports critical of the safety of plastic shipping containers used to transport fruit and vegetables to markets. On March 10, the RPA issued new science-based protocols.

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