The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness (Alliance) is offering a free food safety culture toolkit tailored for small and medium-sized food businesses. Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP) is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting those affected by foodborne illness and advocating for food safety.

The kit, which is a guide to help manufacturing workforces find the ‘why’ behind their company’s food safety measures, is the result of a collaboration between STOP and Fortune 500 food safety practitioners at Amazon, Costco, Kellogg and more.

“Every year, one in six Americans are sickened by a foodborne illness. This toolkit helps companies shift away from ‘have to be safe’ to ‘want to to safe’ in order to protect overall public health,” says Dr. Vanessa Coffman, director of the Alliance. “Sharing our Alliance members’ best practices help smaller companies build a path toward stronger food safety cultures.”

June 14, 2022

Food Protection and Defense Institute Announces New Director

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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Debra Freedman, Ph.D., is the new director of the Food Protection and Defense Institute (FPDI) at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Freedman is an experienced educator, curriculum scholar and researcher. She has worked at FPDI since 2014, collaborating with researchers and scholars, government officials (USDA, FDA, DHS), food industry professionals, public school teachers and Emergency Responders (e.g., Rapid Response Teams, Law Enforcement). Her focus is on development of food defense curricula, online learning programs, learning objects, workshops, certificate programs, professional courses and training guides.

“Over the past four years, FPDI transitioned from a Homeland Security Center of Excellence with a large research portfolio to a successful, self-sustaining center focused on workforce development and education in the food defense and intentional adulteration arenas. Deb has been with FPDI for eight years leading the education portfolio so it is a natural evolution for her to assume the director role,” said outgoing director Jennifer van de Ligt, Ph.D. “I would also like to thank everyone for such an enjoyable tenure as FPDI director. The communities of expertise worldwide that this role has offered have been extraordinary. I will carry the experiences into my future endeavors as I transition to a regulatory and scientific affairs role in the private sector.”

June 13, 2022

Yumei Foods USA Recalls Ineligible Siluriformes Products Imported from China

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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On June 13, The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reported that Yumei Foods USA is recalling approximately 9,370 pounds of imported Siluriformes products, which were imported from the People’s Republic of China, a country ineligible to export processed Siluriformes products to the United States.

The following products are subject to recall, regardless of the product date [View Labels]:

13.051 oz. (370g) plastic packages containing “FISH FILLET WITH SPICY SOUP” Freeze Dried Technology Fish. No Preservative.
12.35 oz. (350g) plastic packages containing “FISH FILLET WITH PICKLED SOUP” Freeze Dried Technology Fish. No Preservative.

The products do not bear an establishment number nor a USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail and wholesale locations nationwide.

The problem was discovered during a routine FSIS surveillance activity of imported products. China is eligible to import raw Siluriformes products into the United States, but not processed or ready to eat Siluriformes products.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

FSIS is concerned that consumers may still be in possession of the product. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website.

June 7, 2022

USDA Targets Transparency and Competition To Promote Fair and Competitive Markets for Livestock and Poultry

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced three initiatives that are the first in a suite of major actions under the Biden Administration to create fairer marketplaces for poultry, livestock and hog producers. On May 26, USDA announced a proposed rule that will require poultry companies and live poultry dealers to provide key information contract producers need to make production contract decisions best suited to their businesses. This action is part of a set of significant policy changes USDA is undertaking to achieve the goals of the President’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.

Second, USDA is seeking input from stakeholders through a separate policymaking action to determine whether the current tournament-style system in poultry growing could be modernized to create a fairer marketplace that allows more producers to participate. And third, USDA released a Competition Report outlining its strategy for enhancing competition in the food and agricultural sectors. With this report, USDA is also announcing plans to complete a top-to-bottom review of programs for alignment with supporting competition and a new review of the most widely used animal-raising claims to help ensure those claims are adequately verified.

“The Packers and Stockyards Act is crucial for protecting farmers and ranchers from excessive concentration and unfair, deceptive practices in the poultry, hog, and cattle markets. But after 100 years, it needs to take modern market dynamics into account,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Increased transparency is the essential starting point for modernizing our rules, protecting producers, and countering the damaging effects of concentration.”

“Agricultural Competition: A Plan in Support of Fair and Competitive Markets,” sets out USDA’s strategies to increase competition through investing in new competitors to address major bottlenecks in the food and agricultural supply chains, in particular meat and poultry processing and domestic fertilizer capacity. It also highlights USDA’s efforts to reinvigorate competition and fair market regulation and oversight, including partnering with the Department of Justice to establish farmerfairness.gov, a joint complaints and tips web portal. The report also highlights USDA’s efforts to enhance value-added competitive opportunities for producers, including the already-announced top-to-bottom review of the “Product of USA” label for beef and a newly announced review of animal-raising claims, among many other strategies and efforts.

Under the proposed rule, poultry companies will be required to make certain disclosures to poultry growers with whom they contract to raise birds, to provide current and prospective growers with the accurate information they need to be make informed business decisions and avoid the risks of deception. Specifically, it would require poultry companies to provide a Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document that includes information on bird placements, stocking density, prior litigation with poultry growers, prior bankruptcy filings, and payments realized by other poultry growers in prior years broken out by quintiles to reflect a realistic range of outcomes for different growers. Small live poultry dealers, those harvesting less than 2 million live pounds of poultry weekly, would be exempt from the disclosure requirements of the proposed rule.

Additionally, the proposed rule will provide growers who are paid using a poultry grower ranking system with disclosures around the inputs they receive from the poultry company, at time of placement and at settlement. These placement disclosures will improve growers’ ability to monitor issues and to compete on a real-time basis using the inputs they receive. Settlement disclosures—which show the distribution of the inputs, the housing specification, and any feed disruptions for the growers in the tournament—will help growers understand the relative importance of inputs, housing investments, and skills/efforts in tournament outcomes. In doing so, it will prevent deception and help growers plan and improve their ability to compete and deliver positive outcomes.

The proposed rule is being published in the Federal Register and will be available for public comment. It is currently available for review on USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service website. Stakeholders and other interested parties have 60 days from the date it is published in the Federal Register to submit comments via the Regulations.gov web portal. All comments submitted will be considered as USDA develops a final rule.

The parallel release of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeks public input around additional steps USDA can take to ensure the fair operation of those poultry growing contracts. It seeks input on the fairness of the tournament system overall, as well as on additional ways to address concerns relating to specific practices. In the months ahead, USDA also intends to propose rules that provide greater clarity to strengthen enforcement of unfair and deceptive practices, unjust discrimination, and undue preferences and prejudices, as well as address requirements relating to harm to competition under section 202(a) and 202(b) of the P&S Act.

June 6, 2022

FDA To Reconsider Safety of BPA in Food Packaging

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to reconsider the safety of using bisphenol A (BPA) in polycarbonate plastics, metal can coatings and other materials that contact food. The FDA’s decision comes in response to a food additive petition filed by the Environmental Defense Fund and a coalition of physicians, scientists and public health and environmental organizations. The law requires that FDA make a final decision by October 31, 2022.

In a press release announcing the FDA’s acceptance of its petition, the EDF noted that since submitting the petition in January, a new study, published in Environment International has added to the existing evidence that BPA triggers children’s immune systems. The study of more than 3,000 mothers and their children linked BPA exposure in the womb to higher rates of asthma and wheezing in school-age girls.

The research supports last year’s unanimous findings by a panel of experts convened by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

“Based on studies not previously considered by FDA, the EFSA Expert Panel found that harmful effects from BPA exposure can occur at levels tens of thousands times lower than previously thought,” said Maricel Maffini, coauthor of the petition who holds a doctorate in biological sciences. “These studies show that extremely low exposures to BPA can lead to an overactive immune system likely producing out-of-control inflammation. This inflammation can then trigger wheezing and asthma-like effects.”

“Most Americans get 5,000 times more BPA in their daily diet than the EFSA expert panel says is safe,” said Tom Neltner, Environmental Defense Fund’s Senior Director, Safer Chemicals. “It is imperative that FDA take action to limit BPA contamination of food. And given the significant risks, industry should not wait for FDA to act. They need to find safer alternatives to BPA or drastically reduce the migration of the chemical into food to protect children from harm.”

The January petition and an April supplement were submitted by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund, Consumer Reports, Endocrine Society, Environmental Working Group (EWG), Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF), EDF consultant Dr. Maricel Maffini, and Dr. Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Toxicology Program. FDA will be requesting public comment on the petition soon.

June 6, 2022

Biros' Blog

Innovative Publishing Names Inga Hansen Managing Editor of Food Safety Tech

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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Inga Hansen is the new managing editor of Food Safety Tech. She has more than 20 years’ experience in business-to-business healthcare media. Inga previously served as executive editor of MedEsthetics magazine and associate editor of Dialysis & Transplantation.

“Inga will be a strong addition to our team and will be responsible for growing our delivery of original in-depth reporting on important industry issues, helping curate content for our virtual and live conferences, develop and expand our Advisory Board and expand our reach on social media,” says Rick Biros, president and publisher of Innovative Publishing.

“The safety and integrity of our food from farm to table is vital to our communities. Rick Biros and Food Safety Tech have been integral resources for the professionals who grow, produce, package, serve and regulate our food. I am excited to help continue Food Safety Tech’s mission in providing the knowledge, education and forums for collaboration that support their work,” said Hansen.

About Food Safety Tech: Food Safety Tech is a digital media community for food industry professionals interested in food safety and quality. We inform, educate and connect food manufacturers and processors, retail & food service, food laboratories, growers, suppliers and vendors, and regulatory agencies with original, in-depth features and reports, curated industry news and user-contributed content, and live and virtual events that offer knowledge, perspectives, strategies and resources to facilitate an environment that fosters safer food for consumers.

June 3, 2022

OIG To Audit FDA Over Infant Formula Response

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has announced an audit of the FDA over its actions regarding the Abbott infant formula recall. The audit, announced on June 2, will “determine whether FDA followed the inspections and recall process for infant formula in accordance with Federal requirements.”

The OIG is specifically examining the FDA’s actions leading up to the infant formula recall at the Abbott facility in February 2022 to determine whether FDA followed applicable policies and procedures related to conducting inspections of the manufacturing facility and overseeing Abbott’s initiation of the infant formula recall.

The FDA released a timeline of its infant formula-related activities, showing that inspectors first became aware of issues including standing water and inadequate handwashing during a routine inspection at Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Michigan, facility in September 2021—the same month that the FDA received the first consumer complaint report of Cronobacter illness in an infant from the Minnesota Department of Health.

One key area of frustration during Congressional hearings in May was the delay of action on a whistleblower report filed with the FDA Detroit District Office in October 2021. The complaint was not reviewed by FDA leadership until February 2002, “due to an isolated failure in FDA’s mailroom, likely due to COVID-19 staffing issues,” according to the FDA.

Additional inspections of the facility between January and March 2022 found “significant, fundamental sanitation, building and equipment issues.” Swabs taken during the inspections revealed six confirmed samples of Cronobacter. These findings led Abbott, on the recommendation of the FDA, to voluntarily cease production at the facility and recall potentially contaminated products. The contaminated formula has been linked to four hospitalizations and two deaths.

The OIG audit is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

June 2, 2022

Retail Food Safety Forum

FDA Update on Hepatitis A Outbreak Linked to Organic Strawberries

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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The FDA has released an update on its investigation into a multistate outbreak of hepatitis A infections in the U.S. linked to fresh organic strawberries. The potentially contaminated strawberries were imported from Baja California, Mexico, and branded as FreshKampo and HEB by a common supplier; they were purchased between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022.

Consumers, restaurants and retailers should not sell, serve or eat any fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo or HEB if purchased between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022. People who purchased the fresh strawberries and then froze those strawberries for later consumption should not eat them. They should be thrown away. Currently, the potentially contaminated product is past its shelf life. If you are unsure of what brand you purchased, when you purchased your strawberries or where you purchased them from prior to freezing them, the strawberries should be thrown away.

If consumers purchased fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo or HEB between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022, ate those berries in the last two weeks, and have not been vaccinated against hepatitis A, they should immediately consult with their healthcare professional to determine whether post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is needed. PEP is recommended for unvaccinated people who have been exposed to hepatitis A virus in the last two weeks because vaccination can prevent a hepatitis A infection if given within 14 days of exposure. Those with evidence of previous hepatitis A vaccination or previous hepatitis A infection do not require PEP.

The Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Inspection Agency are also investigating an outbreak of hepatitis A. The investigation in Canada involves two provinces: Alberta and Saskatchewan. Imported fresh organic strawberries have been identified as the likely source of that outbreak.

Currently, these fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo and HEB products are past shelf life and are not available for purchase in stores. These products may have been sold at the following retailers, including, but not limited to:

HEB
Kroger
Safeway
Sprouts Farmers Market
Trader Joe’s
Walmart
Weis Markets
WinCo Foods

If you are unsure of what brand you purchased, when you purchased your strawberries, or where you purchased them from prior to freezing them, the strawberries should be thrown away.

Contact your healthcare provider if you think you may have symptoms of a hepatitis A infection after eating these fresh organic strawberries, or if you believe that you have eaten these strawberries in the last two weeks.

May 31, 2022

FDA To Host Industry Webinar on Draft Guidance on Action Levels for Lead in Juice

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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The U.S. Food & Drug Administration will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, at 1:00 pm (ET) to discuss the recent draft guidance on lead action levels for juice. The draft guidance, titled “Action Levels for Lead in Juice; Draft Guidance for Industry,” issued in April provides action levels for lead in single-strength (ready to drink) apple juice and in other single-strength juices and juice blends.

These draft action levels support the agency’s broader effort to reduce exposure to arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury from foods, and advance the FDA’s goals in the Closer to Zero action plan.

During the webinar the FDA will provide an overview of the draft guidance and additional information, as well as answer stakeholder questions.

Featured speakers include Dr. Susan Mayne, director of the Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Dr. Conrad Choiniere, director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach, CFSAN, and Dr. Paul South, director of Division of Plant Products and Beverages, Office of Food Safety, CFSAN.

To register for the webinar, visit the registration page. The webinar will be recorded and posted to the FDA website.

May 31, 2022

Food Fraud Quick Bites

GFSI to Share Comments on New Codex Guidance on Food Fraud

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is participating with the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) to support the development of its new guidance on food fraud.
GFSI has been a longstanding partner of Codex and appears in the first draft guidelines of the Codex Guidance on Food Fraud as a key reference for its work on food fraud via its food fraud position.

GFSI notes that while there is some existing guidance that addresses fraudulent activities, there is a significant need for CCFICS, which deals with ‘horizontal’ issues, to develop definitions and update its guidance to better reflect current food fraud initiatives.

To support this work, Codex has created a dedicated working group, Chaired by the United States with co-chairs from China, the European Union, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Kingdom. GFSI acts as an official observer to Codex, providing input and recommendations on this work through its GFSI Codex Working Group. The group, which currently consists of representatives from Nestlé, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company and Danone, plays a key role in underpinning GFSI’s Benchmarking Requirements and reinforcing Codex’s mandate of valuing collaboration, inclusiveness, consensus building and transparency.

The group is also observing to help ensure this work does not reinvent the wheel, but identifies, collects and utilizes existing work from experts within the scientific and academic industries and regulatory community that have been working on this topic for the past decade.

In regard to the feedback provided on the Codex Guidance on Food Fraud, the GFSI Codex Working Group stressed:

The importance of including industry as a key partner in managing food fraud
The need for clarity around the roles of respective Codex committees in the prevention and detection of food fraud, specifically around analytical and testing guidance to prioritize the detection of food fraud (i.e. the role of CCMAS – Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling vs. the role of CCFICS in food fraud)
The importance of collaboration between all relevant stakeholders to manage food safety risks in the event of genuine food fraud incidents
The absolute need to include ‘feed for food producing animals’ in the scope of this work
The view that existing food safety processes and networks provide a good basis for managing communication of food fraud incidents and share good practices
To define numerous terms that are also being proposed, defined and considered with the development of agreed terms and conditions.

Codex is hoping to finish this work in 2024/2025. Between now and the last final draft, which is planned to be submitted for final approval to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, there will be multiple draft versions developed.

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