According the the FDA’s website, Totally Cool, Inc. of Owings Mills, Maryland is recalling multiple brands of ice cream products, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Products were distributed nationwide, and available in retail locations and direct delivery. No illnesses have been reported to date.
The brands involved were Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery, Amafruits, Chipwich, Cumberland Farms, Dolcezza Gelato, Friendly’s, Hershey’s Ice Cream, Jeni’s, LaSalle, Marco, Taharka Brothers, the Frozen Farmer and Yelloh. More than 65 products were recalled, including ice cream cakes and sandwiches, as well as sorbets, according to a list published by the FDA that includes expiration dates.
Totally Cool, Inc. has ceased the production and distribution of the affected products due to FDA sampling which discovered the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. The company continues its investigation and is taking preventive actions. No other products produced by Totally Cool, Inc. are impacted by this recall.
There is only one week left to submit your comments to the docket on the New Era of Smarter Food Safety. FDA is seeking feedback on topics discussed during the public meeting as well as specific questions they have identified in the topics for consideration document on FDA’s meeting page. FDA encourages anyone interested in submitting comments to
the docket, to please do so by the June 24, 2024 deadline. Comments can be submitted at www.regulations.gov [2] to docket number FDA-2024-N-1744.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the White House announced the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics as part of President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to tackle climate change, feed people, address environmental justice, and promote a circular economy.
According to the USDA’s press release, the strategy released on June 12 provides tangible goals that the U.S. government partners along with retailers and consumers can work toward to help further prevent the loss and waste of food, increase recycling of food and other organic materials to support a more circular economy for all, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, save households and businesses money, and build cleaner, healthier communities.
“USDA is committed to reducing food loss and waste, facilitating many programs and activities to engage farmers, producers, communities and businesses in this collective effort,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This National Strategy charts a course to reduce our nation’s food loss and waste by 50% by 2030, and I am encouraged by the actions outlined for USDA and our federal partners. Everyone has a role to play in reducing food loss and waste, and I hope that these federal commitments will inspire and catalyze action in the private sector and communities around the U.S.”
“The FDA is committed to completing the actions outlined in the National Strategy that incentivize and encourage food loss and waste prevention and organics recycling,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “Along with the FDA, USDA and EPA efforts, U.S. consumers and retailers play an important role in meeting the National Strategy’s goal of reducing food loss and waste by 2030. As part of the release of this strategy, the FDA has made important resources available to guide, support, and accelerate their food loss and waste activities including the 2022 Food Code, Tips to Reduce Food Waste and the Food Loss and Waste Social Media Toolkit. We encourage all stakeholders to take advantage of these resources as we work together to reduce food loss and waste.”
The strategy drives progress toward the National Food Loss and Waste Reduction Goal to reduce the loss and waste of food by 50% by 2030.
The strategy highlights four objectives:
Objective 1: Prevent food loss.
Objective 2: Prevent food waste.
Objective 3: Increase the recycling rate for all organic waste.
Objective 4: Support policies that incentivize and encourage the prevention of food loss and waste and organics recycling.
For each objective, the strategy highlights actions that USDA, EPA, and FDA could take. Some of the priority USDA actions include:
* Investing $2.5 million from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to rigorously test and measure the effectiveness of different consumer messages to encourage households to reduce food waste, in preparation for a National Wasted Food Prevention Campaign.
* Funding a new NIFA $1.5 million Center for Research, Behavioral Economics, and Extension on Food Loss and Waste to create meaningful momentum on food loss and waste prevention among land-grant universities, their partners and external stakeholders.
* Funding research and development on new food loss and waste innovations, such as innovative new packaging technology and cultivars to extend the shelf life of food and prevent loss.
* The Risk Management Agency (RMA) is working with farmers, crop insurance agents, and gleaning organizations to encourage the reduction of on-farm food loss.
The strategy also highlights the importance of public-private partnerships in reducing food loss and waste. On June 1, the three agencies renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA), which is comprised of the Consumer Brands Association, FMI – The Food Industry Association, and the National Restaurant Association. This public-private partnership will explore actions to reach industry sectors, through efforts such as targeted industry resources, tools, and guidance.
Additionally, USDA and EPA have been actively growing the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions pledge, through which food business have publicly committed to reducing food loss and waste by 50% by 2030 in their U.S. operations. 2030 Champions include industry giants such as Starbucks, Hilton, and Kroger.
The National Strategy builds on USDA’s prior work to reduce food loss and waste, including over $60 million in investments and activities that USDA has undertaken to reduce food loss and waste, including those announced in May.
For more information about Food Loss and Waste Reduction activities visit:
* USDA: Food Loss and Waste
* FDA: Food Loss and Waste
Learn more about The Impacts of Food Loss and Waste (FLW) and Food Donation at the Food Safety Consortium Conference, October 20-22 in Washington DC. This session will discuss how unique solutions such as thorough data tracking and predictive analytics in addition to a focus on food safety ultimately provides bottom-line benefits and positive community health outcomes. Presenters:
Al Baroudi, MS, Ph.D. Vice President, QA & Food Safety, The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated
Glenda Lewis, MSPH, Supervisory Consumer Safety Officer Director, Retail Food Protection Staff, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Minimizing the risk of contamination is a must if you work in food manufacturing. Accidentally including allergens in your products can cause harm to consumers, undermine your brand image, and lead to hefty lawsuits.
Even major food industry brands like McDonald’s fall foul of food safety laws from time to time. Recently, a man with a dairy allergy was allegedly served cheese in his Big Mac1, resulting in anaphylactic shock. This caused a large lawsuit and could damage the global food giant’s reputation.
You can take steps to stay in line with regulations and best practices by training your staff and implementing proper procedures. This will reduce the risk of human error and help you produce food that is both tasty and safe for consumers.
Food Safety Modernization Act
Most people think of food contamination as a thing of the past. However, 1 in 6 Americans2 fell ill due to foodborne diseases last year. This led to 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. The FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) seeks to end this issue by bringing food manufacturing standards into the modern age. This means you may need to revise your approach to manufacturing to stay on the right side of changing guidelines. At its core, the FSMA includes:
Preventive Controls for Human Foods: Since 2015, food manufacturers have been required to produce a food safety plan. This plan should include key details like potential hazards and risk-mitigation strategies that are currently in place.
Third-Party Accreditation: Receiving a third-party authentication can keep you up to date with changing guidelines. Similarly, only working with suppliers who have been verified via third parties who work to ISO/IEC standards ensures that allergens don’t enter your facility from suppliers.
Preventing Intentional Adulteration: No employer wants to believe that their employees would intentionally harm consumers — but it does happen. The FSMA ruling against intentional adulteration means that you can seek support from the intelligence community if you suspect that a stakeholder is intentionally contaminating your supply.
These FSMA regulations aren’t exhaustive and should be seen as the bare minimum. You’ll still need to take proactive steps to improve communication on the food plant floor3 and should implement policies like proper labeling to keep contaminants and allergens separated.
Proper Labeling
If you’re producing food for public consumption, you must properly label your food. Failing to declare that allergens may enter a certain product will land you in legal trouble and will put consumers at risk. Rather than risking an allergic reaction, follow FDA labeling guidelines4 which include:
Clearly labeling the eight major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans).
Including the source name of foods (for example, the source name of whey is milk, meaning your label should include “whey (milk)”).
Provide advisory statements like “may contain [allergen]” and “produced in a facility that also uses [allergen].”
Conduct regular testing and monitoring of products and processes to ensure that allergens have not entered the batch.
Taking these steps minimizes the risk of labeling errors and protects consumers. This is particularly important if you want to produce a product that is specifically allergen-free (for example, gluten-free or dairy-free). Failing to declare ingredients properly puts consumers at risk and will land you in hot legal water.
Segregating Allergens
Managing potential allergens is crucial if you work in a food manufacturing plant that produces multiple products. Failing to properly segregate allergens undermines your labeling system and increases the risk of cross-contamination between workstations.
You can minimize the risk of allergens entering the system by using simulations to improve business processes5. Virtual simulations are capable of generating scenarios that you may not have thought of but are likely to occur. You can also use constructive simulations to visualize what might happen should an allergen make its way into the supply. This is particularly important when onboarding new employees who may not understand the risk that allergens present to the food production process.
You can also use emerging technology to improve production6 and reduce the risk of contamination. For example, as your firm grows, you may want to invest in AI and advanced robotics. Robotics can react quickly to changing demand and are less likely to inadvertently spread allergens throughout your supply. This is particularly important when carrying out repetitive tasks, like filling pre-packaged sandwiches or seasoning foods. Automated robots can take care of these mundane tasks, leaving human workers to focus on more creative tasks.
Some food manufacturers, like Walmart, are also using blockchain technology to trace and track contamination. This can improve your crisis management plan7 and bolster operational resilience. Your crisis management team leader can tap into tech to improve communications and simulate potential breaches. This will help you practice your crisis management plan and will ensure that you’re able to pinpoint errors to learn from in the future.
Sanitation Procedures
Regularly sanitizing your workspace is crucial if you want to produce clean, allergen-free goods. This applies to your people, too, who may inadvertently bring allergens in with them when they arrive at work or move between stations.
However, you can’t expect regular handwashing to be enough. Instead, embrace the digital revolution and use data8 to clean up your production line. This will improve reporting and ensure that compliance guidelines are followed at all times. For example, if you suspect that your employees are not washing their hands thoroughly enough, you can use digital products to track employee handwashing and time folks while they apply hot, soapy water.
Digital tracking can also alert you to potentially unclean workstations. For example, if you work in a bakery and typically produce most of your dough before dawn, a digital program can track the contaminants that have entered the workspace in order to produce your bread or baked goods. This will alert you to potential allergen risks and ensure that any workstation that has used an ingredient like gluten is properly sanitized in a timely fashion.
Staff Training
Properly training your employees is key to minimizing contamination risk and staying on the right side of regulatory compliance laws. A proper approach to training will empower employees and help them understand the potential risks involved with food manufacturing.
However, proper training doesn’t mean that you should force your workers to sit through hours of PowerPoint. Instead, train smarter, not harder9 by conducting training that is:
Legitimate. Before asking folks to engage in further training, ask yourself whether or not you are qualified to speak on the subject. If not, consider bringing in a speaker who is well-respected in the food safety industry.
Authentic. Build a culture of trust and engagement at your workplace by working with speakers and programs that are accredited and up to date with compliance law. This will convince folks that your speakers are worth listening to and that your training programs are worth completing.
Engaging. Don’t force your employees to sit through lengthy seminars without an opportunity to engage. Instead, encourage participation by creating engaging training programs that help folks learn skills as they go.
Simplistic. Food safety can be complex. Cut through this complexity by giving folks simple, actionable steps to take. This will minimize the risk of folks forgetting your policies and will empower employees who want to improve safety at work.
These training principles are well-established in the food production and safety world. Even simple changes, like including a quiz or mock preparation test, will pique people’s interest and ensure that employees are engaged when receiving training. If you fail to run engaging, intelligent training, you put yourself at greater risk of contamination during production.
Conclusion
Following FDA guidelines should keep your consumers safe by minimizing the risk of an allergen entering your workspace. However, you’ll need to go above and beyond minimum requirements if you want to completely eliminate the risk of contamination. Get the ball rolling by embracing the digital revolution and using automation or robotics to handle more mundane tasks. This empowers employees and reduces the risk of human errors during production.
The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability will hold a hearing on April 11, 2024, tiled “Oversight of the Food and Drug Administration.” The hearing will examine the Oversight Committee’s ongoing investigations into the FDA response to several issues, including the infant formula crisis and food safety, drug shortages, facility inspections, hemp regulation, regulation of tobacco and nicotine products, and over-the-counter decongestants.
“The Oversight Committee has highlighted several crises occurring on the FDA’s watch which have negatively impacted the lives and health of American people and families. From a botched response to a nationwide infant formula crisis, failure to regulate safe tobacco products, failure to prepare for and address critical drug shortages, and more, we have identified how dysfunction at the FDA could be worsening many of these preventable crises. We will hold the Commissioner accountable for what the FDA is doing to address ongoing crises, how they are conducting inspections to prevent nationwide crises in the future, and how they intend to ensure the FDA is first and foremost protecting American consumers,” said Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).
The hearing will be livestreamed online on April 11 at 1:00pm ET.
A universal truth in bustling cities and rural villages alike is that people want to know the food they are eating is safe. Brands tasked with ensuring food safety walk a line between meeting regulatory requirements and balancing resource constraints. It’s a delicate dance in both developing and established economies.
At the federal level, we typically see programs designed to ensure food safety relegated to the back burner. In the U.S., the FDA’s food program, a linchpin of food safety, has experienced its own challenges according to revelations from Stephen Ostroff. The two-term acting commissioner of the FDA has publicly revealed the internal struggles across various regulatory bodies both within the FDA and the U.S. regulatory system. Across the pond in the UK, efforts to modernize food safety and hygiene inspections have faced their own setbacks, including a lack of inspectors and poor cross-border coordination.
For nations at every stage of development, the road to food safety regulation is long and winding. Charting the way requires innovative solutions and collaborative effort on a global scale.
Challenges in Developing Countries
In developing countries, insufficient regulatory frameworks, a lack of enforcement, and the absence of modern technology and facilities for proper food handling and processing are major hurdles to ensuring broad food safety. We have seen time and again that efforts to improve food handling practices often result in short-lived change and challenges when scaling.
Beyond resource constraints, the prevalence of street vendors and local markets in the “informal sector,” which serve a significant portion of the population, typically lack oversight. A 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine estimated that 2.5 billion people globally rely on street food for at least one meal daily, highlighting the importance of solving food safety concerns in this sector.
Food contamination also poses a serious threat. Microbiological pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and chemical contaminants, can render food and water unsafe. According to a recent UN World Water Development Report, around 2 billion people globally don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water, and approximately 3.6 billion people — 46% of the world’s population — lack adequate sanitation services.
The FDA’s Funding Dilemma
While food safety in the U.S. isn’t as dire as developing countries, we face a different set of concerns. The FDA’s historically underfunded food program has lagged due to staffing shortages, leadership issues and limited resources. A recent 10% increase in funding is a step in the right direction, but critics argue it’s still not enough. Many believe the agency prioritizes drug and medicine oversight and is biased towards appointing leaders with medical backgrounds rather than food industry knowledge.
Beyond the lack of funding and internal infrastructure, there is a broader push to restructure the FDA altogether. The 100+ year old agency created by the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, is beginning to show its age. Today, with limited staff and resources, the FDA struggles to inspect foreign food shipments and physically examines less than 1% of imported products. With consumer palettes increasingly favoring global delicacies, this nominal inspection rate underscores the need for increased funding and a more innovative approach to FDA strategies.
UK’s Tightrope Walk on Food Safety
Similarly, in the UK, where the Food Standards Agency (FSA) governs food safety, budgetary constraints and other industry concerns are causing setbacks as it attempts to modernize inspections. The FSA has expressed concern that local authorities do not have the resources to deliver food controls, with new data revealing that they are a long way off from meeting the required frequencies of interventions at lower-risk establishments. As a result, some outlets in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have not been checked for years. Additionally, UK’s exit from the European Union (Brexit), adds another layer of complexity, with potential disruptions to regulatory frameworks and the need for new trade agreements.
A Cautiously Optimistic Outlook on Global Food Safety
The global food safety landscape is at a crossroads and headed for extinction if changes do not take place within the next decade. Initiatives such as capacity-building programs, training workshops, and public-private partnerships empower individuals and organizations with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement effective food safety practices, while the global exchange of digital food safety data increasingly levels the information playing field for brands and regulatory bodies alike.
Achieving global food safety requires a multi-stakeholder approach that recognizes the unique challenges faced by different nations and leverages the strengths of various stakeholders. By focusing on prevention, capacity building, collaboration, and innovation, we can work towards a future where everyone has access to safe and nutritious food. This journey will require sustained commitment from governments, international organizations, the private sector, and individuals to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for all. For those of us in the business of helping to ensure food safety by creating a more transparent global supply network and making regulatory compliance easier to navigate, we are cautiously optimistic in the future and believe in the industry’s ability to rise above the challenge.
James “Jim” Jones will serve as the FDA’s first Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods. Per the FDA’s announcement, Jones, in this new executive position will lead the charge in setting and advancing priorities for a proposed unified Human Foods Program (HFP). Program areas would include food safety, chemical safety and innovative food products, including those from new agricultural technologies, that will bolster the resilience of the U.S. food supply in the face of climate change and globalization, as well as nutrition to help reduce diet-related diseases and improve health equity. Jones is scheduled to begin at the FDA on September 24, 2023.
For more than 30 years, Jones has held various positions in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stakeholder community and private industry where he has managed teams and provided strategic planning and thought leadership around issues related to chemical safety and sustainability in the environment. His work has focused on lessening the impact that chemicals and pollution have on the U.S. food supply. At the EPA, he was a principal architect of the 2016 overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the first update of that statute in more than 40 years. He was also responsible for decision-making related to the regulation of pesticides and commercial chemicals. He also led several national sustainability programs, including the EPA’s Environmental Preferable Purchasing Program and the Presidential Green Chemistry Awards Challenge. He is a seasoned leader whose experience managing change initiatives within the federal government will be invaluable as we continue to build a unified HFP.
“I’m delighted to welcome Jim to the FDA. His impressive career, extensive leadership experience, and passionate vision for the future of the Human Foods Program make him an ideal selection for this pivotal position,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “Our proposed reorganization is the largest undertaking of its kind in recent history for our agency. I’m confident that under Jim’s leadership, we will build a stronger organization that will be integrated with other components of the FDA and focused on keeping the foods we regulate safe and nutritious, while ensuring the agency remains on the cutting edge of the latest advancements in food science and nutrition. I’m looking forward to working with him when he joins us next month.”
Jones was an integral member of the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s Independent Expert Panel for Foods, which submitted a report in December 2022 on the operational evaluation of the FDA’s Human Foods Program. He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland.
“Jim is among the most public-spirited and able government leaders I know. I cannot think of a better choice for this crucial role. In his 20 years in leadership positions at EPA, Jim demonstrated know-how to lead complex, science-based regulatory programs in a visionary and inclusive way. Jim knows food safety and the food system from his leadership of EPA’s pesticide program, and he knows the food safety and nutrition challenges FDA faces through his service on the Reagan-Udall Foundation Expert Panel,” said Mike Taylor, board member emeritus of STOP Foodborne Illness and former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine.
In the role of Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, Jones will report directly to the FDA Commissioner. He will exercise decision-making authority over all HFP entities when the reorganization is in effect, including related Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) activities. He will provide executive leadership over the entire program as well as over resource allocation, risk-prioritization strategy, policy, and major response activities involving human foods. The leadership for Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Office of Food Policy and Response will report to Jones until the proposed HFP reorganization is implemented.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to serve as the first Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods at the FDA. I had the pleasure of serving on the expert panel that provided operational recommendations for the FDA’s foods-related activities, and I now look forward to helping the agency realize its vision for the proposed Human Foods Program, including carrying out important nutrition initiatives to improve the health of our country,” said Jones. “As a former pesticide regulator, I have a deep understanding of the unique needs of government programs involved in upholding safety of the U.S. food supply, as well as the important role that the agriculture community and state partners play in this paradigm. I am honored to serve the FDA and the country in this new capacity.”
Food safety and quality professionals can take advantage of three days of education, networking and panel discussions at the 11th Annual Food Safety Consortium, October 16-18 in Parsippany, New Jersey. This year’s event is co-located with the Cannabis Quality Conference and Food Defense Consortium.
Keynote Speakers: Erik P. Mettler, MPA, MPH, Assistant Commissioner for Partnerships and Policy, Office of Partnerships and Operational Policy, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) at FDA, and Sandra Eskin, Deputy Undersecretary Food Safety, USDA, Food Safety & Inspection Service.
Following the keynote presentations, attendees can take part in a Town Hall Q&A with Mettler and Eskin, followed by a panel discussion on Modernizing the U.S. Food Safety System, featuring Stephen Ostroff. Former FDA Commissioner, Barbara Kowalcyk, Executive Director of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention, and Bill Marler, Attorney with Food Safety Law Firm Marler Clark.
This year’s program includes four pre-conference workshops, taking place on Monday, October 16:
Food Safety Culture Design Workshop
CP-FS Credential Review Course
Food Safety Auditor Training
The Seed to Sale Safety Workshop
Days two and three feature panel discussions covering food safety culture, supply chain, recall patterns and succession planning, as well as breakout sessions on prevention, mitigation, control and regulation of key food safety hazards. Session highlights include:
Re-Imagining Food Protection as a National Security Issue – DHS Perspective, Presented by Mark Wittrock, Assistant Director – Health, Food, and Agriculture Resilience Office of Health Security, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Rise of Previously Unforeseen Hazards, Presented by Tim Lombardo, EAS Consulting
Food Safety Supply Chain Management, Presented by Celso Pagutalan, ASR Group
Succession Planning for Food Safety Inspectors, Panelists: Gina Nicholson Kramer, April Bishop of TreeHouse Foods, Barbara Kowalcyk, Executive Director of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention, Erik P. Mettler, MPA, MPH, Assistant Commissioner for Partnerships and Policy, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) at FDA, Rance Baker of NEHA, and Jorge Hernandez of Wendy’s
Food Safety Culture: Creating a “Speak Up Culture,” Presented by Austin Welch, Sage Media
Risk Mitigation through Assessment, Testing, Monitoring and Compliance, Presented by Dr. Sandra Johnson, SGS North America
Recalls Trends, Regulation and Lessons Learned, Panelists: Erik P. Mettler, MPA, MPH, Assistant Commissioner for Partnerships and Policy, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) at FDA, Shawn Stevens, attorney with the Food Industry Counsel, and Stephen Ostroff, M.D. former Acting FDA Commissioner.
Food Allergen Advisory Labeling, Presented by Dr. Steven Gendel
Don’t miss out on opportunities to network with other food safety and quality professionals during the opening night reception, networking lunches and coffee breaks.
Frank Yiannas, former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, has been appointed to Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Food Safety Advisory Council, a group of independent experts commissioned to ensure Chipotle’s food safety standards continue to evolve and serve as best practices for the restaurant industry.
Chipotle established the Food Safety Advisory Council in 2016 to complement the company’s internal food safety team in pursuit of continuous improvement and performance excellence. Yiannas joins fellow industry experts David Acheson, M.D., former FDA Associate Commissioner of Foods; Elisabeth Hagen, M.D., former USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety; Hal King, Ph.D., former CDC Research Scientist and Director of Food Safety with Chick-fil-A; and James Marsden, Ph. D., former Head of Food Safety at Chipotle and distinguished professor.
“In order to make sure our food safety culture and programs are as robust as possible, it’s critical to supplement our internal expertise with independent external guidance,” said Kerry Bridges, Vice President of Food Safety at Chipotle. “Frank’s vast experience with the FDA and other large brands will help guarantee Chipotle’s food safety standards continue to be best-in-class.”
Yiannas most recently served under two administrations as the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the FDA, a position he held from 2018 to 2023, after spending 30 years in leadership roles with Walmart and the Walt Disney Company.
Throughout his career, Yiannas has been recognized for his role in strengthening food safety standards in new and innovative ways, as well as building effective food safety management systems based on modern, science-based, and tech-enabled prevention principles.
“I’m delighted to join and collaborate with some of the nation’s foremost food safety authorities and serve on Chipotle’s Food Safety Advisory Council,” said Yiannas. “I look forward to lending my experience to a company committed to ‘cultivating a better world’ that benefits people and the planet.”
On March 24, the FDA announced that it intends to amend the standards of identity (SOIs) to permit the use of salt substitutes in foods for which salt is a required or optional ingredient. The proposed rule would provide manufacturers with flexibility and facilitate industry innovation to reduce sodium in standardized foods.
Currently, most FDA SOIs do not permit the use of salt substitutes. The proposed rule would use a “horizontal” approach for SOIs, under which a single rule would apply to multiple SOIs across several categories of standardized foods.
Specifically, the proposed rule would amend the 80 SOIs that specify salt as a required or an optional ingredient. Because these 80 SOIs are referenced in other SOIs, the FDA notes that 140 of the 250 SOIs currently established for a wide variety of foods could be affected.
The proposed rule does not list permitted salt substitutes but defines them as safe and suitable ingredients used to replace some or all of the added sodium chloride and that serve the functions of salt in food. The extent to which salt can be replaced depends on the ability of a salt substitute to replace the functions of salt in food without compromising food safety and the characteristics of the food.
The FDA is requesting comments on potential salt substitutes that may be used as a result of the new flexibility provided in this proposed rule. Comments can be submitted until 120 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. Electronic comments can be submitted at Regulations.gov.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for these cookie settings.
We use tracking pixels that set your arrival time at our website, this is used as part of our anti-spam and security measures. Disabling this tracking pixel would disable some of our security measures, and is therefore considered necessary for the safe operation of the website. This tracking pixel is cleared from your system when you delete files in your history.
We also use cookies to store your preferences regarding the setting of 3rd Party Cookies.
If you visit and/or use the FST Training Calendar, cookies are used to store your search terms, and keep track of which records you have seen already. Without these cookies, the Training Calendar would not work.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
Cookie Policy
A browser cookie is a small piece of data that is stored on your device to help websites and mobile apps remember things about you. Other technologies, including Web storage and identifiers associated with your device, may be used for similar purposes. In this policy, we say “cookies” to discuss all of these technologies.
Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use information from and about you when you use This website and certain other Innovative Publishing Co LLC services. This policy explains more about how we use cookies and your related choices.
How We Use Cookies
Data generated from cookies and other behavioral tracking technology is not made available to any outside parties, and is only used in the aggregate to make editorial decisions for the websites. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent by visiting this Cookies Policy page. If your cookies are disabled in the browser, neither the tracking cookie nor the preference cookie is set, and you are in effect opted-out.
In other cases, our advertisers request to use third-party tracking to verify our ad delivery, or to remarket their products and/or services to you on other websites. You may opt-out of these tracking pixels by adjusting the Do Not Track settings in your browser, or by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page.
You have control over whether, how, and when cookies and other tracking technologies are installed on your devices. Although each browser is different, most browsers enable their users to access and edit their cookie preferences in their browser settings. The rejection or disabling of some cookies may impact certain features of the site or to cause some of the website’s services not to function properly.
Individuals may opt-out of 3rd Party Cookies used on IPC websites by adjusting your cookie preferences through this Cookie Preferences tool, or by setting web browser settings to refuse cookies and similar tracking mechanisms. Please note that web browsers operate using different identifiers. As such, you must adjust your settings in each web browser and for each computer or device on which you would like to opt-out on. Further, if you simply delete your cookies, you will need to remove cookies from your device after every visit to the websites. You may download a browser plugin that will help you maintain your opt-out choices by visiting www.aboutads.info/pmc. You may block cookies entirely by disabling cookie use in your browser or by setting your browser to ask for your permission before setting a cookie. Blocking cookies entirely may cause some websites to work incorrectly or less effectively.
The use of online tracking mechanisms by third parties is subject to those third parties’ own privacy policies, and not this Policy. If you prefer to prevent third parties from setting and accessing cookies on your computer, you may set your browser to block all cookies. Additionally, you may remove yourself from the targeted advertising of companies within the Network Advertising Initiative by opting out here, or of companies participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance program by opting out here.
