The latest technology in foodborne pathogen detection involves a combination of bacteriophages and bioilluminating enzymes. Boston-based company Sample6 claims that its Bioillumination Platform is faster and more accurate than other assays used by the food industry to detect contamination before produce reaches store shelves. When co-founder Tim Lu was a graduate student, his research focused on bacteriophages –… Continue Reading
The sooner one finds out a food product meets quality and safety requirements, the sooner it can be sold. That is why scientists are working to advance rapid testing, so companies easily can decide what to do with product to prevent foodborne illness. Examining rapid testing in the beef industry today sheds light upon how… Continue Reading
The mishandling or undercooking of raw chicken meat associated with the recent Foster Farms Salmonella outbreak has sickened nearly 340 people across 20 states and Puerto Rico since March and has caused concern among consumers, consumer groups, and food-safety advocates about the safety of our food system and the efficacy of testing systems designed to… Continue Reading
After a meeting with health ministers from European Union nations, EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg gained support for DNA testing of meat products throughout the continent. “The tests will be on DNA in meat products in all member states,” Borg said after the ministerial meeting in Brussels over Europe’s expanding horsemeat scandal. The EU health… Continue Reading
Big Fresh has the blood on its hands. The big fruit and vegetable lobby managed to kill a little food safety program that cost this $3 trillion government a grand total of $5 million annually. Chump change. Big Fresh meanwhile has its snout so far up the 2012 Farm Bill trough that it’s going to… Continue Reading
A “tiny” program at USDA, which does the lion’s share of public produce testing in the U.S., is on the chopping block. Depending on who you ask, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Microbiological Data Program (MDP), which randomly tests produce for dangerous pathogens, is either an unnecessary, slow-moving program housed in the wrong agency, or… Continue Reading
When it comes to our nation’s Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) policy, some people like to wrestle in the mud. I like to wrestle with the science. And the science does not support the need for a new USDA policy, now set to go into effect in June. At AMI, we regularly review microbiological… Continue Reading
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct), who serves as Ranking Member on the Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, expressed disappointment Tuesday regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announcement that there will be a 90 day delay in implementing their new non-O157 E. coli policy. As her office noted in a release: “Congresswoman DeLauro has… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new, groundbreaking non-O157 E. coli policy, which classifies six new strains as adulterants and requires testing, will become effective 90 days later than originally planned, the Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Wednesday. The delay, which did not surprise industry insiders, will push back the routine sampling of the six… Continue Reading
In an ideal world, perhaps all of our food would be screened for pathogens before we consume it. But in reality, such testing is expensive and time-consuming for companies. Most producers do not have the capacity to test for pathogens themselves and must send samples out to a lab. Results can take 2 or… Continue Reading