Food Safety News has learned that Brian Ronholm has been named acting under secretary for food safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Brian Ronholm joined USDA in April 2011 as deputy under secretary for food safety. He previously served as an Agriculture Appropriations associate on the staff of Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), managing issues related to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. There is no official word on who will permanently replace Elisabeth Hagen in the position, but POLITICO reports that Anne MacMillan, USDA’s deputy chief of staff, and Al Almanza, Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) administrator, are at the top of the list of potential nominees. Hagen’s last day in the position was Dec. 13, after “an ambitious three years” as under secretary. She now moves on to consulting firm Deloitte as a food safety senior advisor. It’s unclear when President Obama intends to announce his nomination for the position. Hagen was sworn in as the highest food-safety official in the federal government in August 2010 after the position had been vacant for more than a year. Food safety advocates are hoping her successor is appointed much more quickly.
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The risk of exposure to Salmonella Enteritidis via eggs in Sweden has increased slightly but is still lower than the European average, according to a report.
The analysis covers risks
Meat plants have been told not to make any products for export to the United States because of strike action in Ireland.
Industrial action by public sector workers is planned
A California pumpkin patch and petting zoo associated with an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections reopened Nov. 6 with the owners saying environmental tests for the pathogen had
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for frozen, not ready-to-eat (NRTE), meat and poultry products because of misbranding and
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
A man in Poland has been charged for threatening to contaminate food unless he was paid a ransom in Bitcoin.
The indictment follows an investigation supervised by the District Prosecutor&
