Members of the Safe Food Coalition and the Worker Health and Safety Coalition wrote to members of Congress this week, asking them not to reduce the budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service and to remove language from the funding bill that urges the agency to move forward with its proposed HACCP-based Inspection Model Program (HIMP) for poultry plants. “We have serious concerns about USDA’s poultry inspection proposal and its impact on public health,” reads the letter. It was sent Monday to heads of the agriculture appropriations subcommittees in the House and Senate who are currently negotiating a FY 2014 spending plan for USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “USDA’s poultry inspection system does need to be modernized, but this proposal raises serious food safety and worker safety concerns. We urge you to remove the report language from the final appropriations report and to restore the budget cut of $11.73 million,” the letter states. In the Senate’s appropriations bill, FSIS would receive just over $1 billion, a $7-million decrease from last year. The Houses’s funding bill would give the agency $999 million.
The News Desk team at Food Safety News covers breaking developments, regulatory updates, recalls, and key topics shaping food safety today. These articles are produced collaboratively by our editorial staff.
The revocation of the use of Citrus Red No. 2 by the FDA will have virtually no impact because industry abandoned the use of the substance several years ago.
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or
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
Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc. is recalling select flavors of Outshine Fruit Bars because of consumer complaints about contamination with glass.
Products affected include Outshine Strawberry, Watermelon, Grape, Tangerine
Salata Dressings of Houston, TX, is recalling its Jalapeno Avocado Dressing because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
The recalled products were distributed in Texas HEB grocery
Grand Central Bakery of Seattle, WA, is recalling loaves of Potato Sourdough because they may contain the presence of pieces of metal.
The following products are subject to recall and
L-Nutra of Culver City, CA, is recalling Prolon brand Apulian Almond & Cocoa Spread because it contains undeclared cashew, pistachio and hazelnut.
People who have an allergy or severe