On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed produce safety rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act. The statement considers the four areas in the proposed rule that could significantly affect the environment: the definition of covered farms, water quality standards, the use of raw manure and compost, and provisions affecting domesticated and wild animals. The water standards were found to potentially have a significant adverse environmental impact, but FDA noted that most farms would not need to switch from surface water to groundwater or chemically treat their water because of a provision in the rule’s supplemental changes which would allow time for potentially dangerous microbes in agricultural water to die off. “There are critical groundwater shortages in certain parts of the country that would exist even if this proposed rule were not enacted,” the agency said in a Constituent Update. “Actions that may lead to increases in groundwater drawdown in parts of the country experiencing severe shortages would be considered a significant environmental impact.” A comment period of 60 days has opened for the draft EIS. Comments will be accepted until Friday, March 13, and the agency said it does not plan to extend the comment period. FDA will also hold a public meeting on the EIS on Tuesday, Feb. 10, in College Park, MD. The agency will consider public comments while drafting the final EIS and evaluate the potential alternatives it presents before finalizing the produce safety rule.
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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
A man has been given a suspended sentence in England for food safety offences.
Arfan Sultan, from Ilford, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Nov. 14 following an investigation
A grocery company in New Zealand has been fined for selling recalled hummus products that may have contained Salmonella.
Foodstuffs South Island was told to pay $39,000 (U.S.
Rwanda has lifted a ban on some South African food products that was put in place in 2017 because of a Listeria outbreak that sickened more than 1,000 people.
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
Prairie Farms is announcing a recall of select Prairie Farms Gallon Fat Free Milk produced at its Dubuque, IA, facility and distributed to Woodman’s stores in Illinois and Wisconsin.
Aoun brand tahineh is under recall in Canada because of contamination with Salmonella.
The recall was triggered by test results from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The recalled tahineh was
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends and feasting. Once the holiday meal ends, the spotlight turns to enjoying the leftovers in the days ahead. To keep those leftovers safe
