Quick bites from around the food safety arena this week:
The Food and Drug Administration’s top food safety official, Kyle Diamantas, became the agency’s acting commissioner after Marty Makary resigned from the position on Tuesday. Makary had resisted pressure to sign off on the sale of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes but ultimately gave in to White House demands and approved two fruit-flavored vapes, but that didn't save his job. It’s unclear how long Diamantas will serve in the interim position or who might be in line to lead the FDA next.- A deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean has renewed attention to rodent contamination as a serious food safety risk. To date, three people have died from illnesses related to the virus. At least eight more passengers on the ship have tested positive for the virus or shown symptoms connected to it. While officials try to isolate the specific cause of that outbreak, the FDA says rodent activity remains a frequent issue in inspections of food facilities. The agency recommends careful attention to integrated pest management to reduce the risk of contamination in such facilities.
- Health officials across Europe and the U.S. are investigating a Salmonella outbreak that has affected more than 60 people in at least 10 countries. Genome sequencing of the Salmonella Stanley bacteria discovered in the victims indicates that there is a common source of infection, but that source has not yet been identified.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared that a Salmonella Newport outbreak traced to cantaloupe has ended. At least 70 people across 25 states were affected by the outbreak, although the actual number is likely much higher since many people don’t seek medical attention or testing specifically for Salmonella when they get sick. The outbreak was traced to cantaloupes imported from Guatemala by Ayco Farms Inc. of Pompano Beach, FL.
Today’s Topic: Food Fraud
Those ongoing fraud convictions in Minnesota’s infamous “Feeding Our Future” cases are about missing food and millions in stolen federal funds.
There isn’t a single statutory term for “food fraud” in the U.S. Code, but it sure seems that the Minnesota cases are one type of food fraud.
The Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies use the term "economically motivated adulteration" (EMA) to define instances of food fraud.