- The World Health Organization (WHO) is marking World Food Safety Day on June 7 with the release of new global estimates of the impact of foodborne illness. Unsafe food is responsible for about 866 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths each year, according to the new WHO estimates. That’s similar to the impact of diseases like tuberculosis, HIV, or malaria. Children younger than 5 years of age face almost three times the risk of illness from unsafe food compared to older children and adults.
- At least 60 people in Idaho are sick with campylobacter infections after consuming raw, unpasteurized milk. State health officials have identified, but not named, two dairies as the sources of the raw milk that caused the illness. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill thatraises the monthly cap on direct raw milk sales from 100 gallons to 1,500 gallons. Sales of the product must still occur only at the farm where the milk is produced.
- The USDA has confirmed the presence of New World screwworm in a three-week-old calf in Texas. It’s first appearance of the insect in the U.S. since the 1960’s, according to the New York Times. The discovery triggers a long-planned response plan aimed at dampening the threat to the cattle industry and other agricultural markets even though the worm does not infest fruit or vegetables entering the food supply chain.
- The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has confirmed that beef kofta samples collected from The Kebab Shop restaurants in California contain the E. coli O157:H7 strain responsible for a recent outbreak. As of June 1, nine patients have tested positive for E. coli as a result of eating beef from The Kebab Shop. Six are children, and two of them have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure, brain damage or death in some cases.
- The second largest Salmonella outbreak in New York state history was caused by chicken salad served to inmates at the Broome County Correctional Facility in Binghamton, according to local public health officials. More than 300 inmates were sickened in late May. Four were hospitalized.
Today’s Topic: COOL
Consider where we’ve been. We’ve gone from mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for imported and domestic cattle and hogs used to produce beef and pork in the United States.
Then we let the “Made in USA” label even go on some imports. But as 2026 got underway, only U.S. beef and pork can carry the “Made in USA” label. That, however, is only on a voluntary basis.