As part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Food and Drug Administration issued on May 27, 2016, a final rule to require domestic and foreign food facilities, with some exceptions, to address…
The number of food processing plants in the U.S. with a food defense plan rose from 83 percent to 84 percent between 2013 and 2014, according to the latest Food Defense Plan Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). A food defense plan is a system that works…
Shaun Kennedy, director of the Food System Institute and professor at the University of Minnesota, recently sat down with Food Safety News to discuss a number of topics related to food security and food fraud.
What challenges do we face with keeping the U.S. food system secure from intentional contamination? What foods are most susceptible…
The U. S. Food and Drug Administration held its first public meeting last week on its proposed rule on intentional adulteration under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). “We see this, in many ways, while being different in terms of where the hazards come from, in line with the basic principles that underlie FSMA,” said…
Federal and state health officials investigating foodborne illness outbreaks and other food safety emergencies in recent years have received help from an increasingly prolific network of laboratories designed to respond to biological, chemical and radiological contamination of food as rapidly as possible. This network, called the Federal Emergency Response Network, or FERN, has helped authorities…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday released a new tool to help the food industry defend against an act of intentional food contamination. According to FDA, the Food Defense Plan Builder, available online, is a “comprehensive, easy-to-use software program designed to help owners and operators of food facilities—ranging from primary production and…
As someone who was in New York City on 09/11/01, I saw the fear, death and destruction first hand. It is something I will never forget. The recent bombings at the Boston Marathon remind me of just how vulnerable our society is. Killing and maiming innocent people, especially children, with an exploding pressure cooker packed…
After a three week delay, food facilities are now able to register, or re-register, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Late last week the agency released revised guidance for industry to help food companies comply. Though the FDA is a bit behind the schedule mandated under the Food Safety Modernization Act, the deadline for…
Federal and state budget cuts are taking a measurable toll on the food safety system, according to a new analysis by the Trust for America’s Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Economic slowdown and widening deficits have led to scaling back programs that respond to foodborne illness outbreaks, bioterrorism, and other incidents, and, unfortunately, disasters …
In what was the latest reminder that any nation’s food supply can be vulnerable to intentional contamination, CBS News recently reported the sketchy details of a supposed terrorist plot to slip poisons into restaurant and hotel salad bars and buffets.
Such an attack has long been considered a remote but theoretical possibility, especially in a …
CBS News reported it first on Monday night–that U.S. officials had gotten wind of a terrorist plot to slip poisons into hotel and restaurant salad bars and buffets in multiple locations during a single weekend.
Tuesday other news organizations chimed in, repeating the CBS assertion that intelligence reports indicated ricin or cyanide would be used …
