The FDA is launching a new, temporary testing program for the romaine lettuce from commercial coolers in the Yuma, AZ, growing region. Romaine from the area has been linked to several foodborne illness outbreaks in recent years.
Samples will be tested for Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Is the FDA reviving the MDP without telling us?
Hundreds sicken and hospitalized, dozens with kidney failure and 7 deaths from romaine in the last 12 months in the U.S. and Canada and the response from industry and government has been what? Please put labels on the product so we know when the next outbreak happens that we might
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Revive the MDP
The purpose of the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) is the prevention of foodborne disease. We’ve invested billions of taxpayer dollars and thousands of years of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) professional time since 2011 to make that so.
When foodborne disease happens, FDA, the federal Centers for Disease
Continue Reading Letter From The Editor: Romaine, Reform and Revive
The U.S. Senate has voted to shut down the nation’s only catfish inspection program, a move that would put more Americans at risk of exposure to carcinogens and antibiotics from Asian white fish, such as Vietnamese pangasius. Senators approved the Joint Resolution by a vote of 55-43 on Wednesday.
Continue Reading Senate votes to end USDA catfish inspections, which just got underway
CHICAGO — The Food Safety Summit produced some polite discussion Wednesday, but no clamor for bringing back the Microbiological Data Program (MDP) to test more fresh produce before it reaches consumers. The MDP, about $5 million of annual federal funding for state agricultural laboratories to test fruits and vegetables at
Continue Reading Produce experts say preventive strategies are more valuable than testing
Only two more Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules remain to be finalized. Final rules for Sanitary Transportation and Intentional Adulteration are due out next spring. But with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) release last week of final FSMA rules on Produce Safety, Foreign Supplier Verification, and Accredited
Continue Reading Letter From the Editor: A ‘Herculean Accomplishment’
Back from Portland, OR, where the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) annual meeting was held this year, it’s natural to be thinking about the big things. This time of year, one that comes to mind is the safety of all the fresh fruit and produce we are scooping up.
Continue Reading Letter From the Editor: They’re Not Thinking About It
Back in the day, before the fresh fruit and produce industry managed to kill it, the Microbiological Data Program (MDP) came under fire from growers for not providing timely results, sometimes resulting in recalls of fruit that consumers had already eaten. 
That was 18 months ago and MDP — the
Continue Reading Aussie Listeria Tests Led to Recall of Likely Already Consumed California Fruit
It was not perfect and it was not everywhere, but the U.S. government did, prior to this year, have a trip wire set up that might well have prevented that rare strain of hepatitis A from the Middle East and North Africa and that nasty cyclospora parasite from south of
Continue Reading Letter From The Editor: A Year for Fruit & Vegetable Dangers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday that a multi-state Salmonella outbreak was likely caused by the consumption of cucumbers imported from Mexico. The announcement came one day after USA Today reporter Liz Szabo reported that the FDA would be conducting 18 percent fewer food inspections this
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Cucumbers, Salmonella and Budget Cuts
