The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is studying the regulatory comment submitted by consumer groups two weeks ago, suggesting that its rule for the process of determining food substances as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) be altered before it’s finalized. During last week’s Food Safety Summit in Baltimore, Michael Taylor, FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Foods…
Top Food Safety Officials Focused on Collaborating Over Combining Agencies
Top officials of U.S. food safety agencies are not wholeheartedly supportive of a single food safety agency, arguing that collaboration is a higher priority. During the Food Safety Summit in Baltimore on Thursday, leadership from the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Association of Food and Drug…
Senators, Food Industry Groups Call for More FSMA Funding
On the heels of a high-profile Listeria outbreak and the recall of all Blue Bell ice cream products, seven Democratic U.S. senators on Thursday called on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fully fund the federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) by approving President Obama’s request for an additional $109.5 million to implement the law. The…
Top Food Safety Officials Weigh in on Key Issues
At the risk of sounding naive, Michael Taylor said Tuesday that he’s still feeling “great” about the progress made on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). As Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Taylor knew he was in front of a tough audience since he said it during a…
Investigation of GRAS Highlights Allergy to Peanut-Related Lupin
The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) published a lengthy investigative report on Tuesday summarizing the safety concerns associated with GRAS (generally recognized as safe) food additives, the controversies surrounding how they’re determined, and barriers to regulating them. The report’s key illustration of the concerns about GRAS was a peanut-related legume called lupin — sometimes spelled…
WHO Uses World Health Day to Shine Light on Food Safety
Food safety is so important to everyone around the world that the World Health Organization (WHO) dedicated this year’s World Health Day — celebrated each year on April 7 — to spreading awareness of it. As readers of Food Safety News know, food contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances can lead to…
The Future is Now for the Food Safety Modernization Act
We all knew FSMA was a big deal when Congress passed it a little over four years ago. After a decade of illness outbreaks, import safety problems, and market disruptions that shook consumer confidence and imposed billions of dollars in costs on the food system, Congress mandated a paradigm shift to prevention — to establishing…
FDA’s Taylor: Proposed 2016 Funding Critical for FSMA Implementation
This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was allocated an additional $27.5 million for food safety activities, and, under the president’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2016, the agency would get another $109.5 million. In a Tuesday FDA blog post, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor explained why the increase…
Taylor, Ronholm Praise Food Safety Educators
In addressing attendees of the 2014 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference in Arlington, VA, last week, Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine at the Food and Drug Administration, and Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Brian Ronholm praised the work of the Partnership for Food Safety Education and other food safety educators.…
LGMA Training Video Features Foodborne Illness Victims
A new food safety video for California farm workers features the stories of foodborne illness victims. Together, STOP Foodborne Illness and California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) produced a video that will be used during training for workers who produce leafy greens in California. It features the stories of Rylee Gustafson and Lauren Bush –…