The FDA has completed final administrative actions on the use of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), also known as trans fats, in the food supply. This final rule reflects the agency's reasoning in removing this product. In 2015, the FDA stated that these oils are harmful to human health, and that removing them from the food supply could prevent thousands of heart attacks every year. Oils are hydrogenated to make them sold at room temperature. PHOs were used to make many foods because they were a cheap source of solid fats. Trans fats raise the level of LDL proteins in the blood, they can weaken cell membrane structures, contribute to insulin resistance, and are associated with certain types of cancer. In the final rule, the FDA states that PHOs are no longer included in an … [Read more...]
FDA CORE Table Updated With More Cases and Listeria Outbreak
The FDA CORE Table updated with more cases in one of the cyclospora outbreaks and the Salmonella outbreak. And a new Listeria monocytogenes outbreak has been added. The E. coli O157:H7 outbreak has ended unsolved. There are seven active outbreak investigations on the table. For the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak investigation that ended, twelve people were sickened. Traceback was initiated, but officials could not identify a food that was the cause of those illnesses. One of the three cyclospora outbreaks on the table has had a case count increase of eight more illnesses, from 47 sick to 55. Traceback has been initiated, and sample collection and analysis has started. The other two cyclospora outbreaks are unchanged. For the outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B var. L(+) tartrate+, … [Read more...]
FDA Denies Petition on Phthalates in Food Packaging Again
The FDA denied a petition on phthalates in food packaging that requested that the agency reconsider its denial of a citizen petition issued by Earth Justice on May 19, 2022. The original denial was for a petition that Earth Justice filed showing that phthalates, a petrochemical used in food packaging, including packaging used for meat, milk, and spices, is harmful to human health. There is a ban on phthalate use in children's toys. Earth Justice claims that evidence shows phthalates interfere with the human body's hormone regulated processes, and can cause birth defects, infertility, miscarriage, breast cancer, diabetes, and asthma. At the time of the original denial, Earth Justice attorney Katherine O'Brien said in a statement, "FDA’s decision recklessly green-lights ongoing … [Read more...]
FDA Report on Food Poisoning Risk Factors in Restaurants
The FDA has released its report on food poisoning risk factors in fast food and food service restaurants. The report covers the years from 2017 t0 2018. Risk factors that can contribute to outbreaks of foodborne illness include inadequate cooking, poor personal hygiene, and using food from unsafe sources. This study is part of a ten-year study that spans the years 2013 to 2024. The restaurants used in the study were located across the country and were randomly selected by the FDA Retail Food Specialists. The key objectives of the study were to identify the occurrence of risk factors, the prevalence of food safety management systems, the prevalence of certified food protection managers, and prevalence of employee health policies. That last risk factor is important because the CDC … [Read more...]
FDA Releases Report on Testing Ready to Eat Dips and Spreads
The FDA has released their report on testing ready to eat dips and spreads for possible Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes contamination. This sampling assignment started in March 2021 and was completed in January 2022. Refrigerated dips and spreads include hummus, tahini, pimento cheese, and yogurt-based products. There have been multiple recalls for tahini and hummus for bacterial contamination in the past few years. From 2017 through 2022, for instance, there were five recalls of hummus and six recalls of multi-commodity dips that were contaminated with Salmonella or Listeria. In 2019, a Salmonella Concord outbreak linked to tahini sickened at least six people in three states, and also in 2019, a Salmonella outbreak at Moby Dick House of Kabob in Maryland was potentially … [Read more...]
FDA Issues Final Guidance for Inorganic Arsenic in Apple Juice
The FDA has issued final guidance for the levels of inorganic arsenic in apple juice to the action level of 10 parts per billion. This guidance is for industry to help protect public health, but it does not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Inorganic arsenic is the most harmful form of this toxic heavy metal. Arsenic occurs in the environment, both naturally and as a result of arsenic-containing pesticides that were used on food crops. Pollution from coal-fired power plants, mining, and fracking also deposit the heavy metal in soils and in water. Acute symptoms of arsenic poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, followed by numbness and tingling of the extremities. Long term complications of arsenic poisoning include cancer, liver disease, diabetes, … [Read more...]
Salmonella Sun Sprouts Warning Letter Sent After Outbreak
A Salmonella Sun Sprouts warning letter was sent to that company by the FDA after an outbreak, which happened from December 2022 to January 2023, linked to those raw sprouts sickened at least 63 people in eight states. The case count by state was: Arizona (1), Iowa (6), Kansas (6), Missouri (9), Nebraska (26), New Hampshire (1), Oklahoma (1), and South Dakota (13). Ten people were hospitalized. The FDA inspected the sprouting operation of Rhodes Legacy Inc. doing business as Sun Sprouts, because of the outbreak. FDA's traceback investigation identified the brand's alfalfa sprouts as a likely source of illnesses in that outbreak. The inspection revealed "serious violations of the Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption … [Read more...]
Import Alert For Morel Mushrooms Imported by a Company in France
The FDA issued Import Alert 25-02 for morel mushrooms imported from a company in France on May 23, 2022 because, in the past, shipments of canned and dried mushrooms were detained because of the presence of Gyromitra esculenta, or false morel. This species can produce monomethylhydrazine (MMH), which is a toxin that can cause severe gastrointestinal illnesses and, in some cases, death. The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) identified another species, Verpa bohemica, or early morel, which can also cause illness in some people. All morel mushrooms imported from that company and false morel mushrooms, also imported from that company, in the form of fresh, canned, and dried, are subject to this import alert until further notice. Morel mushrooms are a distinctive … [Read more...]
FDA Report on 2022 Cantaloupe Salmonella Outbreak
The FDA has issued a report on the 2022 cantaloupe Salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 88 people and hospitalized 32. No specific brand was named, and no grower was named. The cantaloupe was grown in southwest Indiana in the summer of 2022. There is quite a long history of food poisoning outbreaks linked to cantaloupe. The case count for that outbreak was: Georgia (1), Illinois (5), Indiana (17), Iowa (39), Kentucky (3), Michigan (3), Minnesota (4), Missouri (2), Ohio (3), South Carolina (1), and Wisconsin (10). The last illness onset date was September 13, 2022. The FDA inspected three farms in Indiana, their common packinghouse, and public lands near the farms. Environmental samples positive for Salmonella were found at each location, but none of the isolates matched … [Read more...]
What Does the FDA Want You to Know About Food Recalls?
What does the FDA want you to know about food recalls? Many food recalls are issued every month, from the FDA and the USDA, depending on which foods they regulate. The FDA regulates all foods except meat, poultry, and processed egg products. Food recalls can be for undeclared allergens, for foreign material contamination, or for possible contamination with pathogens, which can include bacteria such as E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes, viruses such as norovirus or hepatitis A, or parasites such as cyclospora. All food that contains one of the nine major food allergens (sesame, milk, wheat, finfish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, soy, and eggs) must list that ingredient on the label, as well as an allergen statement warning consumers that the product contains that … [Read more...]
