Acting USDA Secretary Kevin Shea and Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. have released a statement confirming that COVID-19 is not transmitted through food or food packaging. Back in September 2020, the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) released an opinion paper stating the same result. At that time, ICMSF, “Despite the billions … Read more
The International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) has released an opinion paper on the relationship of the novel coronavirus to food safety. In brief, the ICMSF opinion on coronavirus and food safety is: “SARS-CoV-2 should not be considered a food safety hazard since a true food safety hazard enters the human body with … Read more
A new study published in Food Additives & Contaminants, Part A has found that 175 hazardous chemicals are used in food packaging in the United States and Europe. That packaging includes cans, pans, and foils. The chemicals are released into the food and you eat them. Some of the chemicals have been linked to chronic … Read more
A typical American consumer buys about four bags of packaged ice each year, usually during the summer months when 80 percent of packaged ice sales take place. But most people don’t know that packaged ice is one of the many items that is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although small-scale producers are … Read more
Researchers at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology in Paterna, Spain have developed films containing flavonoid-rich cocoa that have antimicrobial applications. The film is made from ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) and could be used in the food packaging industry. It’s the catechins in the cocoa extract that inhibits the growth of all the microorganisms … Read more
The FDA has published a final rule amending the food additive regulations to no longer allow the use of bisphenol A (BPA) epoxy resins as coatings in packaging for infant formula. Although many consumer organizations have asked for this ban for years, the government is stressing that this action was taken “because these uses have … Read more
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have found a way to kill Listeria and other pathogens without chemicals or antibiotics. Building on a method they developed to coat medical equipment with an agent that can kill antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the researchers added lytic enzymes to nanoparticles of food-safe silica and to starch nanoparticles commonly … Read more
Researchers in Scotland have invented a machine that uses the natural germ-killing properties of ozone to kill food-borne bacteria without using chemicals or requiring changes to current food packaging materials. When held against the surface of plastic or glass packaging, the device blasts oxygen molecules, temporarily turning them into ozone molecules which destroy the bacteria. … Read more