In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Dr. Alissa Welsher, Associate Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety, about the importance of pest management to poultry safety; specifically, for the control of darkling beetles, which can be an important source of Salmonella in poultry production operations.

To help predict and mitigate the presence of Escherichia coli and other foodborne pathogens on lettuce, a new weather-based model has been developed by USDA-ARS researchers and collaborators.

On May 9, 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will hold a webinar via Zoom to discuss the food safety aspects that need to be considered and addressed when using environmental inhibitors in agrifood systems.

Contamination is a major challenge for composters. California AB 1201 expanded requirements for compostable products, but a recent study by CalRecycle found it unfeasible to separate suitable products for organic agricultural use from non-suitable ones. This decision affects compostable product requirements in other legislation.

Controlled environment agriculture can help meet food requirements of the future, but this objective must be achieved by specific processes that minimize negative impacts on the environment and place food safety front and center.

With funding from the Center for Produce Safety, a researcher from the University of Arizona is exploring the usefulness of a handheld genetic sequencing device for in-field microbial characterization of irrigation water by the produce industry.

Scientists from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service are exploring how “transgenerational protection”—which is the ability of layer hens to pass along their resistance to Salmonella to their broiler chicks—can be encouraged, to ultimately reduce early colonization that introduces microbial contamination at the processing plant and poses a food safety risk to consumers.

Researchers have created a coating for galvanized steel food containers that repels bacteria and fungi, is mud-resistant, and reduces the risk of corrosion.

A study aims to determine how irrigation water that is treated to control microbial activity may affect pathogens on crop surfaces or soil, with the end goal of developing a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) for industry to gauge the reduction in microbial risk from treated water applied preharvest.

The Consumer Goods Forum’s Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is opening a new stakeholder consultation today under the Technical Equivalence Program for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) Harmonized GAP Plus+ version 4.0.