Fresh produce looks simple on a table. A melon, an onion, a peach, a lime. Behind each item is a long chain of fields, bins, trucks, water systems, workers, equipment, temperature changes, and storage rooms. Every extra step creates another chance for contamination to appear, spread, or become harder to control. That is why early conversion matters. Turning raw agricultural commodities into ready-to-eat food as early as practical can reduce exposure, tighten process control,

Listeria control is hard because the pathogen does not behave like a one-time intruder. In food processing facilities, Listeria monocytogenes can settle into damp niches, survive cold conditions, and return after routine cleaning if the root cause is not found. That reality shaped the discussion at a recent two-day meeting held by the FDA, where experts examined how industry and regulators can reduce listeriosis through stronger preventive controls and better risk-based think

A familiar cereal aisle is changing in a visible way. General Mills has removed synthetic dyes from all of its cereals sold in the United States, reaching a major step ahead of its broader 2027 plan to eliminate artificial colors from its full U.S. retail portfolio. The move matters because cereal sits at the center of a larger food industry shift. Shoppers have been reading ingredient lists more closely, schools have faced tighter expectations from families, and big packaged

Food allergen control has become a standard part of food safety management. That is good news. A survey finding that 96% of food processors report having allergen control programs shows how far the industry has moved from treating allergen risk as a side issue. The harder finding is the gap underneath that progress. Only 61% conduct analytical allergen testing, while many rely on protein residue swabs, ATP tests, visual checks, sanitation records and label reviews. Those tool

Listeria Control: A Comprehensive Guide for Food Manufacturers Listeria control is challenging because the organism does not behave like a one-time contamination event. Listeria monocytogenes can settle into food processing environments, survive cold conditions, and reappear after cleaning if a facility provides it with the right places to hide. That was the central concern raised during a two-day meeting held by the FDA, where experts discussed practical ways to reduce liste

A noncompliance record can create real pressure for a small meat or poultry plant. It may affect daily operations, staff time, product flow, and the relationship between a processor and inspection personnel. When a processor believes a record was issued in error, the appeal process matters. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has introduced a new web portal that gives small and very small meat and poultry processors another way to submit appeals of noncompliance rec

Do not eat, serve, or sell recalled fresh jalapeños from Sinaloa, Mexico distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors. FDA’s investigation is ongoing. August 10, 2026 The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating illnesses in a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Javiana infections linked to jalapeño peppers from Sinaloa, Mexico and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors to distributors, restaurants, and food service companies, including Mexic

A federal review of phthalates in food contact materials has reached a key scientific finding: some of these chemicals may need to be assessed together, not one at a time. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has evaluated eight ortho-phthalates used as plasticizers in food contact materials to determine whether they should be grouped for a cumulative risk assessment. The agency’s evaluation supports grouping four of them, DEHP, DCHP, DIOP, and DINP, as chemically or pharmac

Food safety culture has always been easy to praise and hard to prove. A site can say people care about food safety, but an auditor needs more than a slogan on a wall. They need to see how leaders make decisions, how employees raise concerns, how teams respond to mistakes, and whether daily behaviors match the written program. That is the shift at the heart of SQF Code Edition 10. Food safety culture is no longer treated as a broad idea that sits beside the food safety managem

A food inspection line used to depend heavily on human attention at fixed points in the process. Operators checked samples, recorded test results, rejected suspect packs, and trusted that inspections happened on schedule. That model helped build modern food safety programs, but it has clear limits. People get pulled away. Paper records go missing. High-speed lines move faster than manual checks can comfortably follow. Automation and digitalization have changed that balance. F

The FDA is changing how it looks at food chemicals after they are already in the food supply. The agency has finalized a new systematic process for post-market safety reviews, a move meant to make chemical reassessments more consistent, transparent, and science-based. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also announced that it has started reassessments of two common food additives: butylated hydroxytoluene, known as BHT, and azodicarbonamide, known as ADA. The step matters b