A new FAO publication looks into this question. The document, titled Microplastics in food commodities – A food safety review on human exposure through dietary sources, outlines the existing literature on the occurrence of microplastics and their associated contaminants in foods. It also estimates the dietary exposure of consumers to these materials; highlights some knowledge gaps with respect to their relevance to public health; and offers some recommendations for future work on microplastic particles to support food safety governance. Micro- and nanoplastics have been detected in fishery products and other food commodities, raising concerns about their impact on human health....

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It is the age of wisdom, it is the season of foodborne disease. Advances in microbiological risk assessment provide the spring of hope to overcome the despair caused by harmful foodborne bacteria. Two new publications were released this week that will help risk managers address microbiological-related food safety issues, namely: Listeria monocytogenes and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). These two reports are part of the series of microbiological risk assessments (MRA) published by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA). We spoke with Kang Zhou, FAO Food...

The World Health Organization (WHO) is going to introduce its Global Strategy for Food Safety (2022-2030) during a webinar on 17 October 2022 at 12:00-13:00 CET. In the hour-long session, the WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety will explain how WHO, partners and the members of the Technical Advisory Group on Food Safety are working to support Member States in the implementation of the strategy. The 73rd World Health Assembly approved the 8-year strategy in May of this year. The vision set forth in the strategy is to ensure that all people, everywhere, consume safe and healthy food so as...

The Global Conference on Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), held on 27-28 September 2022 in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, highlighted the need for a One Health approach to address antimicrobial resistance in food. Collaboration across sectors to promote human, animal, plant and environmental health would result in greater food safety, the conference heard. This Global Conference on Foodborne AMR is a forum where participants can learn, share ideas, and be empowered to adopt strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance in the food supply. The event was organized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), the Republic of Korea. This year's...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Danone have been collaborating to improve global nutrition and food safety knowledge and promote sustainable food systems since 2019 under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In this context, FAO and Danone set out to review the current trends and drivers linked to the emergence of new food allergens and reflect on future perspectives for this area.  These findings are shared in the joint review, Are alternative proteins increasing food allergies? Trends, drivers and future perspectives, recently published in the journal, Trends in Food Science & Technology. “As we search...

As part of an FAO project to defeat foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the first of a series of webinars in the Latin American and Caribbean region was held on 14-15 September 2022. The nearly 500 participants learned about the use of Codex Alimentarius texts, the impact they can have when it comes to keeping food safe from antimicrobial resistant organisms and residues. The webinar was called: “Guide and orientation for new Codex Alimentarius participants“. The second webinar “Basic Codex texts“ will be held on 7 December 2022 at 10:00 - 12:00 (GMT-5) in Spanish and English and the series...

FAO and WHO released a report today that reviews the food safety information currently available about seaweed harvested from both wild stocks and aquaculture and recommends further discussion as well as international guidance. The document reports that morbidities and mortalities linked to the consumption of seaweeds are rare, but cautions that the limited data raise concerns that certain hazards may be present in seaweed. These include: chemical hazards such as heavy metals (principally inorganic arsenic and cadmium), persistent organic pollutants (e.g. dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls), radionuclides and pesticide residues; microbiological hazards (e.g. Salmonella spp., Bacillus spp., and norovirus); physical hazards...

This week in Geneva, Switzerland, the Joint Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) is holding an in-person expert meeting to discuss interventions to control Salmonella in poultry and poultry meat. The secretariat is happy to host international experts from all six FAO regions; Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, Near East and North America. The meeting is in response to a request from Codex Alimentarius, as they are looking to update guidance and best practices for poultry as salmonellosis continues to be a significant public health concern. Although the JEMRA has addressed Salmonella in poultry in the...

Participants of a meeting that was co-hosted by FAO in Tel Aviv, Israel on 7 September 2022 visited a production facility that is in the process of developing cell-based food in nearby Rehovot. Following the session called ‘FAO and the Israeli Ministry of Health stakeholder roundtable meeting on cell-based food and the future of food security and food safety’, the 34 participants were able to see first-hand the technologies and techniques they had spoken about the day before. The international group saw a real-life example of the cell-based food production process as well as advanced equipment. As CEO,...

FAO and the Ministry of Health of Israel hosted a meeting on 7 September 2022 in Tel Aviv, Israel, where a group of researchers and developers gathered to discuss cell-based food. Speakers from different parts of the world focused on the products they are working on, how safety is (or will be) assured and their potential benefits to food security. Speaking on behalf of Sharon Alroy-Preis, Head of Public Health Services, and Pnina Oren-Shneidor, Director of the National Food Service, both with the Ministry of Health of Israel, Ziva Hamama, Head of Food Risk Management Department welcomed the 43 participants, highlighting...