The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has put out an alert regarding an international outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis in chicken, involving 335 cases across 14 European countries plus the UK, as well as the U.S.

A recent study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA’s NIFA), has estimated the economic burden of foodborne illnesses linked to flour and flour-based food products in the U.S. from 2001–2021 to be as high as $258 million. Salmonella and Escherichia coli were implicated pathogens.

This article looks back at the events of the 1993 E. coli outbreak associated with hamburgers served at Jack in the Box restaurants along the U.S. West Coast, examining the regulatory changes inspired by the fatal outbreak and its impact. Also discussed are the corporate and industry changes, spearheaded by Dr. David Theno, that set new standards for leadership and management in foodservice and food safety. 

A study has demonstrated the economic impacts of foodborne illness outbreaks on supply chains by observing the damages caused by the 2018 Escherichia coli outbreak that was linked to romaine lettuce grown in California.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has reviewed its investigation of a 2018–2019 foodborne illness outbreak involving chicken contaminated by a multi-drug resistant Salmonella Infantis strain, which was the first time that FSIS identified a strain as “persistent.”

The J.M. Smucker Company has voluntarily recalled many of its Jif® products in the U.S. and Canada due to possible Salmonella contamination.

A mysterious outbreak in October 2007, which affected about 450 people of all ages, was traced to table salt in which sodium chloride somehow had been replaced by sodium bromide, suggesting that food should be considered as a potential vehicle until it can be explicitly ruled out.