In light of the ongoing Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak that has been affecting dairy cattle herds in the U.S., the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) sampled and tested milk at retail to determine the presence of HPAI viral fragments.

To investigate the potential impact of more widespread adoption of food irradiation, CDC analyzed a decade (2009–2020) of U.S. foodborne illness outbreak data for four significant foodborne pathogens, and found 155 outbreaks linked to irradiation-eligible foods that had not been irradiated.

FDA recently revealed results of a survey that found HPAI H5N1 genetic material in one in five retail milk samples; additional testing is required to understand the possible presence and risk of intact, infectious virus. Supported by other studies showing the efficacy of pasteurization against HPAI, FDA maintains its position that the U.S. milk supply is safe.

To address the spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a federal order that requires testing of dairy cows for the virus, as well as mandatory reporting.

In light of recently confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in U.S. dairy cows and now in one person, James (Jim) Jones, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods revealed that HPAI has become the “highest priority” within the agency’s Human Foods Program, and that the agency has set up a set up a dedicated Incident Management Team (IMT) to respond to the developing threat.

The Penn State Extension is offering two educational events for the food industry in April 2024: a free webinar on April 9 about third-party audits for dairy processors, and an in-person workshop on April 29 in Pennsylvania about small-scale commercial canning.

Researchers recently demonstrated the inadequacy of an industry standard quality test—Laboratory Pasteurization Count—for raw, organic milk, as it cannot sufficiently differentiate between groups of bacteria.

Researchers at USDA have developed a thermal pasteurization method based on Radio Frequency technology that effectively reduces the presence of Salmonella in intact eggs, in a fraction of the time required for traditional pasteurization.

Using whole genome sequencing (WGS), U.S. federal and state public health officials recently solved a multistate foodborne illness outbreak investigation that has been ongoing since 2014, with the most recent illnesses being reported in December 2023.

A recent study evaluated the effect of brine pH, salt level, storage temperature, and use of hydrogen peroxide to kill Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus, salt-tolerant pathogens known to contaminate cheese brine.