The Food Standards Agency is warning food business operators to be aware of fraudsters who are visiting food business premises claiming that they are from the Agency. The fraudsters claim that they are there to carry out inspections and then extract substantial amounts of money as a fixed penalty fee for the premises being allegedly unhygienic.

CHICAGO -- A new study from the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists, shows that microwave reheating of hotdogs for 75 seconds at high power may decrease risks from pathogens that cause foodborne illness.

This column, by the President and CEO of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, Tom Thornton, is a good reminder of the importance of ongoing research into our country’s food safety needs. The federal government is taking threats to the safety of our food supply seriously as evidenced by the recent announcement that a construction manager was selected.

Since the human response to infection is highly complex, research to understand how people fight infection is facilitated by studying how similar processes occur in simpler organisms. Zebrafish are becoming an important model for human disease, since they are easily handled, maintained and manipulated and many fundamental processes between zebrafish and humans are conserved.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) held a two-day conference on GMO risk assessment for human and animal health and the environment in Brussels on 14-15 September 2009, bringing together risk assessors from EU Member States, risk managers, and representatives from stakeholders including industry, consumer and environmental groups from the EU and beyond.

Since 1987, annual reports have been prepared to summarize results of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) pesticide residue monitoring program. Reports from Fiscal Years (FYs) 1987 to 1993 were published in the Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists/Journal of AOAC International.

The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food handlers, is now available at www.foodsafetyinfosheets.com Food Safety Infosheet Highlights: - 67 ill in UK outbreak linked to Godstone Farm in Surry; 13 ill in outbreak linked to the Pacific National Exhibition

The E.coli scare spreading across Britain is hurting recession-hit businesses in the Burnham and Highbridge area, the Weekly News can reveal. Four animal petting farms across England have been closed following an outbreak of the most serious E.coli O157 strain, which has infected 64 people and left nine children in hospital.

I was just at the North American Meat Processors annual meeting on September 10th, speaking on what they might expect in the new Administration in regards to food safety policy. As always, this was a lively, passionate and very concerned group trying to look into a crystal ball to interpret the real meaning of new regs and policies, public statements and rumors.