Under-eights should not drink slushies containing glycerol, say doctors https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/12/under-eights-should-not-drink-slushies-containing-glycerol-say-doctors #Children'shealth #Softdrinks #Foodsafety #Health
Are Foodborne Illnesses and Deaths in the U.S. Worsening? New Data on Recalls Explain
Despite headlines, there were fewer food recalls in 2024 than in 2023, but more people died from food poisoning linked to outbreaks
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/food-recalls-are-down-but-food-poisoning-deaths-are-up/
While I'm thinking about microplastics, I'd love to know about new steps you've taken recently to reduce your microplastic exposure and how they are working out.
I'd also love to know if you have microplastic exposure tips that you find people aren't aware of but you wish they were.
One of my "hobbies" is avoiding microplastics.
They can be found (among other places) in a shocking number of global table salt brands. 1/3
Health inspection scores for Cobb County restaurants and other food services from February 28 to March 6, 2025 
#CobbCounty #restaurants #FoodSafety
If you cease to measure or discuss something it no longer exists:
The US Department of Agriculture eliminated two committees on food safety, the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, with "... an annual combined budget of $300,000 for staff support and travel reimbursement..."
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/usda-eliminates-two-food-safety-advisory-committees-members-say-2025-03-07/
h/t @jgkoomey
https://mastodon.energy/@jgkoomey/114132614995903810
#USDA #PublicHealth #FoodSafety #misinformation #disinformation
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture has eliminated two committees that advise it on food safety, the agency said on Friday, raising concerns about government oversight of the food supply as the Trump administration seeks to downsize the federal bureaucracy and slash costs.
The USDA eliminated the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, a spokesperson said.
The committees provided scientific advice to the USDA and other federal agencies on public-health issues related to food safety, said the non-profit consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports. Representatives of the group had served on both committees, according to USDA websites.
The committees were terminated under an executive order aimed at reducing bureaucracy, the agency spokesperson said.
Committee members were informed of the termination of the microbiological committee on March 6, according to an email from USDA received by committee members and seen by Reuters."
#usda #foodsafety #Tuskshutdown #standupforscience
Executive order shuts down uncompensated scientist committee work on microbiology of pathogens in meat and poultry.
When reinstated, charge for your time., #scientists. Suspect to this #regime if you don’t. Commoninterest plot and all that.
Food Safety Magazine: Key Federal Food Safety Advisory Committees, NACMCF and NACMPI, Have Been Terminated https://www.food-safety.com/articles/10196-key-federal-food-safety-advisory-committees-nacmcf-and-nacmpi-have-been-terminated #foodsafety #recalls #food #foodsupply
From Josh Marshal at TPM:
"NEW: The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods is (or was) an advisory committee housed within the USDA which provides outside expert advice to advance food safety across the US and across different levels of govt. It was ordered disbanded this afternoon.
...I'm told it's a pretty key part of the web of oversight that keeps the food we eat safe and generally not killing us."
Hmm, if you are a fan of Japanese pickled veggies and shop at Tokyo Central or Marukai (Los Angeles), giant recall for botulism.
America’s #Food Safety Is Now in the Hands of Don Jr.’s Hunting Buddy
As federal #health agencies are gutted with abandon, a Florida attorney with a history of hunting with the president’s son has been put in charge of #foodsafety at the #FDA, overseeing the nation’s food supply, infant formula, and more. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/food-safety-donald-trump-jr-kyle-diamantas-hunting-buddy #oligarchy #cronyism
#FDA Staffed Up to Review #AI and #FoodSafety. Those Hires Are Now Gone.
Teams evaluating high-tech surgical robots and insulin-delivery systems were gutted by #Trump layoffs even though industry fees, not taxpayers, financed the employee salaries.
#musk #doge #takeover #takedown
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/health/fda-trump-layoffs-device-and-food-safety.html
Health inspection scores for Cobb County restaurants and other food services from February 14 to February 20, 2025 #CobbCounty #restaurants #FoodSafety
US #FDA is asking some of its recently fired scientists if they will come back to their jobs, including some employees reviewing #ElonMusk's brain implant company, #Neuralink….
The FDA plans to rehire around 300 people in total, per 4 sources w/secondhand knowledge of the situation, following #Trump's rush last week to fire employees at the agency responsible for reviewing #drugs, #FoodSafety, #MedicalDevices & #tobacco.
#law #USpol #DOGE #PublicHealth #health #science
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-asks-fired-scientists-return-including-some-reviewing-musks-neuralink-2025-02-22/
From weather apps to taxes: the trickle-down effects of Trump’s federal worker firings https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/20/trump-federal-worker-firings-impact #Trumpadministration #USdomesticpolicy #UShealthcare #DonaldTrump #USpolitics #UStaxation #Foodsafety #ElonMusk #USnews
CFIA RECALL
Date: 2025-02-19T12:00:00
Product: Palm Bites brand Date Squares recalled due to Salmonella
Details: The affected products are being recalled from the marketplace due to possible Salmonella contamination.
More: https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/palm-bites-brand-date-squares-recalled-due-salmonella
#Canada #foodsafety #recall
This seems important: "Jim Jones, who joined the agency in September 2023, cited “indiscriminate” layoffs to 89 staff members, including key technical experts. In his resignation letter to the acting #FDA commissioner, Sara Brenner, seen by Bloomberg News, Jones said the cuts would make it “fruitless” to continue in his role given the #TrumpAdministration’s “disdain for the very people” needed to implement food safety reforms." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/18/fda-food-head-quits-trump
Scientists found a way to clean up #methylmercury, a dangerous pollutant that builds up in our #environment due to human activities. Fish & flies can be engineered to break down this form of #mercury and remove it from their bodies as a less harmful gas, tackling related #pollution & #foodsafety issues. Species at the top of #foodwebs, incl. humans, can accumulate #mercury at levels that harm neural & reproductive health: https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/february-2025/scientists-engineer-fish-and-flies-to-clean-up-toxic-mercury #health #synbio
