Food Safety

Listeria : Old, Tough Germ
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
L. monocytogenes is not new. What is relatively new is the recognition that L. monocytogenes bacteria may be spread in food. It has been only in the past decade that researchers have recognized L. monocytogenes as an agent of food-borne illness.

Benzene Levels in Soft Drinks and Other Beverages
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate may be added to beverages to prevent the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and molds. Benzoate salts also are naturally present in some fruits and their juices, such as cranberries.

Irradiation: Safer Food
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
A measured dose of radiation can kill bacteria on or in food before it is shipped to stores, protecting consumers from potentially deadly food poisoning. And, no, it won't make your dinner glow in the dark.

Food Safety Crucial for People with Lowered Immunity
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Food-borne microorganisms cause tens of millions of cases of intestinal illness each year in the United States. For most healthy people, the distressful vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea are blessedly short-lived.

Mad Cow Disease Emergency Respond
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
When Food and Drug Administration investigator Scott Nabe arrived at the Columbia River Gorge that separates Washington and Oregon in December 2003, he wasn't paying attention to the stunning beauty described by explorers Lewis and Clark nearly 200 years

Avoiding Mad Cow Disease
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Import restrictions and rigorous animal feed rules are designed to keep BSE, and the associated human neurological disease, out of the United States. Evidence suggests that certain contaminated cattle feed ingredients are the source of BSE infection

Campylobacter: Food Poisoning Leader
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Though not exactly a household word, Campylobacter causes millions of cases of food-borne illness every year. FDA is working to stem widespread contamination in poultry and increasing resistance to antibiotics.

Tips for Safer Seafood
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Generally, seafood is very safe to eat, says Phillip Spiller, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Seafood. 'On a pound-for-pound basis, seafood is as safe as, if not more safe than, other meat sources. But no food is completely safe

Listeria Contamination in Foods
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a harmful bacterium that can be found in a variety of foods. In pregnant women, L. monocytogenes-caused illness can result in miscarriage, fetal death, or severe illness or death of a newborn infant.

Foods and Cosmetics Safety
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Prompted by increasing concerns over the use of untested chemicals as food preservatives, Harvey Wiley, M.D., chief chemist of the Agriculture Department's Bureau of Chemistry, set out to investigate whether such preservatives should be used in food

Food Safety: An Interview With Joseph A. Levitt
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
As director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Joe Levitt is responsible for programs aimed at ensuring the safety of the nation's food supply.

High-Tech Tools for Food Safety Sleuths
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The need for speed in identifying bacterial food contaminants has spawned new techniques such as a DNA probe that FDA scientists developed. Other high-tech tools help analyze food for harmful chemicals.

Toward Safer and More Effective Drugs, Food and Medical Products
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
New technologies and tools have been developed as a direct result of the nation's decade-long effort to understand the entire sequence of the molecule that holds the genetic information that makes us who we are.

Pesticides in Foods
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The levels of pesticide residues on infant foods and adult foods that infants and children eat are within tolerances set by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a recent FDA report.

Viruses Approved as a Food Additive
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Not all viruses harm people. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a mixture of viruses as a food additive to protect people. The additive can be used in processing plants for spraying onto ready-to-eat meat and poultry products to protect consume

Mad Cow Disease: Two Forms of CJD
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Another human TSE, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, in its classic form, occurs worldwide at a rate of approximately one case per 1 million people per year. Classic CJD, unlike its new variant, nvCJD, is not known to be caused by consuming food made from cows

PCBs in Food and Environment
by Health Canada
Low levels of PCBs are found in the environment, and as result, in foods. The presence of these contaminants in foods and the environment means that everyone can be exposed to very low levels of PCBs.

International Food Safety : Being Cautious
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The United States is not opposed to European countries adopting the precautionary principle, Carnevale adds, so long as it is not directed solely against foods they import from the United States.

Deli Items May Dish Up Dose Of Listeria
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Causes of listeriosis, a food-borne illness, have been traced to deli foods, some soft cheeses, and other common foods. Though this bacterial infection may not produce symptoms in healthy people, it can cause miscarriage and be deadly to people

FDA Asks Shoppers About Food Label Formats
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Five format designs with five food products were used in this survey. Participants were asked to perform tasks that could show how well the formats could be used to compare nutrient differences between like products, and to choose the format they consider