This report was published in September 2021 by the Food Safety Innovation Lab’s project on Situational Analysis of Food Safety Control Systems in East Africa. This landscape review of food safety programs and projects in East Africa highlights investment needs for reducing the burden of foodborne disease across the region.

In food safety, process pathway risk assessments usually estimate the risk of illness from a single hazard and a single food and can inform food safety decisions and consumer advice. To evaluate the health impact of a potential change in diet, we need to understand not only the risk posed by the considered hazard and food but also the risk posed by the substitution food and other potential hazards. We developed a framework to provide decision-makers with a multi-faceted evaluation of the impact of dietary shifts on risk of illness. Our case study explored exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) and aflatoxins through consumption of infant cereals and the risk of developing lung, bladder and liver cancer over a lifetime.

This report was published in March 2021 as part of the Food Safety Innovation Lab’s project on Assessing Food Safety Risks, Scientific Capability, and Food Industry Preparedness in Bangladesh. This landscape assessment analyzed the current status of food safety in Bangladesh and identified key gaps, challenges, and possible interventions.

This report was published in October 2020 as part of the Food Safety Innovation Lab’s project on Identifying Cost-Effective Interventions to Reduce E. coli and Other Contamination in Senegalese Groundnut Production and Consumption. It provides an overview of ongoing projects to increase food safety in Senegal and reviews the existing academic research on improving the safety of rice, maize, millet, groundnuts, and fish produced and consumed in Senegal.

This report was published in October 2020 by the Food Safety Innovation Lab’s project on Bacterial Contamination in Fresh Vegetables: Focusing Interventions in Cambodia. This landscape review of food safety efforts in Cambodia describes the current status of food safety governance, surveillance, research, partnerships, and opportunities.

A great variety of fruits and vegetables are available in the United States. These items are produced in various geographic regions by a diverse industry. Produce has been increasingly identified as a vehicle for disease outbreaks. Changes in consumption may explain this increase, but analyses of produce consumption are limited. Comprehensive assessments of the public health risks associated with produce depend on quantitative consumption data, including the population fractions and subgroups of consumers, the quantities consumed by these individuals, and the processing that occurs before consumption.

A multiyear interagency Listeria monocytogenes Market Basket Survey was undertaken for selected refrigerated ready-to-eat foods purchased at retail in four FoodNet sites in the United States. Food samples from 16 food categories in six broad groups (seafood, produce, dairy, meat, eggs, and combination foods) were collected weekly at large national chain supermarkets and independent grocery stores in California, Maryland, Connecticut, and Georgia for 100 weeks between December 2010 and March 2013.

Supplemental Materials for Journal of Food Protection Article

A great variety of fruits and vegetables are available in the United States. These items are produced in various geographic regions by a diverse industry. Produce has been increasingly identified as a vehicle for disease outbreaks. Changes in consumption may explain this increase, but analyses of produce consumption are limited. Comprehensive assessments of the public health risks associated with produce depend on quantitative consumption data, including the population fractions and subgroups of consumers, the quantities consumed by these individuals, and the processing that occurs before consumption. Here, we provide an analysis of nationally representative consumption estimates by estimating consumption frequencies, serving sizes, and processing forms for a variety of produce commodities based on 1999 through 2006 data from ‘‘What We Eat in America,’’ the dietary interview component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey performed by the National Center for Health Statistics

Notational analysis is an observational method in which a food employee’s actions can be recorded quickly and in the sequence that they occur. The notational analysis technique was initially employed to record the behavior of food employees by Clayton and Griffith (2004), who adapted the technique from the field of sports science.

RTI International, Tennessee State University, and Kansas State University conducted a national survey of U.S. adults using a Web-enabled panel survey approach. The purpose of the survey was to characterize home storage and refrigeration practices for a variety of refrigerated ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and consumers' knowledge and use of open date statements (e.g., "use by" or "sell by") among pregnant women, seniors, and the remaining population. The survey was funded through a grant from the National Integrated Food Safety Initiative of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (Grant No. 2004-51110-02177).

Up to 6% of children and 4% of the total US population have IgE-mediated food allergies. Accurate and informative food labeling is critical for these allergic consumers because they need to rely on strict avoidance to prevent potentially serious reactions.

Growth in international food trade and concern about terrorism has propelled food safety to a high position on many policymakers' lists of important policy issues. However, even in the absence of major trade-related outbreaks, foodborne illness is a costly problem

RTI, under contract with FDA, constructed this database on dietary supplement products sold on the Internet that contain animal ingredients. These ingredients are of interest because of the possibility of transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

This document served as a background paper for the Joint FAO/WHO Consultation held in Kiel, Germany on March 18-22, 2002. It discusses FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)'s approach to microbial risk assessment, outlines CFSAN's measures to involve interested parties in the risk assessment process, and discusses lessons learned by CFSAN regarding:

This document served as a background paper for the Joint FAO/WHO Consultation held in Kiel, Germany on March 18-22, 2002. It discusses the use of quantitative risk assessment in evaluating and comparing options for risk management

The USDA Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have joined together to produce the Predictive Microbiology Information Portal (PMIP). This portal is geared to assist food companies (large and small) in the use of predictive models, the appropriate application of models, and proper model interpretation. Our vision is that the PMIP will be the highway to the most comprehensive websites that brings together large and small food companies in contact with the information needed to aid in the production of the safest foods.

Listeria monocytogenes is readily found in the environment of retail deli establishments and can occasionally contaminate food handled in these establishments. Here we synthesize the available scientific evidence to derive probability distributions and mathematical models of bacterial transfers between environmental surfaces and foods, including those during slicing of food, and of bacterial removal during cleaning and sanitizing

The Chicago Department of Public Health, with support of the US Food and Drug Administration, has created a telephone questionnaire to be used by departments of public health to gather information that can help establish the relationship between dose of foodborne pathogens and health impacts.  The documents below are made available in both html (for viewing) and pdf (for printing).  In addition, the questionnaire, in both English and Spanish, is made available as a downloadable Microsoft Word document for editing so that it may be used by departments of public health in outbreaks they may investigate.

Research Triangle Institute (RTI) conducted a study for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to estimate the costs of a seasonal harvesting restriction on Gulf of Mexico oysters and a seasonal marketing restriction on the sale of Gulf Oysters for raw consumption.

Below you will find Word and PDF versions of the Federal Register Part IV released on January 6, 1993. This volume pertains specifically to the Department of Health and Human Services: Food and Drug Administration. All pages were recreated from the original, including text, charts, images and bibliographical references.

This is a scanned copy of the Federal Register, Vol. 56, No. 229, Wednesday, November 27, 1991, Proposed Rules. It addressed the FDA's regulatory impact analysis of proposed rules to amend the food labeling regulations in response to the 1990 amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The document includes: background information, discussion of the purpose of the regulatory impact analysis, a description of the proposed action, discussion of market failure, an economic impact analysis, discussion of options considered, and a discussion of international impacts. Numerous tables are included with supporting data.

his is the PDF version of the 56 FR No. 229 (1991) (Proposed NLEA) released on November 27, 1991 and preceded the final Federal Register Part IV released on January 6, 1993. This document pertains specifically to the Department of Health and Human Services: Food and Drug Administration. All pages were scanned from the original, including text, charts, images and bibliographical references.

In 2016, FDA published its risk assessment on the health risks of inorganic arsenic in rice and rice products. The assessment provides a quantitative estimate of lung and bladder cancer risk from long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic, and a qualitative assessment of potential non-cancer risks in certain vulnerable life stages.