Editor’s note: FDA’s Scott Gottlieb and Stephen Ostroff posted this joint blog under the title “FDA Update on Traceback Related to the E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak Linked to Romaine Lettuce” from their vantage points as FDA commissioner and FDA deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, respectively. For a different view on this topic, please see “Counterpoint: FDA traceback procedures show chokepoints.” The FDA continues to investigate the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections…

Stic Harris Courtesy of FDA Stic Harris, DVM, MPH, has been the director of FDA’s Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network (CORE) since August 2017. He is responsible for the agency’s surveillance, response, and post-response activities associated with outbreaks of illnesses caused by food, dietary supplements, and cosmetics. In many ways, Harris defies the stereotype of a government official, with professional incarnations that include college athlete, professional hockey player, epidemiologist, veterinarian, congressional fellow, and biodefense…

As part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Food and Drug Administration issued on May 27, 2016, a final rule to require domestic and foreign food facilities, with some exceptions, to address hazards that may be introduced with the intention to cause wide-scale harm to public health. These food facilities are required to identify significant vulnerabilities and take steps to minimize or prevent them. The first compliance date is July 26, 2019. Ryan Newkirk,…

Editor’s note: This column by FDA’s Steven Musser and Eric L. Stevens was originally published on the agency’s blog. FDA is laying the foundation for the use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) to protect consumers from foodborne illness in countries all over the world. We recently traveled to Geneva to join a meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international organization that works to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade. There, we…

Editor’s note: This column was originally published by the Food and Drug Administration as a Voice Blog. We have made dramatic changes in our response to complex, potentially high-risk food safety situations that may be difficult to address quickly. Almost a year ago, we heard concerns that FDA was not doing enough to ensure that companies promptly and effectively initiate recalls of potentially dangerous food products in those rare instances in which a firm is not…

Editor’s note: This interview was originally published by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) heralded a new era of enhanced collaboration between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its counterparts in state governments across the country. State officials were instrumental in providing comments to help FDA create regulations that take into account the complexities of food production and are designed to be flexible and practical while meeting the…