U.S. Food and Drug Administration

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The Keep Food Safe Blog is published at FoodSafety.gov. Authors from the USDA, FDA and CDC contribute to this important public health discussion forum that provides practical information and tips from experts to help you and your family stay food safe.

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Contributed Editor’s note: Three top Food and Drug Administration officials joined to write this FDA Voices blog, which was originally posted by the agency on Feb. 7, 2019.  When the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in 2011, one of the most challenging parts of Congress’ mandate was to transform the nation’s food safety system as it related to produce safety and implement a system of preventive controls that aimed to…
eggnog egg nog
Contributed Editor’s note: This consumer advice column, by FDA staff working with the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, was originally published on www.foodsafety.gov. Please remember, some premixed eggnog products sold in retailers’ refrigerated and frozen food departments are not made with pasteurized eggs and, like homemade eggnog, have been linked to illnesses. Raw milk also poses serious health risks because it has not been pasteurized to kill pathogens, bacteria and viruses. Homemade…
toxic glitter decorations
Contributed Your soon-to-be 6-year-old wants you to bake elaborately decorated holiday cookies and cakes in the shapes of of the season. You’ve found a cake-decoration video online, but it uses ingredients that make you wonder if they are safe to eat. The food and Drug Administration wants you to be aware that some decorative glitters and dusts promoted for use on foods may, in fact, contain materials that should not be eaten. Non-toxic does not…
FDA Faces Scott Loughan
Scott Loughan
Contributed My name is Scott Loughan and I am a Compliance Officer in the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Regulatory Affairs. I work in Vermont and I am a senior case officer in my division. It’s my job to protect the public health by working with manufacturers that FDA regulates to make sure they meet all federal laws, rules, and regulations. To do this I review and evaluate findings and evidence collected during inspections…
illustration best practices magnifying glass
Opinion Editor’s note: The FDA’s Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Stephen Ostroff combined efforts for this column.  We know how important it is to get produce safety right. Taking steps to prevent contamination of produce is the primary purpose of the Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. The FDA is committed to making sure that the standards designed to minimize the risk of contamination are workable, and that farmers have the…
FDA retail food safety video
Lee Dominick is one of the foodborne illness victims featured in the FDA's new training videos for retail settings.
Contributed Editor’s note: This is part of series of articles and opinion columns we are publishing in recognition of September as Food Safety Education Month. In an effort to enhance retail food safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released two video testimonials. Less than 10 minutes each, the videos educate retail and foodservice employees on the possible, dire consequences of poor food safety practices. The two videos feature testimonials of people who…
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…