The deadline for nominations for awards to be presented  by the International Association for Food Protection this year at its annual conference is Feb. 16. The categories range from the Black Pearl Award for corporate excellence in food safety to travel scholarships for food safety students who want to attend the IAFP annual conference. You are not required to be an IAFP member to submit nominations for most of the awards. Nominations for all awards,…

Officials in Germany and Denmark have reported low levels of pesticide residues in food. A report, published by the German Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL), is based on results from 20,283 food samples as part of official controls in 2019. Selection of samples was largely risk-based, which means local authorities looked more at food that had caused issues in the past. In 2019, Germany issued 38 Rapid Alert System for…

Lancaster Foods LLC is recalling processed butternut squash items because they may be contaminated with Listeria Monocytogene. This recall comes after two other butternut squash product recalls from Pero Family Farms Co. LLC and Publix Super Markets Inc. because of possible Listeria contamination. There has been no confirmation as of this posting that the Lancaster Foods recall is connected to the other two. The recalled items were distributed mainly through retail stores in North Carolina,…

Food poisoning has been the main food safety concern of surveyed Japanese people for almost every year since 2008, according to a study. Food poisoning was ranked as the top food safety related hazard causing concern in 10 of the past 11 surveys from 2004 to 2018. However, the number of cases has decreased in the past 15 years with 1,330 infections in 2018, reported the study published in a journal managed by the Japan…

Researchers at the University of Georgia are studying the risk of Listeria monocytogenes developing a tolerance to sanitizers, with a specific focus on fresh produce production plants. The project, titled “Possibility, duration and molecular predictors of sanitizer tolerance in Listeria monocytogenes,” is examining the potential for resistance to chlorine and quaternary ammonium compounds. The research will evaluate how different sanitizer levels and lengths of exposure affect the degree of tolerance in selected Listeria strains. Listeria…

A high number of Campylobacter infections and more cases of Salmonella infection linked to foods of non-animal origin have been identified in Sweden during a 10-year period, according to a new study. The document compiles reported foodborne illness for 2008 to 2018. There were more than 4,000 events of suspected or confirmed disease with 30,964 illnesses. During the period, 194 of the country’s 290 municipalities reported results from investigated incidents of foodborne illness to…

Implicated products in a new chocolate recall have dates covering the past year. Lake Champlain Chocolates launched the action because a consumer found a piece of plastic in a chocolate product from the company. The company reports that it sells chocolate products under several brand names, according to its recall notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration website. The products are in a variety of forms including gift packages, boxes and baskets. range from…