Carmen Rottenberg, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service administrator is leaving the government after two decades of federal service.  Rottenberg, an attorney, is moving to the private sector. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the appointment of Paul Kiecker to serve the FSIS Administrator. Kiecker will be assuming the top job with Rottenberg’s departure. “Ensuring the safety of America’s food supply is USDA’s most important responsibility and one that Carmen carried out with…

Raw intact beef from Brazil is again eligible for export to the United States beginning with cattle slaughtered on or after Feb. 21, 2020. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue had suspended all imports of fresh beef from Brazil because of “recurring concerns about the safety of the products intended for the American market.” That USDA ban on Brazilian raw intact beef was imposed on June 22, 2017, and was ultimately USDA’s answer to the…

Australian authorities have opened a comment period on a review of food safety management tools for the foodservice and retail sector. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has released a discussion paper, which is the first stage in a review of food safety management standards in Chapters 3 and 4 of the Food Standards Code. “In June 2018 the Australia and New Zealand ministerial forum on food regulation noted the increase of foodborne illness outbreaks…

Ma Anand Sheela, one of the people behind the largest bioterrorism attack in U.S. history, is in the spotlight again. Amazon Studios has set up a film adaption of the story, titled “Sheela,” per Mike Fleming Jr. with Deadline.  Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the actress, singer, producer and winner of the 50th Miss World pageant will star as Ma Anand Sheela in the film. The film is expected to raise awareness of the serious health threat…

Researchers have analyzed what happens when a species of Yersinia switches into attack mode. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is transmitted via contaminated food. When it arrives in the intestine of the warm-blooded host, it secretes the cytotoxic necrotizing factor (CnfY) toxin, which triggers acute inflammatory reactions and increases the effect of other pathogenic substances. Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) in Germany examined RNA thermometers, which signal to the bacteria whether they are in the host. With colleagues…

Finnish authorities are investigating a company for allegedly buying foreign game meat and selling it as a domestic product. Joupin Meklari Oy is suspected by officials of buying, selling and storing items such as venison products, in a way that is noncompliant with regulations. Police have also opened a preliminary investigation into the case. The company, based in the South Ostrobothnia region of the country, is believed to have bought thousands of pounds of foreign…