Ever wonder about your milk jug or the foil on your yogurt cup? Single-service containers and closures have been used in the dairy industry for many years.  There are standards established by the FDA to ensure the production of sanitary containers and closures for milk and milk products. The standards set down specific requirements for the plants that fabricate the containers. This includes blow molders for your plastic milk gallon and the paper and laminators for milk...Read More ›

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream.  How about when that spoonful of ice cream or big draw of a shake through the straw ends with the feeling of a knife stabbing the brain. Brain freeze.  Aka cranial cramp, ice cream headache or cold rush.  It is a recognized medical condition referred to as cold-stimulus headache. Want to impress your friends?  The medical term is spenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. One theory is, when the roof of the mouth come...Read More ›

  Over the course of several decades, it has been proven by researchers from hygiene authorities that wet hands are more capable of transferring bacteria than hands that are dry. The reason being is that existing moisture allows for bacteria and viruses to transfer to food, objects and solid surfaces through touch. However, leaving the restroom with dry hands is clear, but the subject of how we dry our hands is rarely focused on, especially since not all h...Read More ›

  Researchers have taken the next step in active packaging by developing a plastic film made with bacteria killing polymers, or numerous molecules all strung together. A method in which researchers have proven to be an effective approach in the fight against biofilms. Biofilms—a thin, slimy film of bacteria that can stick to a surface—increase bacterial resistance to antimicrobials, as well as to disinfectants, according to the Read More ›

Since the 1980s when the milk industry saw a decline in sales, they began campaigning with the slogan “Milk Does a Body Good” before evolving into “Got Milk?” But though the campaign promoted the health benefits, in today’s world consumers have a say in choosing if they want raw milk from a farm. Raw milk is defined as “milk from cows, goats, sheep, or other animals that have not been pasteurized,” according to The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). S...Read More ›

  In the last decade or so, petting zoos have been a major source for disease-causing bacteria including E. coli. However, the spread of the disease could be prevented if proper handwashing was practiced. In 2004, a 13-year-old girl named Katie Maness was taken to a State Fair in Raleigh, North Carolina. Katie and her parents stopped by numerous exhibits to pet cows, pigs and goats. However, one of the goats managed to knock Katie to her hands and knees on the mudd...Read More ›

  As the popularity of modern food trends continue to grow, so does the many food safety concerns associated with them; forcing food safety specialists to stay on their toes in the likelihood of an outbreak. Some of the most talked about food trends today involve some very controversial methods that have caused consumers to fall ill or even die. Several restaurants have flocked to the idea of keeping a hydroponic wall garden—a method of growing vegetation withRead More ›

The low-fat 1% chocolate milk including the low-fat flavored milks are making a comeback in schools and are now being reintroduced through the National School Lunch program, School Breakfast program and Smart Snacks. Due in part to educators who have come to the idea that the health benefits of low-fat 1% chocolate milk, and the vitamins and minerals associated with it, outweigh the drawbacks from some extra sugar. “Dozens of U.S. public schools have banned chocolate mil...Read More ›

From organic based to the blue box brand, mac and cheese is the go-to snack for most American consumers. But though America’s favorite processed cheese food is what every family serves, the food also serves up a hefty amount of phthalates. Phthalates are a class of chemicals that are considered to interfere with the body’s hormones, and are possibly dangerous to pregnant women and children.  Which, yikes—sounds bad. However, scientists haven’t been able to weigh i...Read More ›

  A small BBC investigation team discovered that iced coffee products from several coffee chains including Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee and even Starbucks were contaminated with a bacteria called fecal coliform. So, what is fecal coliform? No, it’s not fecal matter.  “It’s a large group of bacteria that can be found in feces," said Ben Chapman, a food safety specialist and an associate professor at North Carolina State University. "However, the bacteria can also...Read More ›

It’s no secret that household kitchen sponges play a key role in cross-contamination and harbor bacteria, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli during food preparation, increasing one's risk for infection. However, not all sponges handle foreign contaminates the same. In this study, it was found that chlorine levels were reduced by 24% after 30 minutes when cellulose sponges were used, but no such reaction occurred when the polyurethane sponges were t...Read More ›

CDC Health Information for International Travel (commonly called the Yellow Book) is published every two years as a reference for health professionals providing care to international travelers and is a useful resource for anyone interested in staying healthy abroad. The fully revised and updated CDC Yellow Book 2018 codifies the U.S. government's most current travel health guidelines, including pre-travel vaccine recommendations, destination-specific healthRead More ›

Handwashing is a hot topic in the world of food safety. Lack of proper handwashing procedures in food service and other sectors can lead to the spread of foodborne illness. Are current handwashing rules in need of updating? A new study suggests it may be time. According to research released by Rutgers Univer...Read More ›

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Quick Facts: 

• 20 million people get sick from norovirus each year, most from close contact with infected people or by eating contaminated food
• Norovirus is the leading cause of disease outbreaks from contaminated food in the US
• Infected food workers cause about 70% of reported norovirus outbreaks from contaminated fo...Read More ›

On April 4, 2017, the Canadian Brand Robin Hood Flour was recalled for Microbiological - E. coli. The E. coli was identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s food safety inspection. Robin Hood is in the process of removing the recalled product from the marketplace.

General Mills flour also took some heat when they had to recall several types of flour due to E. coli illnesses in 20...Read More ›

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  has published three waivers  to the now final Sanitary Transportation rule mandated by the  Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

 The waivers are for businesses whose transportation operations are subject to separate State-Federal controls....Read More ›

When my daughter turned 1, a routine toe prick revealed that her iron levels were low. Because our family doesn't eat much iron-rich red meat, the pediatrician advised that we feed our daughter spinach. Every. Single. Day. This was bad. My daughter had just entered a picky eating phase and leafy greens were "yuck." Things were going poorly until I made popsicles. These frozen treats were chock full of blended spinach, peanut butter, yogurt, carrots, other miscellaneous hea...Read More ›

For several years, legislative bodies throughout the country have struggled with the issue of whether to label food products as containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or bioengineered food. Congress and various states have wrestled with whether to require foods containing GMOs to be labeled as such, and, if so, what the label should look like. In July 2016, Congress voted to pass a GMO disclosure bill, establishing national standards for food labeling when foodsRead More ›

One of my former roommates was a straight edge punk-loving vegan for a while. Now he eats meat and drinks beer, but for a while he survived on rice and sriracha. Sometimes he left his steamed rice out overnight – making some egg-free fried rice the next day. This was before either of us knew much about Bacillus cereus and rice. Earlier this week Claire Lower from Lifehacker emai...Read More ›