Latest from Food Politics: Pet food safety and other issues: a short roundup

As is my wont, I collect items about pet food. Safety The CDC’s web page on pet food safety makes three main points: Pet food and treats can sometimes be contaminated with germs that make people and pets sick. CDC does not recommend feeding raw pet ...

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By Marion Nestle August 13 2026 Pet food safety and other issues: a short roundup As is my wont, I collect items about pet food. Safety The CDC’s web page on pet food safety makes three main points: Pet food and treats can sometimes be contaminated with germs that make people and pets sick. CDC does not recommend feeding raw pet food or treats to dogs and cats. Talk to a veterinarian for advice on how to maintain a safe and healthy diet for your pet. The FDA’s webpage on pet food recalls lists 12 in 2026 so far.   Of these, 3 are due to foreign contaminants 5 are due to inappropriate levels of vitamin D or thiamine 4 are caused by listeria, salmonella, or other microbial contamination Examples: APHA reveals Salmonella findings in animals and pet food: Reports of Salmonella in raw meat-based pet food in the United Kingdom have declined again from the record levels seen in 2022.The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) collected data on Salmonella from animals, feeding stuff and animal by-products (ABP) in England, Wales and Scotland. Read the full story Darwin’s pet food tests positive for Listeria and Salmonella: The FDA has again found bacterial contamination in Darwin’s Natural Pet Products dog food and the producing company, Arrow Reliance, is again refusing to recall its products. Read the full story Other issues of interest Blog: Humanization vs. anthropomorphism in pet food marketing, formulation: Distinguishing between humanization and anthropomorphism has implications for pet food formulation and marketing. Read more Asia’s drug smugglers exploiting pet food as their Trojan Horse: Pet food seen as an innocuous vehicle for those looking to transport drugs over borders. Read more Cat owners on diets may be good market for insect-based pet foods: Certain factors may influence which pet owners are willing to give insects a chance as dog and cat food ingredients. Read more Comment Pet food, as I keep saying, is a category of the overall food system.  What happens with human foods also occurs in pet foods.  We have one, united food supply. ____________________ Arriving Sept 8. For a 30% discount, pre-order here using code UCPSAVE30. The post Pet food safety and other issues: a short roundup appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts Dogs and cannabis edibles: readers weigh in Weekend warning: pets and cannabis edibles   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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Latest from Food Politics: FDA's new rules on produce safety

I’ll say this again.   No, Cyclospora is not a food industry conspiracy to keep people from eating real foods.   It is a serious illness that has put plenty of people in hospitals and killed at least two. At Monday’s MAHA press conference (see ...

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By Marion Nestle August 12 2026 FDA’s new rules on produce safety I’ll say this again.  No, Cyclospora is not a food industry conspiracy to keep people from eating real foods.  It is a serious illness that has put plenty of people in hospitals and killed at least two. At Monday’s MAHA press conference (see yesterday’s post), the FDA announced: Finally, though not part of today’s announcement, with respect to microbiological food safety, FDA will be publishing tomorrow a final guidance document titled “Guide to Minimize Biological Hazards in ready-to-eat fresh-cut produce.” This final guidance is intended to help manufacturers and processors of fresh-cut produce comply with applicable FDA requirements and 21 CFR Part 117 titles current good manufacturing practices, hazard analysis, and risk-based prevention controls for human food. The announcement: Guidance: Guide to Minimize Biological Hazards in Ready-to-Eat Fresh-Cut Produce The guidance represents the current thinking of FDA on this topic. It does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations. The announcement says the new guidance will: Update, correct, and clarify the FDA’s 2018 Guide to Minimize Food Safety Hazards of Fresh-Cut Produce Clarify that the guidance applies only to ready-to-eat fresh-cut produce with a water activity above 0.85 (a water content high enough to support microbial growth) Add another example of an antimicrobial substance that can be used as a process control in the production of fresh-cut produce Provide additional examples of a supply chain program to control pathogens in a fresh-cut processing facility Provide additional recommendations on time/temperature controls The new guidance: Guide to Minimize Biological Hazards in Ready-to-Eat Fresh-Cut Produce: Guidance for Industry These are nonbinding recommendations. They are aimed at processors and manufacturers, not growers. They deal with contaminants on produce entering the processing plants and with those that might occur during processing, as a result of: Unclean water supply Poor worker hygiene Inadequate plumbing and sewage disposal Inadequate hand washing Inadequate product washing They also cover such matters as supplier verification: conducting hazard analyses, onsite audits, sampling, and testing. Comment What they do not do is say anything about irrigation water, the most likely cause of the Cyclospora outbreak. Here is Bill Marler on the FDA’s recent history of inadequate attention to irrigation water. Pre-harvest agricultural water is the clearest case of an element written and then withdrawn. The 2015 rule set a geometric mean of no more than 126 colony-forming units of generic E. coli per 100 mL and required growers to test against it. The compliance dates were pushed back, enforcement discretion was announced before the first of them arrived, and in May 2024 the criterion and the testing requirement were replaced outright by an annual assessment in which the grower evaluates his own water and decides for himself what to do about it. I walked through that record this week in connection with the jalapeños out of Sinaloa. Nine years, three delays and a repeal, and not one farm ever had to hit the number. Let’s hope the FDA gets on this. It also needs to do a whole lot more than nonbinding guidance. The FDA needs the authority to require companies to produce food safely, and hold them accountable if they do not. If it does not have this authority, it needs to get Congress to authorize it. ____________________ Arriving Sept 8. For a 30% discount, pre-order here using code UCPSAVE30. The post FDA’s new rules on produce safety appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts The Cyclospora outbreak: an everyone-is-at-fault system failure: “LettuceGate” Closing the GRAS loophole? It’s about time, but is that all? Update on the Cyclospora outbreak: What to do?   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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