#food-safety

#food-safety

Suzanna's Kitchen, a food processing company based in Georgia that focuses on homestyle and comfort foods, has recalled over 13,700 pounds of ready-to-eat grilled chicken fillets, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The chicken may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the bacterium that causes listeriosis. The USDA made the announcement on January 16, 2026, but the story only received widespread attention several days later.

You really don't need much to make a delicious baked potato - some oil, a little salt, and an oven rack - and the opportunity to make it into a meal is endless. But at the crux of it all, of course, is the potato itself. Even a delicious baking potato can have flaws, and if you notice that yours has some brown spots, there's usually no need to worry.

You probably already know that it's generally not a good idea to expose plastic - like food storage containers, for instance - to high temperatures. After all, it can cause chemicals in the plastic to leach into your food. It probably shouldn't come as a huge surprise, then, that it's also a bad idea to use plastic wrap under very high heat. This is because plastic wrap melts very easily when exposed to high temps,

To achieve tender, juicy perfection, chef Irvine's crispy fried pork spare ribs recipe involves wrapping a rack of ribs tightly in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil after they've been seasoned and have had time to rest before oven cooking. But the plastic! Won't the heat from the oven melt it? In short, no. In a similar rib recipe for Food Network, Chef Irvine specifically notes that at 225 degrees Fahrenheit, the plastic wrap won't get hot enough to melt.

Several popular American sweets have been urgently recalled and pulled from UK shelves due to an ingredient that makes them unsafe to eat. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued a food alert asking businesses and customers to return certain Jolly Rancher products that contain mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) and mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH). Mineral oil is not allowed in food in the UK, with the FSA warning it can pose a food safety risk if consumed regularly over a sustained period of time.

Refrigeration is one of the most important elements of a successful food safety program, regardless of whether you run a retail operation, catering service or restaurant. Smart refrigeration technologies allow for greater protection against spoilage, reduced time spent monitoring refrigerators/freezers and the ability to provide inspections without the need for manual monitoring. Keep reading to find out how smart refrigeration technology works, and the ways in which it protects your business.

I'm buying sashimi-grade fish from Japan and they're questioning, Well, we don't know the water, so how do we know it's sashimi grade?' Well, it is sashimi grade, this stuff's eaten raw all over the world and, just because our rules don't fit their rules, they're questioning it I've got a salt chamber for ageing fish but they obviously don't like the idea of ageing stuff.

Actually, no. It's best not to let dishes soak for more than an hour or two; and if the dishes have dairy, eggs, or meat, that should be more like 30 to 60 minutes. Edmund "Ed" McCormick, food science and formulation consultant and CEO of Cape Crystal Brands told our sister site, Chowhound, ""It only takes minutes for the dissolved nutrients of the submerged food to break down, releasing carbs, proteins, and lipids, which comprise a bacteria diet.""

Nestle has announced a widespread recall of several key infant nutrition products across Europe, including its SMA, BEBA, and NAN infant and follow-on formulas. The move comes amid concerns over potential contamination with a toxin that could induce nausea and vomiting in infants. The recall, which began on a smaller scale in December, affects products sold in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and Britain.

Commonly canned fish, like salmon, sardines, anchovies, and mackerel all contain little bones that are safe, even enjoyable, to eat. During the canning process, the fish is pressure-cooked at high temperatures, which softens the bones to the point that they become tender and brittle. In canned salmon, the pale vertebrae often flake apart easily and are rich in calcium. Sardine and anchovy bones are even smaller and usually go unnoticed, disintegrating with mastication.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has suspended the Safe Food for Canadians licence of Goodfood a Montreal-based meal kit and grocery delivery service. There is no recall associated with this suspension, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said in a news release published on Wednesday. Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, food businesses that manufacture, process, preserve, or package food to be sent across provincial or territorial borders are required to hold a licence.

Nothing beats the whimsy of a beautiful gingerbread house. Yet, these decorations raise an important debate. Should we be eating our meticulously crafted creations? Or keeping them for show? There's a definite "point of no return," but I've been eyeballing my own masterpiece, and cannot decide when that is. According to the USDA, cookies can last up to three weeks at room temperature. Frustratingly, though, I can't find any gingerbread-specific guidance.

Where raw milk is concerned, the issue is not one of product branding but one of consumer safety, as raw milk isn't pasteurized. Pasteurization kills harmful bacteria that can cause food-borne illness, including Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella. During the pasteurization process, milk is heated to a temperature high enough to neutralize dangerous pathogens and held at that temperature long enough to get the job done

When it first reaches you, the idea of seafood is one of cleanliness. Maybe it's the associated freshness of the ocean, or its reputation as a healthy food. However, underneath upscale presentations or coastal dreaming, there is a complex and opaque part of the global food system at work, and it's not always at the front of mind when shopping for fish and seafood.

Nobody's perfect, and that's as true for restaurants as it is for people. Google your favorite restaurant right now and odds are you will find at least one review so negative it makes you wonder if the reviewer visited the same restaurant. Every restaurant gets bad reviews now and then, but something appears to be wrong at Sirloin Stockade, the eight-location steakhouse buffet that is routinely criticized for the same issues across four states.

Regulations are becoming stricter, customers expect the highest quality, and even small mistakes can have serious consequences, from product recalls to delivery delays. Transporting liquids or powdered substances requires particular care, as contamination at any point can create major problems. A solution that has proven effective in practice is the use of certified ibc containers.

You can do everything you're supposed to do when it comes to keeping your cutting board clean, but all too often, unseen residue from different foods remains on the surface. Even juices can slip into the fibers of a wood cutting board. This not only means you're getting unwanted flavors mingling together, which can taint an entire meal; it also means the bacteria of various foods can cross-contaminate one another.

'A lot of people will typically just either put a fish on a plate and Saran-wrap it ... or they'll just Saran-wrap the fish,' Le explains. 'What I like to do is wrap my fish in a paper towel; it absorbs all the moisture.' Le adds that the moisture released by the fish will start to degrade it over time.

Vega Farms Inc., based in Dixon, issued the recall on Dec. 5 for its branded eggs sold in 12-count cartons and 30-count flats, CPDH officials said in a notice. The affected products, sold in the Sacramento and Davis areas, carry the handler code 2136 and include items supplied to restaurants and farmers markets. The recall covers cartons and flats marked with Sell By dates of Dec. 22, 2025, and earlier.

Deciding which snacks to pack when you're planning a road trip is essential. Hunger pangs can strike when the next rest stop is still miles away, so having something to snack on in the car is imperative. Even once you arrive at a rest stop, finding appropriate food for the whole family can be tricky and expensive. Planning ahead and packing snacks that you can eat when you stop is a good idea, too.

It's the focal point of any festive gathering - but the responsibility of providing Christmas dinner can trigger monumental stress. From securing the Brussels sprouts, crafting a timeplan and basting the turkey, it takes military-level planning. Even working out when to buy all of the ingredients can cause a headache - as you don't want any of the essentials to spoil before the 25th.

If you're in a place where the wind slices through your coat, the back porch can feel as reliably frigid as any stainless steel appliance, but food safety doesn't run on vibes. The USDA draws a very firm line at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Perishable foods need to stay at or below that temperature at all times. Anything warmer slips into the bacterial "danger zone," where unfriendly organisms like salmonella and staph begin multiplying more quickly.

Ice cream scoops should be washed under running water whenever the server switches to a different flavor. Unfortunately, what you often see is a hotel pan insert filled with cloudy water that employees use for the scoops. We pointed this out in our list of ice cream shop red flags to avoid. At the beginning of a shift, someone usually fills the stainless steel pan or bain marie pot with warm water.