• June 7 marked the first ever celebration of the United Nations’ World Food Safety Day.  The theme for 2019 is that food safety is everyone’s business.   The United Nations has designated two of its agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), to lead efforts in promoting food safety around the world.
  • In late 2018, Frank Yiannis assumed the role of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, focusing his efforts on food safety issues.  In Remarks on World Food Safety Day, Deputy Commissioner Yiannis highlighted the global nature of food safety, “foodborne pathogens do not recognize boundaries or borders, so when it comes to protecting consumers, neither should we” and the role FDA plays in ensuring that consumers are confident in the safety of the food supply.
  • In the spirit of World Food Safety Day, Mr. Yiannis highlighted three key FDA initiatives: (1) the Food Safety Modernization Act; (2) the announcement of an initiative called the New Era of Smarter Food Safety, leveraging new and emerging technologies to further food safety goals; and (3) FDA’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy, specifically highlighting the implementation of the Nutrition Facts label and requiring that certain menus and vending machine labels include calorie information.