News

AI is helping fight antimicrobial resistance by finding new drugs, spotting resistant bacteria, tracking infections, and improving diagnostics in a faster, cheaper, and more sustainable way.

For more than 20 years, the UK and devolved governments have been tracking and limiting PFAS, and going forward they need to work with businesses, other groups, and the public to manage these chemicals, which can spread across borders.

EFSA assessed how meat storage conditions before consumption affect the growth of harmful and spoilage bacteria from slaughter through freezing and storage.

As part of its 2026 Business Plan, Safefood will deliver five in-person (not online) workshops on Gluten-free living in association with the District and Borough Councils of Northern Ireland. The primary audience for these workshops will be coeliacs and those with gluten sensitivity in Northern Ireland. Please see the attached tender for further details.

BRCGS is beginning the revision of Global Standard Food Safety Issue 9 through a public consultation to gather feedback from all stakeholders on the current standard.

The FSAI reported that 127 Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses in 2025, a 4.5% decrease on 2024. These included 102 Closure Orders, 23 Prohibition Orders and two Improvement Orders issued nationwide.

Chemicals make up all living things and foods, and many are natural and essential for a healthy diet. Some chemicals can be harmful, but usually only at high or long-term exposure levels. Scientists set safe limits to help regulators control chemicals in the food chain.

Late 2025 has seen a sharp rise in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds, triggering outbreaks in poultry and detections in some mammals. Despite this spread, the risk to the general public remains low.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has issued updated guidance on managing infant botulism notifications, outlining how suspected cases should be reported, assessed, and treated. The document highlights key risk factors, including food-related sources such as honey, alongside clinical signs and public-health response protocols.

The government has published Ireland’s Sixth NAP, building on the measures introduced in the Fifth Programme and adding a new mix of regulatory and non-regulatory actions.

Changing diets and an ageing population may be driving a rise in serious Listeria infections across Europe, according to the new EU One Health Zoonoses Report from EFSA and ECDC.

Cell-cultivated products are novel foods produced without traditional farming, such as raising animals or growing crops. They are created by taking plant or animal cells and cultivating them into edible material. The FSA and FSS’s CCP Sandbox Programme focuses specifically on products made from animal cells.