FDA
Extends Comment Period for Salmonella and Tree Nuts
The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition extended the period for
submission of comments, and for scientific data and information related to its
planned assessment of human salmonellosis associated with eating tree nuts. The
new deadline is December 16, 2013.
The
risk assessment seeks to quantify the public health risk associated with eating
tree nuts potentially contaminated with Salmonella, the bacterium that
causes salmonellosis, and to evaluate the impact of risk-based preventive
controls.
A
call for comments, and for scientific data and information for the assessment
was published in the Federal Register of July 18, 2013. The FDA has extended
the submission period in response to requests for an extension to allow
interested persons additional time to submit information.
The
need for this assessment is underscored by outbreaks of human salmonellosis
linked to tree nuts over the past decade, by product recalls, and by Salmonella
isolation from tree nuts during surveys. In recent years, contamination with Salmonella
has been found in almonds, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts, Brazil nuts,
macadamia nuts and walnuts, among other types of tree nuts destined for human
consumption.
The
assessment will inform FDA policy and may be useful for owners and operators of
tree nut processing plants and other post-harvest facilities, among other
stakeholders.
Labels: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Tree Nuts, FDA Extends Comment Period for Salmonella and Tree Nuts, Risk Assessment on Salmonella and tree nuts