CFA continues to show its commitment to sustainability with the news that, since 2017, its members have redistributed more than 29 million meals. These were primarily chilled ready meals, sandwiches, desserts, sandwich fillers, pies, soups and sauces. Redistribution of such large quantities is made possible through CFA members’ partners including FareShare and the UK’s largest redistributor of surplus food – Company Shop. Some meals were sold in CFA members’ staff shops at a discounted price. FareShare passes on the food to charities and community groups that provide to those in need, and Company Shop resells to its members, […]

The EU’s proposed potential changes to Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) legislation (CFA News #56) continue to attract attention. It is understood that next year (2023) the EC will engage with Member States to seek a common understanding of the rules. A recent European Court case has raised clarifying points regarding the interpretation of criteria and, could result in major changes to Lm criteria in the EU Microbiological Criteria for Foodstuffs Regulation 2073/2005 and, potentially, to established effective approaches to shelf life validation and verification of ongoing control. The expanding Industry Listeria Group (ILG) run by Karin Goodburn comprises more than 30 […]

The CFA members-only, confidential microbiological databases collect and store members’ sampling data for Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) and Bacillus cereus (B. cereus). CFA’s Lm survey was established in 2003 to assess and demonstrate the efficacy of the industry’s controls and provide for benchmarking. It comprises some 4 million food and production environment datapoints entered by CFA members, shared with fellow member contributors on a consolidated basis. This provides valuable benchmarking information for members and, when appropriate, the wider food industry via briefings by CFA. The consolidated Listeria and B. cereus datasets are available to all contributing CFA members. The B. cereus […]