Happy Tuesday! It’s March 25th, 2025. Stay informed with today’s top food safety headlines.

What to know: When McDonald’s launched a brief food safety ad at the end of 2024, it raised eyebrows in an industry that typically avoids such topics — especially after an E. coli outbreak tied to Quarter Pounders sickened 49 people across 10 states, hospitalized 10, and caused one death, prompting the chain to temporarily pull items and investigate suppliers.

Patrick Quade, CEO of DineSafe, IWasPoisoned and SafelyHQ, recently pointed out this anomaly in a LinkedIn post, noting that despite McDonald’s estimated $1 billion U.S. advertising budget, the ad ran for just four days with a media spend of less than $700,000 — barely a blip at under 0.1 percent of their total ad expenditure.

President Trump plans to nominate Susan Monarez to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a post on his social media platform.

Monarez is not a medical doctor but does hold a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology. She has 20 years of experience in government jobs.

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Scientists at the USDA’s Argiculture Research Service have demonstrated the potential of a form of whole genome sequencing for the early detection of Salmonella on food contact surfaces.

The research into long-read whole genome sequencing (WGS) could give food processors more time to initiate sanitation of surfaces before biofilms are formed.

What to know: Poland has a solid system to monitor fish product safety but its effectiveness is weakened by issues with training and Listeria sampling.

An audit by DG Sante took place in May and June 2024 to evaluate the control system for fishery products. Six recommendations were made. The last audit on the topic was in 2020.

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Suspected food fraud and non-compliance cases discussed by European countries have continued to fall.

The number of notifications reported was 214 in February 2025 which is down from 220 in January and 318 in February 2024.