What to know: West Virginia lawmakers have made history by passing a groundbreaking bill that bans a slate of artificial food dyes and preservatives, positioning the state as a trailblazer in the fight for safer food.

House Bill 2354, approved by the state Senate on March 5, 2025, with a 31-2 vote, prohibits the sale of food products containing seven synthetic dyes and two preservatives, citing health concerns for children and families.

OPINION — By Darin Detwiler

The recent decision to eliminate the USDA’s National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and their National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) should alarm every American. This isn’t just about disbanding committees. It’s a clear signal that food safety — at the federal level — is no longer a top priority.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to Mariscos Procesados - CAMPRESA - S.A., a seafood processing facility in Nicaragua, for failing to comply with federal seafood safety regulations. The violations, identified during an inspection from Aug. 12-16, 2024, include deficiencies in the company’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for frozen mahi-mahi fillets in vacuum packaging.

What to know: Scientists have identified how a bacteria in the gut can act as a protective species against Salmonella infection.

A team at the University of Cambridge in England revealed a novel role for the commensal bacterium Enterocloster clostridioformis as helping to protect against salmonellosis.

The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.