The Food and Drug Administration will convene a public meeting on Oct. 21 to discuss its New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative that the agency says will build on the ongoing efforts to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act by incorporating new technologies to create “a more digital, traceable and safer system to help… read more

A food safety audit provides information about how good the total food safety program is and assures the processor how well it’s working. “Audits are a complement to testing,” Mr. Clark said . “They monitor and measure process control. Testing and auditing are used together.” Both approaches can be used in plants of all sizes…. read more

Testing for pathogens in products and plants is part of food safety, but not all of it. “The tests we provide are a look at what pathogens may be there,” said Mike Clark, a microbiologist and global marketing manager in molecular food diagnostics for Bio-Rad Laboratories. “But these tests are certainly not preventive.” The reason is, these… read more

While meat and poultry slaughterers and processors are always looking for ways to make their plants and products safe, they must embrace at least two approaches to accomplish these goals. They must take steps to prevent pathogens in the products they produce. In addition, and just as important, they must determine if there are pathogens… read more

Bakery foods, bread and prepared meals are among product categories generating increased demand for non-G.M.O. options, said Bethany Rahja, commercial analyst for Cargill’s global edible oils business in North America. Cargill offers an extensive non-G.M.O. ingredient portfolio that includes texturizers, sweeteners, fats and oils, starches, fibers, flour and ancient grains, cocoa and chocolate, Ms. Stauffer… read more

An outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes under investigation in Canada could be linked to a Listeria outbreak that has claimed the lives of two people and affected two dozen other individuals in the United States. As of Aug. 23, a total of 24 people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria have been reported from 13 states, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease… read more

While sanitation tasks are performed at the end of production shifts, they should never be considered an afterthought when it comes to operations at meat and poultry processing facilities. Sanitation plays a crucial role in the safe production of food. The Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) have developed guidances,… read more

Operators of processing facilities might encounter any number of reasons for not tackling the sanitation shift in-house. Whether the reasons stem from environmental issues, microbiological, staffing, leadership or otherwise, the benefits of outsourcing sanitation services are many. Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) provides contract sanitation services to processing plants facing issues which keep them from… read more

Food and beverage recalls initiated by the Food and Drug Administration during the first quarter of 2019 fell 36.5% to 99, the second lowest quarter since the third quarter of 2015 and the third lowest total since at least 2010, according to Stericycle Expert Solutions’ Recall Index. Stericycle Expert Solutions attributed the decline primarily to… read more

On Feb. 14, 2019, at the International Production and Processing Expo (I.P.P.E.) in Atlanta, the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia and the US Poultry and Egg Association (USPOULTRY) organized the educational session, “Salmonella and Campylobacter Control in Poultry Production and Processing – Meeting Food Safety Goals.” Along with the University of Georgia and USPOULTRY the event was put… read more