The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) estimates that “Salmonella bacteria cause 1.35 million human infections and 26,500 hospitalizations in the United States every year. Of those infections, more than 23 percent are attributed to poultry consumption. Foodborne illness can have a devastating impact, both personally and financially, on people’s lives, the cost of which …
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The Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce is a publication that should be of interest to anyone in the food industry. Note that it is produced by the EWG – Environmental Working Group which is a non-profit environmental health organization. It contains testing data on 46,569 samples of non-organic fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables …
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The latest message from Alison Bodor, CEO of AFFI (the American Frozen Food Institute) provides updates on what’s happening in the FDA including changes that are important to all who produce and sell frozen foods as noted in the following report: FDA Structural Reform: AFFI has been part of a small and diverse coalition of …
Continue reading “Ready for a FDA or USDA Inspection? AFFI’s New Toolkit Provides Detailed Guidance”
You may already be familiar with the 8 foods that must be declared as major food allergens: 1) milk, 2) eggs, 3) fish (such as bass, flounder, cod), 4) crustacean shellfish such as crab, lobster, shrimp, 5) tree nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, 6) peanuts, 7) wheat, and 8) soybean. Now, effective January 1, …
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FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety Four Core Elements Just as companies such as Yum! Brands, Inc and others are using technology to improve and advance their businesses, the FDA’s new approach to food safety, known as the New Era of Smarter Food Safety leverages technology and other tools to create a safer, more …
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Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule on food traceability designed to facilitate faster identification and rapid removal of potentially contaminated food from the market, resulting in fewer foodborne illnesses and/or deaths. Foods subject to the final rule requirements appear on the Food Traceability List (FTL). The FTL includes fresh cut fruits …
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The current definition of “healthy” that you will find on many packaged foods is up for revision and it’s about time. The definition of “healthy” as a claim for nutrient content was established in 1994 and hasn’t been updated since. Avocados and Salmon Don’t Qualify as “Healthy”? Here’s something you may not know. The current …
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It’s a fact. We all want to know where the food we are buying comes from and that it is safe. Now “86% of U.S. consumers believe brand transparency is more important than ever before and 73% of consumers are willing to pay more for products that guarantee total transparency.” Enter StoryBird technology. It’s a …
by Keith Loria A new bill, introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), looks to create a single food safety agency under the department of Health and Human Services that would be responsible for keeping all food safe for market. The legislation, known as the Food Safety Administration Act, would ensure that a …
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The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) continues to work on behalf of frozen food manufacturers to address the control and prevention of Listeria Monocytogenes (Lm). On Friday, July 8, 2022, AFFI sent an update on this subject to all members prompted by an outbreak of Lm in Florida over the July 4th holiday believed to …
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On June 21st, we officially welcomed summer – a season of picnics, barbeques, and outdoor eating. While camping, hiking trips and family vacations abound so does the chance for foodborne illness to occur if proper food safety guidelines are not followed. Warm weather is the perfect breeding ground for foodborne bacteria to multiply rapidly, thus …
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The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was created to ensure a safe food supply in the United States using specific measures which include the FDA’s authority to mandate additional preventive controls to this end. Such preventative standards are applicable to both foreign and domestic food growers, manufacturers, processors, and packers. For example, the preventive …
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The third installment of FDA’s new podcast series on technology and food safety focused on AI (artificial intelligence) and its potential to advance food safety. It was hosted by Frank Yiannis, Deputy FDA Commissioner for Food Policy and Response and Donald Prater, Associate Commissioner for Imported Food Safety. The experts were Maria Velissarou, Global Corporate …
It all began in 1906 with a book called The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair. Sinclair was a known “progressive” in those days and wrote his book, “The Jungle” to expose the appalling working conditions and plight of the immigrant workers in the meat-packing plants and stockyards in Chicago. At the age of 26, he …
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Foodborne illness is a common occurrence. It is estimated that one in six Americans get sick from contaminated food or beverages annually and 3,000 die from it. The USDA estimates that foodborne illnesses cost the United States more than $15.6 billion each year and the irony is that such illnesses are preventable. The CDC (Center …
Bioengineered Foods are those “that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through in vitro recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) techniques and for which the modification could not otherwise be obtained through conventional breeding or found in nature.” You may have seen the terms GMO (genetically modified organism) or Genetic Engineering used for marketing reasons …
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What you need to know about Listeria Monocytogenes Foods that are contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes often look perfectly good to eat. In other words, they may not be spoiled or have an “off” smell, yet those who eat such foods could be at high risk of serious infection. If you feel you have eaten any …
Continue reading “As Listeria Outbreaks Continue AFFI Offers Listeria Control Certification”
There’s no doubt about it. Over the past five years the food delivery market has experienced significant growth. Door Dash and Uber Eats are now household names here in America. China, the U.S., and the U.K are the three largest users of food delivery and in Europe it is primarily popular in Germany, Italy, and …
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It’s so easy these days to have our food delivered from a local grocery store or restaurant. During the recent covid pandemic, more and more consumers have began to rely on home-delivery services like Doordash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats rather than eating out or shopping for their weekly food supplies. Yet, 18% of consumers still …
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A recent report on Front-of-Package (FOP) Food Labelling, from the Global Food Research Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is well-worth the study of anyone involved in the food industry today. Here are a few highlights of the report: Unhealthy changes in the foods we eat: An estimated 650 million adults worldwide live …
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