Food Safety

Robotic Technology Brings Food Safety Benefits

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We’re entering a new era in fast foods.  Now, your speedy meals may be assembled not just by human hands, but with the help of the advanced precision of robotics.  An example: Chipotle, a trailblazer in culinary innovation, has joined forces with Hyphen (kitchen technology experts) and together they are cooking up something extraordinary – …

Food Safety

FDA Responds to Conference For Food Protection Recommendations

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The Conference for Food Protection is a non-profit organization that was created to provide a formal process that members of industry, regulatory, academia, consumer, and professional organizations can use to provide input in the development and/or modification of food safety guidance for food safety laws and regulations at all levels of U.S. government. The U.S. …

Food Safety

Allergic to Sesame? It’s now # 9 on List of Major Food Allergens

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Sesame has now joined eight other foods considered as major food allergens by federal law.  The following list includes the nine major food allergens:  milk eggs fish, such as bass, flounder, cod Crustacean shellfish, such as crab, lobster, shrimp tree nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, pecans peanuts wheat soybeans Sesame became the ninth major food …

Food Safety

From Farm to Table: Empowering Food Safety with AI-Driven Software

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Francine Shaw is a food safety specialist, podcaster, and co-founder of My Food Source with over 20 years of experience in the food service industry. She is an avid author having written hundreds of articles for National Trade magazines and has appeared on Dr. Oz, the BBC World Series Radio and iHeart Radio as a …

Food Safety

Genetically Engineered Food (GMO’s) – New Plant Variety Regulatory Information

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All human and animal food from plants including plants produced through use of genetic engineering and genome editing are regulated by the FDA under the Federal, Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).  They are held to the same standards as all foods produced, processed, stored, shipped, or sold in the USA. This regulation of …

Food Safety

Small Entity Compliance Guide for FSMA Food Traceability Rule Available Here

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On May 18, 2023, the FDA published a Small Entity Compliance Guide for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Food Traceability Rule.  You can also View on the FDA Website. This compliance guide describes the requirements of the Food Traceability regulation to assist small entities, including farms and small businesses to comply with the applicable …

Food Safety

USDA Takes Steps to Reduce Salmonella in Poultry

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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 …

Food Safety

The Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce

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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 …

Food Safety

Ready for a FDA or USDA Inspection? AFFI’s New Toolkit Provides Detailed Guidance

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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 …

Food Safety

Sesame – A New Food Allergen That Must Be Declared by Federal Law

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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, …

Food Safety

New Era of Smarter Food Safety Uses Tech-Enabled Traceability

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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 …

Food Safety

FDA Announces the Final Rule for Food Traceability Under FSMA

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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 …

Food Safety

FDA Proposes Changes and New Guidelines to Label Foods as “Healthy”

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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 …

Food Safety

House Bill Calls for Single Food Safety Entity Under FDA

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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 …

Food Safety

AFFI’s Continued Efforts on Alternative Approach to Listeria Monocytogenes

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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 …

Food Safety

Summer is Here! Food Safety Guidelines to Avoid Foodborne Illness

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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 …

Food Safety

The FDA’s Role in Food Safety of Imported Foods

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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 …

Food Safety

Tech Talk Episode 3 Features Artificial Intelligence In the New Era of Smarter Food Safety

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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 …

Food Safety

How A Book Called “The Jungle” Brought Food Safety to America

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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 …