Just a few weeks ago Taipei’s streets were filled with thousands of protestors gathered for the “Autumn Struggle”, an annual march organized by various Taiwanese labor groups. The anger of the marchers was fueled by a recent decision of the current government to allow the importation of U.S. pork that contains the additive ractopamine. This …
Food Safety
FDA PROPOSES NEW RULE FOR FOOD TRACEABILITY
The FDA has proposed a new rule “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods” (Food Traceability Proposed Rule). This is a key part of the FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint and would implement Section 204(d) of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This was prompted by the many produce recalls over the …
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Food Safety
Getting Smarter About Food Safety
The FDA is initiating a new approach to smarter FOOD SAFETY that will use technology and other methods in order to create a more digitized traceable food system. Simplicity and modernization are also keys in the development of this “smarter food safety” along with effective leadership and additional education in the area of food safety …
Food Safety
Study Shows COVID-19 Not Transmitted by Food
Several weeks ago, while food shopping, I noticed a sign above where eggs are sold asking shoppers not to open egg cartons (to check for broken eggs) as touching the carton could enhance the spread of the Corona Virus. This inferred that the virus could be spread on packaging materials like an egg carton and …
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Food Safety
Truth and Transparency: Is Your Product Label “Clean” Enough for COVID Consumers?
In the food industry, there is really no definition for “clean label”, yet its importance cannot be underestimated. It has taken on even greater significance with the impact of COVID-19 and more buyer demand for truth and transparency. And the global market for “clean” labelled food sales this year will be worth $180 billion – …
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Food Safety
Export of Frozen Food to China Now Under Scrutiny
Earlier this month, Chinese officials advised that traces of the Coronavirus were found on chopping boards used for cutting imported frozen salmon at the Xinfadi market in Beijing. With 137 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Beijing, salmon was immediately removed from the supermarkets in major Chinese cities despite the fact that the National Health …
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Food Safety
Controlling Covid-19 Begins with Employee Safety
The FDA and USDA are working hard to keep people safe in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, both at home and in food processing facilities. We know that the virus is not transmissible via the food we eat, but rather transmits between people who are close to each other (within 6 ft), when an …
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Food Safety
What You Need to Know Today About Food Product Dating
With home cooking on the rise due to the recent COVID-19 quarantine, many people are taking the opportunity to clean their food storage areas and check the use-by dates on canned, dried and frozen products in pantries, refrigerators and freezers. However, due to lack of understanding, many consumers are unknowingly tossing out perfectly safe and …
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Food Safety
FDA Issues Temporary Policy Change for FSMA
On Sight Audit Requirements Due to COVID-19 On March 17, 2020, the FDA issued a temporary policy for the supplier verification onsite audit requirements as outlined in FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act). This has been enacted to minimize disruptions in the supply-chain due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions, at a time when grocery stores nationwide …
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Food Safety
Can the COVID-19 be transmitted thru food?
Today, Thursday, March 5th we got the following announcement from the American Frozen Food Institute https://affi.org/: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) are closely monitoring the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Last week, the FDA announced that there have been no …
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Food Safety
Costco Wholesale Corp Approved for VQIP Status
The FDA has just announced that Costco Wholesale Corporation is the first approved participant in the FDA’s VQIP – or Voluntary Qualified Importer Program. This is a voluntary fee-based program that provides importers an expedited review and import entry of both human and animal foods into the USA under FSMA, the Food Safety Modernization Act. …
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Food Safety
Validating Foreign Suppliers: The Basics and Red Flags
Read this article to get a link to the Quality Assurance and Food Saftey Magazine!
Food Safety
FSMA Warning to Importers
While attending the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but notice some blank stares when I asked various company representatives about being FSMA compliant. Now granted, many of these exhibitors were from different countries around the globe… but most spoke excellent English…so I don’t think it was a …
Food Safety
Plant Explosions & Selling Dead Pigs Food Safety and Worker Safety Continues to be a Problem in China
I was recently traveling in China and South East Asia and noticed a small article in the Global edition of CHINA DAILY dated Dec 4, 2019 and a similar one in the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) of the same date. The headlines read: “Blast at Food Factory Kills Four, Injures 10” and “Four …
Food Safety
How Do I Develop My FSMA HARPC Plan?
In Chapter 1 of Nancy Scharlach’s new online food safety course, How to Convert HACCP Plans to FSMA Food Safety Plans (AKA HARPC Plans), she gets right to the core of how to do this with her step-by-step process. While there are many companies that already have a HACCP plan with many internal resources in …
Food Safety
DON’T MISS THIS!
NEW FOOD SAFETY COURSE OPENED OCTOBER 28, 2019
BY NANCY SCHARLACH, FSMA INTERNATIONAL
We are proud to offer this exciting NEW course created by Nancy Scharlach, Chief Technical Director, FSMA International. Noon International has been working with Nancy for the past several months and her latest course, How to Convert Your HACCP Plans to HARPC to Meet FSMA Requirements is now available! Many of you may already know …
Food Safety
Are You FSMA Ready? Understanding the Similarities & Differences Between HACCP and HARPC
Codex HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It was developed by private industry rather than regulatory and has evolved into a standard for which food safety programs and hazards controls are measured and documented for prevention. So, it actually started out private industry and then evolved into a regulatory requirement for specific …
Food Safety
CONVERTING FROM HACCP TO HARPC GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
A NEW ONLINE TRAINING COURSE FROM FSMA INTERNATIONAL If you are a U.S. food manufacturer or a global supplier processing food for export the United States, you must convert you existing HACCP plan to FSMA HARPC to comply with U.S. Regulation 21 CFR, Part 117 for human food or Part 507 for animal food. Noon …
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Food Safety
GOT QUESTIONS ABOUT FSMA?
With the implementation of new Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA, come many questions. Here are just a few of the most frequently asked questions today that may be of interest to you and the FDA response to those questions. For additional information, please be sure to visit www.fda.gov/fsma What are the major requirements under …
Food Safety
FSMA Compliance Even More Important As Frozen Berries Come Under Scrutiny For Norovirus & Hepatitis A
Norovirus is a contagious virus causing vomiting and diarrhea nausea and stomach pains and outbreaks are quite common. It spreads easily and quickly through contaminated food products as well as from other people and contaminated surfaces. Since one in six Americans gets sick from eating contaminated food each year, it is in everyone’s best interest …