The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), McLean, Va., launched “How to Validate a Blancher,” a unique tool designed exclusively for the frozen food industry. The tool represents an important resource for frozen food manufacturers, as they implement process preventive control requirements as part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Frozen food manufacturers can incorporate the new resource into a facility’s food safety plan to evaluate processing equipment for pathogen control and apply appropriate monitoring technologies, ultimately achieving higher Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) control and prevention.

“A key component of AFFI’s goal to advance food safety includes providing AFFI members and the entire frozen food industry with educational resources that represent the industry’s best thinking,” says Alison Bodor, president and CEO. “Especially in the area of developing and implementing most effective food safety practices, the entire industry must work together.”

The food safety resource includes input from over 70 food safety professionals from 42 AFFI member companies that comprise AFFI’s Food Safety Working Group, which works to combat the risk of Lm by developing best food safety practices.

Key to advancing the development of best frozen food safety practices was a commitment from AFFI’s board of directors in the form of a food safety resolution.

“AFFI’s board of directors passed a resolution on food safety, committing their organizations and calling on others in the industry to collaborate and develop common best food safety practices for the frozen food and beverage industry,” says Bodor. “This is just one example of what our members can do by working together and actively committing to a continuous process of sharing best practices and learning from each other.”