COVID-19

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With the COVID-19 pandemic (hopefully) solidly in the rearview mirror, we wanted to find out what projects and initiatives food companies are focusing on for the rest of this year and into 2023. We heard from more than 200 food processors in every major category. They reported a wide-ranging wish list of projects and priorities, with improving their food safety culture, more training, improving their supply chain management (especially with their foreign suppliers), and improving their sanitation and environmental monitoring programs at the top of the list.

A recent study suggests that the cold foods supply chain is the optimal environment for the COVID-19 virus to spread over long distances. The study explores various prevention and testing methods that could be used to mitigate the pathogen’s spread through cold-chain foods.

As the issues related to COVID-19 continue to subside and more restrictions are lifted, will we see food companies return to business travel, including in-person meetings and food conferences? We asked more than 250 companies about their travel plans for 2022 and beyond to find out. Our survey found a wide variety of policies depending on the company, the location of the travel, and the purpose of the trip.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted the food supply. This article seeks to explain the transcendent lessons of this national emergency, with the hope that being aware of them will help national decision-makers better prepare for next time. Our food systems, like the larger supply chain, will be challenged in the future with new kinds of disruptions, making it essential that mistakes are not repeated and that proactive, correct solutions are discovered and preparations made now.

Supply chain is critical to any food safety program. Having full control and traceability of raw materials and end products is no longer an option, but rather a requirement. In the past two years, the pandemic has exposed new weaknesses and made visible the business risks posed by an unstable supply chain.

In our last column, we revisited some of the testing-related topics we have covered since the inception of Food Safety Insights. This article looks at a few of the other subjects that have made an impact on our markets in these past 5 years.

As the U.S. emerges cautiously from the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is resuming standard operations for domestic inspections while continuing mission-critical work abroad.

As food processors continue to recover from 2020, we wanted to find out more about their plans for 2021. One thing was clear: Testing—especially environmental monitoring—will continue to grow at a rapid pace.