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Food safety, once considered the responsibility of technical and production functions, should be recognized as a company-wide, end-to-end business imperative. At the same time, food safety risk management is becoming increasingly complex and represents a growing threat to food companies, and should be regularly addressed by the Board of Directors. 

Fresh produce travels through several layers of the supply chain, and it is important to understand how produce is kept safe in transit. Wholesale distributors play a critical role in safeguarding produce, whether it is storing product in their warehouse or transporting it to customers. This article breaks down what happens to produce as it makes its way from the farm to consumers' plates.

Automated, risk-tiered supplier monitoring does not prevent an outbreak (like this summer's cyclosporiasis event) or replace the traceback work done by FDA and CDC, but it can change how fast and how precisely a distributor can act while that investigation unfolds. 

The recent Cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce is a reminder of just how difficult modern foodborne outbreak investigations have become. In reality, food safety investigations rarely depend on a single "smoking gun." The future of ensuring food safety lies not in simply improving any one test or technology, but in integrating them into a comprehensive decision-support system.

Taking a page out of the pharmaceutical industry's pharmacovigilance playbook, this article discusses why Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) teams need to monitor product performance after reformulation or process changes—and how to start.

An industry that feeds babies must be an industry of absolute transparency. We have nothing to hide, and everything to protect.

This article examines the importance of data culture—including data leadership, data literacy, data governance, data strategy, data access, and data communication—for supporting risk-based food safety systems.

At a Food Safety NEXT Industry Roundtable on June 25, senior business leaders came together to share, collaborate, and innovate meaningful improvements for supply chain risk management using enterprise AI. Food Safety Magazine is the exclusive media partner for Food Safety NEXT.

AI has moved into food safety programs faster than policies, procedures, and comfort levels can adapt. The gap between what organizations say and what people do regarding AI use is one of the most interesting—and potentially risky—signals from this Food Safety Insights survey.

When workforce capability receives limited attention, it raises broader questions about leadership commitment to protecting both employees and consumers. Building a strong food safety culture requires more than policies and audits; it requires sustained investment in the people responsible for providing safe food every day.