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What does it take to have an extremely effective Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) technician team on the production floor? This article shares practiced perspective on "what it takes." Attributes for success are identified and explained. How they are integrated within a FSQA team on the floor will go a long way to galvanizing the success of that team. For food and beverage companies, "success" means effective risk identification and management, protection of public health, reduced costs of poor quality, and the manufacture and sale of high-quality food and beverage ingredients and products.

Ensuring that non-conforming product is never created—or at least never arrives at customers' doorsteps—is invaluable in the food industry. Reduced downgrade, less rework, and decreased out-of-specification product are all benefits of mistake proofing.

GS1 Connect 2023, the annual conference and exhibition hosted by GS1 US, will feature more than 275 industry-leading companies that will share strategies for leveraging GS1 Standards to enable end-to-end supply chain visibility.

To improve the food safety culture of an organization, it is critical that a key focus be the frontline employees. A proven tool to improve frontline employee engagement in effective food safety behaviors is the concept of "nudging"—a regular cadence of small, easily controlled, and easily taken actions to make a change process more effective, manageable, and sustainable. This article will showcase real-life examples of nudging and share successful examples.

The questions about the safety of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) are complicated. This article outlines why CEA safety depends on understanding and properly addressing the challenges of combining agricultural and ready-to-eat (RTE) into a single facility. It also addresses why CEA is not inherently safe. Ultimately, this article will show how the risk profile of CEA must be compared to that of other RTE produce and that there is no universal answer to the question of CEA safety.

With security threats against the sector increasing and cyber threats against the global supply system also on the rise, it is imperative that a food and agriculture ISAC be formed. It does not have to be fully capable at the start; just a few large companies that agree to pool and analyze threat information can plant the initial seed. If successful awareness and deterrence can be demonstrated, then other companies will join. At full capability, the ISAC can serve as a watch and warning center for the sector, providing timely threat analysis for members at all levels. In this article, the authors look at what it takes to create and run a successful ISAC.

A survey was sent to food industry trade association members representing food companies to determine what is known about food safety culture, food safety management systems, and active managerial control. The survey also asked about the implementation of such practices in support of a culture of food safety. The survey results indicate that many companies are well aware of these food safety concepts; however, many respondents are unsure whether their company is operating with true active managerial control. Opportunities were uncovered to inform and encourage engagement in active managerial control to a greater degree.

This article looks back at the events of the 1993 E. coli outbreak associated with hamburgers served at Jack in the Box restaurants along the U.S. West Coast, examining the regulatory changes inspired by the fatal outbreak and its impact. Also discussed are the corporate and industry changes, spearheaded by Dr. David Theno, that set new standards for leadership and management in foodservice and food safety. 

An increasingly critical element of food safety and defense planning is assurance of data integrity—the ability to keep data unchanged as it is communicated or stored. Information that is used for decision-making or reporting cannot be compromised, altered, or manipulated by unauthorized users. Threat information is best shared through the establishment and voluntary participation of an Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC). Food and agriculture is the only sector that lacks an ISAC. With security threats against the sector increasing and cyber threats against the global supply system also on the rise, it is imperative that a food and agriculture ISAC be formed.

Meal kits use a direct-to-consumer model of delivering perishable, pre-measured ingredients for pre-selected recipes that are then used to prepare and cook meals at home. Meal kits are likely to contain a variety of foods that may grow or be contaminated by pathogenic bacteria. Meal kit manufacturers also often repackage ingredients into plain or branded packaging, which can result in the consumption of unexpected ingredients or allergens.