Food Safety Top Stories

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As regulatory requirements continue to evolve and consumer expectations increase, organizations across the fresh produce supply chain must adopt a proactive approach to risk management that emphasizes prevention, verification, transparency, and continuous improvement. 

This article explores how rapid detection technologies are transforming environmental monitoring programs for L. monocytogenes in dairy plants. It also discusses how faster detection supports quicker sanitation verification, improved risk-based monitoring, and more effective decision-making during contamination events.

As discussed at the 2024 Global Food Safety Symposium at Michigan State University, resilient food safety systems are not built by one technology, one regulation, or one training program. They come from sustained investment in people, partnerships, scientific excellence, and institutions that can respond to evolving risks.

Allergens are an unavoidable part of food processing, and effective control is key. Testing and control options are changing, with more technologies, test formats, and cleaning options available. How are food processors evaluating and choosing the options they use? This global survey of food processors seeks to find out.

This article discusses the limits of "dry" sanitizers in low-moisture environments in terms of performance, cost, employee safety, and the hidden risks of moisture in hard-to-clean niches.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Rhodes Yepsen, Executive Director of the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), about developments in California packaging policy and their potential implications for food processors and packaging manufacturers. Rhodes also discusses the role of compostable packaging in food waste reduction and the tradeoffs manufacturers must consider when balancing sustainability goals with food safety, product protection, and shelf-life requirements.

Rather than revisiting why audits and traditional compliance training fall short, this article focuses on what actually improves food safety outcomes: how quality assurance professionals and frontline leaders can build better decision-making capabilities across the food supply chain.

FDA recently proposed the most significant changes to its GRAS framework since 1958. For companies managing ingredient compliance, the proposed mandatory filing obligations raise questions about statutory authority, agency capacity, and whether its design matches its stated objectives.

Many organizations continue to approach food safety primarily as a compliance exercise rather than as an embedded part of everyday operations. This article considers an approach where HACCP is treated as an active and evolving management system rather than an annual event.

When accountability consistently outweighs authority, strain accumulates quietly until it surfaces in turnover, fatigue, or failure. When they align, decision integrity stabilizes. And stability, rather than strain, is what ultimately sustains safe food systems over time.