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Pests are a major source of concern for restaurant operators because they put food safety at risk by transmitting disease-causing pathogens and contaminating food. This two-part article series considers common restaurant pests and the preventive measures restaurant owners can take to avoid infestation, including chemical and non-chemical treatment options.

Faced with oat shortages domestically, some food manufacturers have looked to international sources of gluten-free oats with mixed success due to concerns about comingling. One option for obtaining high-quality oats is to source oats that are certified as gluten-free.

The safety of meat continues to be a challenge, mainly due to the ever-increasing line speeds and customer expectations that are approaching zero tolerance toward any irregularities. Listeria-free fresh meat is being requested in the market, and even small pieces of soft plastic can cause major recalls, loss of reputation, and loss of business for meat producers. In this article, the authors present new approaches to addressing well-known and emerging challenges from physical and microbiological risks in the meat industry.

Cyber is the backbone for food and agriculture defense. Adversaries have the means, opportunity, and motivation to break the cyber backbone at will. If or when adversaries carry out an attack of large magnitude, the result could be a massive compromise of food safety, food defenses, and food security. To avoid that dark scenario, agriculture and food companies must properly prepare for a different kind of assault. The place to start is with their own cyber defense systems.

The authors and collaborating food safety experts highlight several unique features of Asian culture that interplay with food safety management: evolving leadership toward modern styles, emerging risk awareness, and an immense hunger for learning

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.

Fish and shellfish farm-raised in the U.S. must meet rigorous standards for food safety and quality, as well as environmental impact. Seafood processors, packers, and warehouses comply with the mandatory requirements of the Food and Drug Administration's Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). This article takes a deep dive into the many regulations that make U.S. farm-raised seafood one of the safest, healthiest, and most sustainable foods available to the consumer.

The food industry recognizes that consumers provide a very high level of fitness-for-purpose testing when they use products. Some shrinkage is, of course, involved in this process, but this consumer sampling will always reach beyond what is possible for a manufacturer. Instead, manufacturers make a more careful study of samples that are expected to be representative of what is delivered to the consumer. The selection of these samples, including the common misconceptions around the sampling of leafy greens, is the focus of this article. 

Biofilm remains a significant public health-related issue in the food industry. The group behavior of pathogens results in resistant behaviors, including for commonly used disinfectants and antibiotics. Through the food supply chain, these pathogens can easily enter into the human and animal populations, making it imperative to understand the biofilm formation dynamics of these pathogens and how to prevent and control their formation.

Having a strong and mature food safety culture contributes to excellence in food safety at food companies worldwide. This article highlights two CEOs' perspectives on the food safety culture journey, the practices implemented, the lessons learned, and the goals for the future.