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.

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.

In our ongoing coverage of the supply chain crisis and how it is affecting food processors, Food Safety Insights surveyed more than 150 food processors in North America and around the world about how they are managing their recovery, the difficulties they are still coping with, what changes they have made and will be making in the future. Most processors told us that they continue to have some level of difficulty with high prices, availability of employees (including truck drivers), and supply shortages.  A large majority (about 75 percent) also tell us that they plan to implement changes and to manage their supply chains differently to avoid these issues in the future.

This column will expand on the findings of the FDA study of the economic evaluation of the GenomeTrakr whole genome sequencing (WGS) program, adding data on the use of sequencing and how it will continue to change food safety practices and markets. It will also discuss what FDA is doing with GenomeTrackr to uncover previously unseen outbreaks and how this is keeping pressure on processors to expand environmental monitoring and controls.

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 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.  

We convened a select group from our Editorial Advisory Board to tell us what they think 2021 may have in store for us and some thoughts—and maybe predictions—on what we may or may not see in the next 2–5 years.