Articles by Kurt E. Deibel Ph.D.

A simple review of organizational structures shows that food safety teams report to different functions across food companies, but what structure provides the best opportunity for success of the food safety team, and what are the measures of success? Identifying the structure that sets up the food safety team to drive daily compliance and upgrade existing programs is key. This article examines current organizational structures and evaluates the pros and cons of each.

Foreign material is an ongoing issue in food plants. The food safety foreign material plan must consider types of foreign materials, effectiveness of detection devices, and rapid screening of food safety device kick-outs. Tools to enhance investigation of these materials are equipment component mapping, defined burst limits, and protocols to restart the line.