Check out the June–July 2022 edition of Food Safety Magazine, featuring CEO perspectives on the food safety culture journey and lessons learned, an FAO study of new food sources and production systems, new approaches to meat safety with advanced technology, and slaughter hygiene practices, ways to ensure effective supplier food safety management, methods for biofilm mitigation and control, and much more!
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.
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.
While new food sources and food production systems can help address some of the pressing food security and sustainability challenges ahead, they may also bring some unique food safety issues that must be proactively considered and addressed. This article examines the food safety and quality aspects of edible insects and other "new food" sources, such as jellyfish, aquatic algae, seaweed, and invertebrates.
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.
Food companies that prepare fresh food items often source individual ingredients from primary suppliers. The food safety risk is typically controlled at primary supplier plants or farms; however, the food safety stakes are high. It is necessary to have "boots on the ground" to assess how food safety and quality programs are integrated with the front-line operation for those suppliers who mitigate food safety risk on the behalf of a receiving company.