In 1997, I was a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Vet Corp responsible for the Central Mediterranean Branch in Italy. A bright Veterinarian, Leslie Huck, took me aside and showed me a checklist he was developing. The checklist was focused on intentional contamination and it made me think about how the military is always a target for acts of violence — as long as there have been armies, intentionally adulterating food has been a way to hurt them. “We are trying to protect the military’s food chain, of course this is important,” I thought.
The FDA and food manufacturers are both on the same mission: make food safer. But, increased scrutiny during FDA inspections has left many food industry professionals with increased anxiety. Here, food industry attorney Shawn Stevens answers my questions about the FDA’s process of microbiological sampling, how the agency is incorporating Whole Genome Sequencing into its sampling processes, and what food companies can do to alleviate regulatory worries. Stevens will be speaking at the 2017 Annual AAFP Conference held September 19 to 21 in Springdale, AR.
What was most important to our readers in the last full month of summer? Take a look back at last month by reviewing the 10 most-popular articles that appeared on Food Online in August.
In the unfortunate event of a foodborne illness outbreak, public health and regulatory officials must act quickly to collect data, determine a cause, and prevent further illnesses. Here, Matthew Wise, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), answers my questions about the role the CDC, and other agencies, play in foodborne illness investigations.
It’s no secret; FSMA compliance is challenging. And for facilities under both FDA and USDA jurisdiction, there are plenty of grey areas needing addressed. Here, Craig Henry, founder of Intro Inc., answers my questions about the challenges and grey areas of FSMA implementation, some of the differences between USDA and FDA regulations, and how uniformity between the agencies could address some of the ambiguity of compliance.
The Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) has meandering requirements and exemptions leaving some in the food industry befuddled regarding compliance. Here, Dr. Janie Dubois, director of the laboratory program at JIFSAN, answers my questions on FSVP requirements, misconceptions of FSVP, as well as its role in laboratory testing.
In 1997, I was a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Vet Corp responsible for the Central Mediterranean Branch in Italy. A bright Veterinarian, Leslie Huck, took me aside and showed me a checklist he was developing. The checklist was focused on intentional contamination and it made me think about how the military is always a target for acts of violence — as long as there have been armies, intentionally adulterating food has been a way to hurt them. “We are trying to protect the military’s food chain, of course this is important,” I thought.
Though progressing cavity pumps are not the most-common pumps used for conveyance in food and beverage production, certain applications, such as those requiring high-pressure or conveying highly-viscous media, require this pump type. Progressing cavity pumps can be well-suited to food and beverage applications’ needs regarding contamination avoidance, but require an additional pump be included in the system for effective Clean-In-Place (CIP) procedures. With the right system design, progressing cavity pumps can reduce cost, lower maintenance needs, and achieve better results in complex conveying applications within food and beverage production.
The success of high pressure process (HPP) implementation by a large number of companies demonstrates HPP is an effective food safety measure that can be applied to mitigate risk for a variety of foods.
Flash back to 2007 — two 20-somethings stop at a burger joint. They order and eat thinking only of taste and price. Imagine that scenario today, but with assistance from smartphones offering data on the establishment’s source of beef and other data. This column will explore how consumer demand for transparency is critical to remaining competitive.
As environmental scrutiny of global industries continues to grow, governments are seeking to impose energy efficiency targets on companies in order to comply with new directives. By Dr. Doug Reid, Engineering Manager at TOMRA Sorting Food
From research and development to packaging, every sector of the pharmaceutical industry faces a common enemy — contamination.
Industrial vacuums not only protect food products from harmful bacteria and contaminants, they also elevate your plant to the next level of cleanliness so products are safe and your brand name shines.
Today’s meat processors must overcome many challenges. X-Ray, Metal Detection, and Checkweighing have become clear choices in delivering the best solution to overcome these challenges.
The most expensive ingredient in the production of croissants is not the puff pastry dough, but what's inside: chocolate cream, marzipan, ham and cheese, or other type of filling.
Designed with ease of operation, low maintenance and cost of ownership in mind.
Recognizing the short-and-long-term requirements of today’s processors and manufacturers, our engineers designed the XR75 x-ray inspection / Advanced Long Life Technology to provide heightened sensitivity at reduced energy levels. Because of this, cost of ownership is significantly lowered and life cycles are extended.
The E-Scan 635 is a revolutionary online micro leak test instrument that utilizes a new class of HVLD technology for 100% online inspection of cups and pouches for container closure integrity. The E-Scan 635 technology is a MicroCurrent conductivity voltage test method, HVLD , that is completely non-destructive to the container and product; exposing the package and product to lower voltage than other conductivity based solutions.
The Xtreme® rectangular aperture industrial metal detector raises the bar in terms of superior sensitivity, ease of use and reliability.
The Thermo Scientific™ Sentinel™ Multiscan Metal Detector utilizes an innovative new technology to overcome the limitation of fixed single or dual frequency metal detectors that can miss metal contaminants hidden in product signals.
Schneider Electric Software addresses compliance and cyber security challenges from analysis to implementation and management.
Technology, enabled by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), is empowering organizations to shift to a holistic and operations-centric view where proactive and predictive maintenance (PdM) enables front line personnel to act before costly failures occur.
Food Safety in the Ready to Eat Market has become more complex. Not only is it more important than ever to control the processing
environment, controlling the ingredient supply chain is paramount to ensuring your brand and more importantly ensuring your customers and brand are protected.
Roka offers accurate tests with the fast time to results on a single platform with a robust variety of validated matrices across the beef process chain. The Atlas E. coli O157:H7 EG2, STEC EG2 Combo, and Salmonella SEN Detection Assays offer unparalleled ease of use while maintaining accuracy and sensitivity. While other tests require tedious multistep preparation processes, the Atlas Assays have an easy 3-step process that generates accurate results faster.
A throughput of up to 300 packs per minute, a weighing range from 7 g to 7.5 kg and very high weighing accuracy positions the C33 PlusLine at the forefront of checkweighing and metal detection technology.
Food production operations devote entire shifts and dedicated teams to clean and sanitize plants. But how can team members really be certain that a line is sufficiently cleaned and sanitized?
How to incorporate a new process into an existing facility is a basic question that begins every project. The client usually has a preconceived idea of where a new process will go and how much space is available, but if we stop here and do what we are told, preconceived notions may drive us to a point where we find that project needs haven’t been met.
Have you ever paused to consider the importance of accurate demand forecasting? Obviously you know it’s crucial to your organization’s success, but until you really hone in on the different reasons behind the need for accuracy, you won’t take customer forecasting as seriously as you should.
Finance and accounting aren’t everyone’s favorite topics, but they matter tremendously in the food industry. In order for an organization to have success, it’s imperative they understand how to stay organized, minimize costs, and steer clear of financial issues. This article offers five tips and tricks leading organizations in the food industry rely on to maximize their resources.
Optimizing production line efficiency is essential to maximize output and increase profitability. Product inspection systems are often designated as Critical Control Points (CCP's). If the equipment fails, manufacturers face a risk of significant unplanned downtime resulting in reduced output and lost revenues. Preventive Maintenance programs can reduce the risk of unplanned downtime by ensuring parts and systems are overhauled, refurbished or replaced before they break down.
Welcome to Food Online, the premiere Internet resource, helping build a community to advance the production of safe and healthy food and beverages. We provide best practices and solutions in food safety, food processing, automation, packaging and the supply chain.
The site is designed for plant engineers, production managers, manufacturing engineers, processing technicians, operations supervisors, and business managers, it provides daily news updates, reports, and solutions on business and technology trends vital to the industry. We provide plant managers, quality control/quality assurance technologists, and research and development experts with up-to-date information and industry solutions in the areas of food safety and regulatory issues, metal contamination, x-ray inspection, check weighing, and bacterial detection.
Both process and production engineers and technicians, along with marketing and business managers will find, case studies, white papers, and other technical solutions and product information on mixers, blenders, filling equipment, homogenizers, conveyors, sorters, graders, flow meters, pumps, tanks, valves, freezers, chillers, heat exchangers, moisture controls, pH meters, and sensors.
Food Online also covers quality control and quality assurance systems, information management systems, process control systems and equipment, as well as clean-in-place systems, measurement systems, sanitation systems, end-of-line packaging, packaging equipment, primary packaging, secondary packaging, and contract packaging. Transportation and logistics professionals will find valuable information concerning the supply chain, cold chain, traceability, and, sustainability.
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