Food Online's Top 10 Of August

By Sam Lewis

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.

1. The ABCs Of Building A Food Safety Plan From HACCP To HARPC
   The FDA required hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) for juice and seafood, and the USDA for meat and poultry. The Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) proposed Preventive Controls rule for Human Food requires a written Food Safety Plan (FSP) be developed using the hazard analysis risk-based preventive control (HARPC) approach. A preventive approach to food safety is nothing new. But the HARPC approach is a new paradigm shift in thinking. This article will explain this new thinking, define, what HARPC approach is, explain how HARPC is different than HACCP, and how employing this thinking helps you arrive at developing a Food Safety Plan.
    
2. Listeria Control Programs: A Journey Of Sampling To Prevention
   As the food industry shifts its focus from reacting to adverse events to preventing them, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is becoming the new mantra. Here, Nandini Natrajan, Ph.D., senior director of science operations at Keystone Foods, shares insight on how both the FDA and USDA FSIS are approaching listeria control, as well as what those companies can do to mitigate their listeria risk and prevent listeria contamination-related recalls.
    
3. Debunking 5 FSVP Myths
   Compared to the training requirements in the Preventive Controls Rule, and certainly in the Produce Safety Rule, the requirement — or even mere suggestion — that someone take a course in order to be able to comply with the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) Rule is nonexistent. Why then, has every FSVP training course I’ve taught been sold out?
    
4. Answering Your Questions About FSMA's Food Defense Rule
   In this segment of Food For Thought: FSMA’s Food Defense Rule, the National Milk Producers Federation's Clay Detlefsen and the Grocery Manufacturers Association's Warren Stone answer the food industry's questions about FSMA’s Food Defense Rule.
    
5. What’s Senior Leadership’s Role In Food Safety Culture?
   In this segment of Food For Thought: Establishing, Maintaining, And Improving Food Safety Culture, Lone Jespersen and Brian Bedard discuss senior leadership’s role in food safety culture, how food safety culture can be measured and evaluated, and how it can be incorporated into food safety management systems.
    
6. How Artificial Intelligence Can Help F&B Supply Chain Management
   Supply chain management is a constant struggle. Between giving consumers insights, meeting their demands, keeping real-time inventory, and ensuring all products meet quality specifications, there is a lot of data to manage. That's where artificial intelligence (AI) can provide F&B companies with new supply chain insights to stay ahead of the curve.
    
7. Keeping Food Safe With Light-Based Technologies
   In addition to improvement of food preservation operations, creating new functional properties, and dry sanitation, light technologies have much to offer for the sustainable development of the food industry. This article will briefly review the basics and sources of light technologies and present the pros and cons of the potential applications and available equipment.
    
8. 5 Ways Canada Is Bolstering Its Food Safety Approach
   The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is currently updating regulations and updating its inspection model to keep pace with a constantly-changing, global environment. Here, Nicole Bouchard-Steeves, executive director for the Operations Modernization Project Office with CFIA, shared her insights on how Canada is improving its food safety efforts with five different initiatives.
    
9. How Novel Contamination Detection Methods Raise The Food Safety Bar
   Prevention of food contamination is a much more practical approach than testing every product in the supply chain. But, that doesn’t mean contamination testing technologies will ever be obsolete. Here, Vincent Paez, director of the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF), answers my questions about current and emerging methods and technological advancements helping to keep the global food supply safe.
    
10. 7 Common Safety Mistakes In Food Plants
    Safety. Ask any food manufacturer what’s top of mind these days, and that’s what they’ll say. This article illustrates seven common safety mistakes in food plants — and how to avoid them.