Food Online's Top 10 Of October

By Sam Lewis

What was most important to our readers in October? Take a look back at last month by reviewing the 10 most-popular articles that appeared on Food Online.

1. The Best Way To Prepare For FSMA: Shred Your GMP Document
   Too often, I see food processors, co-packers, and distributors composing food safety plans to meet what they presume an auditor or regulator would like to see. The result is a stilted food safety plan, checkered with redundancy and a variety of formats that make it awkward to teach, follow, and scale. On August 30, the FDA rolled out its Final Preventive Control (PC) Rule, which sets new food safety standards for businesses manufacturing, processing, packing, and holding food. Businesses need to consider building systems that are friendlier for training their staff and more responsive.
    
2. The ABC's 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.
    
3. How Food Manufacturers Can Avoid Combustible Dust Hazards
   In this podcast, Scott Boersma, Business Development Manager at Nilfisk, discusses with Food Online Voices combustible dust solutions and what food manufacturers should consider when implementing one.
    
4. Preventing Allergen Recalls Through Effective Label Management
   Managing allergens during food processing is of vast importance in today’s food industry. Some people can develop serious or life-threatening reactions when exposed to allergenic proteins in foods and data from the CDC shows an increase in hospital visits related to food allergic reaction. With no remedy for food allergies, the only successful method to manage one’s allergy is to avoid food containing causative allergens. The food industry takes multiple measures to manage food products containing allergens. Effective allergen management includes strong safeguards to ensure each container has an accurate label that meets applicable laws and regulations while properly declaring all recognized allergens present in the product.
    
5. How To Choose And Implement The Right Food Traceability System
   If you intend to remain competitive as a food processor, there is one certainty: implementing a computerized plant floor data collection and traceability system is in your future.
    
6. Is The Trans-Pacific Partnership A Boon For The U.S. Food & Beverage Industry?
   The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is being promoted as a boon to U.S. agri-food exports to Asia, but is it? Tariffs may be falling, but increasing regulatory barriers to trade seem to be rising in their place, raising questions about just how free or fair U.S. trade is with other nations.
    
7. U.S. Sales Of Packaging Equipment Slowing In Mature Market, Study Says
   The  U.S. market for packaging equipment is expected to remain flat, or show a slight growth of about 1.6 percent for the  remainder of 2015 and upcoming 2016, according to the State of the Industry U.S. Packaging Machinery Report from PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.
    
8. How Converting To All Food-Grade Lubricants Reduces Contamination Risk
   Look inside the lubricant cabinet of a food or beverage manufacturing plant and it's surprising what you find. Upon close inspection, you’ll see the cabinet isn’t holding only food-grade (NSF H1) lubricants. The cabinet may also contain cleaners, glue removers, and penetrating sprays, which often turn out to be just industrial chemicals and/or degreasers. Lubricants suitable for food and beverage applications are registered as H1 by NSF International (NSF), an independent registration body. They comply with food regulations because they are physiologically inert, tasteless, and odorless. They are suitable for incidental, technically unavoidable contact with a food product up to 10ppm.
    
9. Duke's Mayo Brings Bold, New Look To Retail Shelves
   Duke’s Mayonnaise is an iconic regional brand with loyal fans across the South. When a product is this well-known, you don’t just get up and make big changes. However, that’s exactly what C.F. Sauer, owner of the brand, is doing. While the company isn’t changing the recipe or the flavor of the mayo, it is making a major change in the product’s packaging.
    
10. How To Succeed In Food Product Development Using Social Listening
    Social listening allows product managers and marketers in the food industry to be always aware of changes in customers’ tastes and preferences, spot new trends early on, and adapt their product offering accordingly to maximize sales.