Food Safety Perception - From Deserts To Rainforests

By Zephyr Fors, Roka BioScience

I recently had the pleasure of attending the 2016 Winter Fancy Food Show in beautiful San Francisco. I was amazed by the passion of the artesian craftsmen peddling all sorts of delectable goodness! It was like being in a Willy Wonka movie with over 100 chocolate companies - all offering samples. But there was so much more than chocolate at this show! There were endless aisles of cheese, olives, deli meats, candy, pastas, beverages, dips, oils and every snack food imaginable. 

I attended the show to better understand industry perspectives on food safety, and how these typically smaller craftsman food companies ensure their products and manufacturing environments are safe.  Most companies I spoke with expressed full confidence in the Certificates of Analysis (CoA) that they obtain from their raw ingredient suppliers. Many quoted their ISO certifications and reiterated how delicious and healthy their organic food was.  There was a lot of pride in how sustainable, organic, natural, non-GMO, gluten-free and how the food was sourced directly from farmers across the world.