Posts from the "Topics" category
US: Finalised US sanitary rule requires more scrutiny from food shippers
Journal of Commerce / Lara L. Sowinski: On April 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule establishing requirements for shippers, loaders, carriers by motor vehicle and rail, and receivers engaged in the transportation of food, including animal food, to use sanitary transportation practices to ensure the safety of the food they transport. The final rule is part of the FDA’s larger effort to focus on…
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AU: Vegetable sector works to standardise food safety and quality assurance
ABC Rural / Sarina Locke: The horticulture sector is hoping to save $40 million by streamlining quality assurance on farms and in the supply chain. A trial of the more standardised process is happening at Coastal Hydroponics, which produces green leafy salad vegetables from its base on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
Read Article →US: GFSI: 16 Years Later
Quality Assurance & Food Safety Magazine: It has been 16 years since food retailer CEOs from around the world joined together in an attempt to increase food safety and reduce the number and inconsistencies of audits to which the food industry was being held. It was the beginning of the Consumer Goods Forum (then called The Food Business Forum) and the founding of its non-profit foundation, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
Read Article →CH: An Overview of the New Food Safety Law
Food Safety Magazine: On April 24, 2015, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress revised the 2009 Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China (Food Safety Law). The revised law came into effect on October 1, 2015.
The revisions to the Food Safety Law are wide-ranging, imposing stricter controls and supervision on food production and management.
US: Why supply chain transparency is more important than ever
Food Safety Magazine: Food quality and safety risks are at the forefront of many consumers’ minds, thanks to the spate of recent food contamination incidents in the U.S. Improved food quality and transparency have become increasingly important to many manufacturers as consumers increasingly seek these qualities in the food they buy. Social media has raised the bar too, making it far too easy for consumers to force transparency on manufacturers who do not embrace this movement in a way doesn’t always reflect well on them. Of course, these channels also provide an opportunity for brands to build new brand equity with consumers by demonstrating the qualities consumers seek—transparency and openness.
Read Article →AU-NZ: Food Standards launches template for food recall plans
Food Standards Australia New Zealand: Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has developed a Food Recall Plan template to help food businesses manage recalls. FSANZ Chief Executive Officer Steve McCutcheon said every food business needs to be able to quickly remove unsafe food from the marketplace to protect the health and safety of consumers. “The template developed by FSANZ is particularly aimed at helping smaller businesses ensure they have a food recall plan in place and know what to do if something goes wrong,†Mr McCutcheon said.
Read Article →US: Metrics proposed to prevent the harvest of leafy green crops exposed to floodwater contaminated with Escherichia coli
Allied and Environmental Microbiology: In this study, the suitability of the LGMA metrics for farms in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States was evaluated. The upper end of a spinach bed (in Beltsville, MD) established on a −5% grade was flooded with water containing 6 log CFU/ml Escherichia coli to model a worst-case scenario of bacterial movement through soil. While E. coli was quickly detected at the 9-m distance within 1 day in the spring trial and within 3 days in the fall trial, no E. coli was detected on plants outside the flood zone after 14 days.
Read Article →US: Keeping it safe and traceable throughout the food supply chain
Smart Brief: Connecting with consumers is becoming increasingly important as digital distractions increase and shoppers spread their budgets across multiple trips to the store. And while food retailers are constantly seeking new ways to connect with shoppers via mobile channels and inside the stores, there is another piece of the puzzle that is somewhat less glamorous but just as important — food safety.
Read Article →NZ: Food act discussions with MPI
Horticulture New Zealand: HortNZ’s Matt Dolan and Richard Palmer met with MPI on Friday to discuss MPI’s acceptance of growers certified as achieving Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) meeting the requirements of the Food Act. HortNZ will continue to work with MPI to develop an efficient, fit-for-purpose co-regulatory model using the GAP programmes to deliver the safe food Kiwis expect.
Read Article →UK: New diagnostic tests could hamper tracking of foodborne illness
Food Safety Watch: So-called culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) help doctors diagnose foodborne infections in a matter of hours because they do not depend on traditional bacterial culture techniques, which often take several days to complete. Unfortunately, the absence of a bacterial culture makes it difficult to obtain detailed information from the bacteria responsible for the infection, such as genetic fingerprint and genome sequencing data.
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