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Food Safety Fate

By Rick Biros

How a chance meeting lead to the sharing of an emotional and powerful food safety story. Was this random hotel elevator connection fate or divine intervention? I don’t know. What I do know is because Dana was willing to talk to a stranger, she was able to share her daughter, Kayla’s food safety story to an audience of food safety professionals and now to you.   

Featured Articles

October 29, 2026

Call for Presentations for the 2027 Food Safety Hazards Conference, April 20-23 in St. Louis, MO.

By Food Safety Tech Staff

Organized by Food Safety Tech, this conference will focus on the detection, mitigation, control and regulations of food safety hazards through technology, best practices and data analytics.

October 29, 2026
Baby Bottle

FDA announces Proposed Rule for Infant Formula Nutrient Requirements and Released Chemical Contaminant Testing Data

By Food Safety Tech Staff

The Food and Drug Administration issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would update infant formula nutrient requirements. Also, the FDA released new chemical contaminant testing data showing that most infant formula samples had low or non-detectable levels of contaminants.

October 29, 2026

Why Are Food Manufacturers Still Struggling to Prevent Recurring Food Safety Incidents

By Shammi Thakur

Recurring food safety incidents often persist because immediate corrective actions do not always eliminate the underlying conditions that allow hazards to return. Effective prevention requires manufacturers to connect evidence across testing, sanitation, maintenance, production, and supplier management, while verifying that corrective actions work under routine operating conditions. The challenge is not simply to detect more problems. It is to translate the available evidence into changes that prevent similar failures from recurring.

October 29, 2026
Food fraud, gin, ingredients, botanicals

Resolving mismatches in botanical purchasing documents

By Chirag Patel, Ph.D.

A botanical sample can arrive with a promising appearance and a complete-looking document pack, yet still leave a basic purchasing question unanswered: do these records describe the same material? A specification may name one plant part, the sample label another, while the certificate of analysis refers to a batch that is not available for supply. Resolving those discrepancies before purchasing requires a traceable decision process, not simply a cleaner set of PDFs.

October 8, 2026
Restaurant Food

Food Traceability: FDA Issues Draft Enforcement Discretion Policy for Certain Small Retailers and Restaurants

By Food Safety Tech Staff

Under the draft policy, the FDA does not intend to enforce any of the requirements of the Food Traceability Rule for RFEs and restaurants whose average monetary value of food sold or provided during the previous three-year period is greater than $250,000 but not more than $1million, adjusted for inflation using 2020 as the baseline year for calculating the adjustment.  

October 7, 2026

The People Who Carry Food Safety

By Azure Edwards, M.S.

This series examines food safety as business infrastructure: the business decisions, governance structures, and operational conditions that determine whether technical food safety systems can hold under production pressure. The first three articles followed the operation inward, from the corrective action log through the cost of repetition to what growth asks a system to carry. The fourth followed it outward, to the public. This final article turns to the people who carry it all on their shoulders.

October 7, 2026

Food Safety Tech Research Completes Inaugural Digital Maturity Benchmark, Finds Full Digital Integration Remains Rare

By Food Safety Tech Staff

Study ties digital maturity to measurable ROI and food safety performance; 290 food manufacturer respondents, full findings debut at the Food Safety Consortium, October 21-23 in Washington, D.C.

October 2, 2026
Recall

Fontanini Foods LLC Recalls Raw, Frozen Pork Sausage Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination

The problem was discovered after the firm received two customer complaints regarding clear, hard plastic found in the sausage product. 

September 27, 2026

FSMA 204 Isn’t Just Your Challenge. It’s Your Supplier’s Challenge, Too.

By Kevin Donaghy

There are two big mistakes manufacturers are making with FSMA 204. The first is assuming that because you’re FSMA-compliant, you’ll be compliant with Section 204. The second is thinking about the rule as an internal issue that can be solved with better recordkeeping. When the FDA shows up with that traceability request, you’ll be expected to provide an electronic sortable spreadsheet with key details within 24 hours. In order for you to obtain that information quickly – and in the correct format – your suppliers and vendors will also need to be in compliance with the rules.

September 17, 2026
Sanitation in Retail

The FDA Releases 2026 Food Code

By Food Safety Tech Staff

The 2026 FDA Food Code differs from the 2022 edition by tightening allergen enforcement, expanding record keeping rules, and adding modern safety science for chemical additives and managerial oversight.

Columns

October 28, 2026
FST Soapbox

What’s Next After The Big Cyclospora Outbreak?

By Brian Ronholm
Lettuce

The massive Cyclospora outbreak linked to Taylor Farms is officially over, but key questions remain about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) handling of the crisis. In response to growing scrutiny over its response, the agency recently announced new commitments to help prevent and mitigate future outbreaks.

September 27, 2026
Women in Food Safety

Want the Corner Office? A Woman CEO’s 5 Lessons for Building a Path to the C-Suite

By Kim Ring

Sure, some days you might feel like “just a step on the boss man′s ladder” working the 9-5 lifestyle in the food industry. As the wise Dolly Parton once said, “It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it.” But if you take Katy’s lessons to heart and pour yourself a cup of ambition, your C-suite opportunity might present itself sooner than you think.

September 2, 2026
Ask The Expert

Food Safety as Business Infrastructure Series (Article 4 of 5): Brand Trust: The Public as the Final Reviewer of Your Food Safety System

By Azure Edwards, M.S.
Handshake

This series examines food safety as business infrastructure: the business decisions, governance structures, and operational conditions that determine whether technical food safety systems can hold under production pressure. The first three articles followed the record inward—from the corrective-action log, through the cost of repetition, to what growth asks a system to carry. This article follows that same operational reality outward.

August 11, 2026
Beltway Beat

Normalization of Deviance: The Real Lesson of This Summer’s Cyclospora Outbreak

By Steve Ardagh
Steve Ardagh

The term, Normalization of Deviance has since become standard vocabulary in aviation safety, nuclear safety, and patient safety literature, precisely because the pattern keeps recurring: a known risk, documented, unresolved, tolerated because the bad outcome hasn't happened yet… until the day it does.

July 31, 2026
Women in Food Safety

Why Authenticity Wins in Food Safety: 5 Leadership Lessons from Kelly Stevens

By Kim Ring

With a remarkable 30+ year career spanning laboratory microbiology, intense manufacturing plant roles, and global corporate leadership, Kelly shares the raw, honest milestones of her journey. For food safety professionals, her insights that we’ve boiled down to five tips, offer a powerful masterclass in leadership, navigating industry barriers, and owning your career path.

July 7, 2026
Beltway Beat

USDA Risks Becoming Irrelevant on Food Safety

By Brian Ronholm
USDA Logo

While the department’s food safety leadership likes to repeatedly emphasize that they use a science-based and data-driven approach to policy making, consumer advocates worry that these statements are meaningless if they don’t translate into policy initiatives that aim to prevent foodborne illness.

Upcoming FST Events & Webinars

November 5, 2026 – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
From Legacy Plants to New Builds: Rethinking Pathogen Control Strategy

This expert-led webinar examines pathogen control challenges in legacy, brownfield, and new greenfield food processing facilities. Industry experts will discuss hygienic design, sanitation, airflow, and continuous pathogen reduction strategies, including how DHP® technology complements existing sanitation programs. Peer-reviewed data and real-world case studies will highlight approaches to reducing airborne and surface-level pathogens.

On Demand Events & Webinars

September 17, 2026 – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Effective Change Management (CM) for a strong Food Safety Management System (FSMS)
May 28, 2026 – 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
FoodChain ID – The Packaging Decisions You Make Today Will Set Your EPR Costs Tomorrow: Data, Specs, and Eco-Modulation
May 5, 2026 – 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Food Safety Audits: Horror Stories and Lessons Learned
April 15, 2026 – 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
The Visibility Gap: Why Fragmented Food Safety Systems Leave You Exposed
April 8, 2026 – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Touchless, Continuous Pathogen Control: Introducing DHP®, a Novel Method for Enhancing Sanitation Programs









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