Food companies have to manage a variety of pests seeking harborage, food, water and other resources in their facilities. Among these pests, flies can be some of the most difficult to manage. Frank Meek, technical services manager for Orkin and board-certified entomologist with 36 years’ experience in the food industry, shares strategies to you can take to mitigate the risk of flies in your food facility.
Walter Brandl, Regional Director of Chemistry, North America, at Mérieux Nutrisciences, shares the experiences that prepared him for a career in food contamination detection and determination, and looks at the evolving role of third-party testing in food safety.
Halal certification proves that a manufacturer has fully implemented halal practices at a facility. However, there is a hidden risk to certification: non-halal materials can be carried into production areas via culture media. Andreas Bubert, Ph.D., Senior Global Product Manager Culture Media at Merck KGaA, discusses the concerns behind commonly used culture media and how to ensure halal-compliance.
The proposed FSMA rule on Preventive Controls for Human Food is making HACCP an integral part of all food manufacturing and mentions air as a potential source of contamination, but does not specify frequency. How can you take a risk-based approach in incorporating air monitoring into your HACCP plan? This week’s Ask the Expert focuses on Air Monitoring and Media Prep.
Karen P. Cronholm, Director, Regional Marketing, for EMD Millipore’s BioMonitoring Group, says that “Compressed air contains water vapor, particulate matter, oil vapor and droplets, and microorganisms,” and this is a critical area that wasn’t paid much attention to until recently. The new FSMA standard has created a great opportunity for their products, Cronholm explains. Of…
