STOP Foodborne Illness
Food Safety Culture Club

Kellogg and Stop Share Strategies to Strengthen Food Safety Culture

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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STOP Foodborne Illness

With 37 facilities and close to 500 suppliers, Kellogg works with a large and diverse workforce. Over the years, the company has implemented several strategies to teach and reinforce good food safety practices. As a member of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, the company works with Stop to share what they have learned with fellow food industry professionals. We spoke with Sherry Brice, Chief Supply Chain Officer and former VP of Global Quality and Food Safety at WK Kellogg Company, and Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D., Alliance Program Director at Stop Foodborne Illness, to share their insights on training, rewards and free tools that can help food companies of all sizes enhance their food safety culture.

What are some of the strategies that Kellogg is using to strengthen its food safety culture?

Sherry Brice
Sherry Brice

Brice: Some of the things that Kellogg has implemented over the years—and every year we evolve—include a campaign called “Kellogg Food Safety Own It Every Day.” The campaign is about driving engagement at every level of the organization. We have behaviors that we expect of our employees at the frontline leadership level, the executive level and the management level. We provide training on engagement strategies to better articulate food safety culture, including the things they should recognize and how they should recognize them. We also do virtual reality trainings that help to educate our people. After education and engagement, the third pillar is recognition—recognizing and rewarding people around food safety culture.

Is food safety training part of all employee’s onboarding?

Brice: We do have onboarding for new employees. We also do quarterly and annual trainings, because doing it one time is not enough. You have to repeat, repeat, repeat. We have food safety videos that we have launched in partnership with Stop Foodborne Illness that include real life experiences and stories of people who have dealt with foodborne illness. These help team members internalize the training and personalize it, so they are thinking about the impact their actions have on the customers we serve every day. We use one of the videos for onboarding and also leverage them for our annual training and refresh trainings as well.

How did Stop Foodborne Illness get involved with Kellogg and what kind of resources are available for companies?

Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D.
Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D.

Coffman: Kellogg has been a member of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness since 2021. We rely heavily on Sherry and her team’s insights in multiple work streams, one of which is the ever-growing video series that is posted to our food safety culture toolkit website, and these are all free and publicly available.

We created two customized videos with Kellogg, each featuring one of Stop’s constituent-advocates alongside a Kellogg executive. These remind employees why food safety is so important and emphasize the commitment that Kellogg has made to safe food. We’ve also worked together on gamified learning, leveraging some of the games that Kellogg uses in its training, and those can also be accessed in the toolkit that is free and publicly available.

Since Kellogg joined the Alliance, has that changed your training strategies or your recognition strategies?

Brice: Stop has given us access to their constituents, which really brings to life why food safety is so important at every level of the organization. Engagement with people who have been affected by foodborne illness is crucial to getting to the hearts and minds of employees, and emphasizing the importance what they do every day.

Since joining the Alliance, we have also added virtual reality to our trainings, starting with the most important one which is around sanitation. We created a virtual reality space where new employees—as part of onboarding—put the glasses on and go through our sanitation process. If you do not do the right step, it will not let you go forward. It’s a way to do hands-on training without having to actually be on the line.

The Alliance has been a great partner for Kellogg. It is an investment, but it is money well spent. When you hear the stories of their constituents, you cannot help but think, I never want a situation like that to be on my watch, what can I do to prevent this from happening?

Kellogg is a very large company. How do you ensure this training is happening and that you’re communicating a consistent message throughout the whole organization?

Ready to start improving your food safety culture? Join the Food Safety Culture Design Workshop on October 16, at the 2023 Food Safety Consortium.

Brice: We have a global quality council made up of members from regions around the globe. We all come together on that council to align and make sure we’re all on the same page in terms of what we are going to do to impact the broader organization, and then we disseminate that action out into the regions. This way, we ensure that we have the right ownership, and that everyone is clear on what needs to be done and how we’re going to do it. We also use the council to track and make sure that people are getting access to the videos and completing the training in the time that we have identified.

We created a toolbox tool that is crafted and geared toward Kellogg employees based on the region they’re in, and the council helps to disseminate that and then track that the work is being completed. We also incorporate this into our audit to make sure that people are internalizing the information and getting something out of it.

You mentioned training on engagement strategies, is that through role playing?

Brice: Yes, it really is about how to drive good behaviors, ownership, escalation and empowerment. If you’re a technician and you have to give feedback to a manager, that can really be intimidating, so we want to make sure we’re arming employees with the right tools. We do this in our training by simulating how to have these crucial conversations. If I go into a plant and I’m not following protocol, somebody is going to give me feedback, and I hope that they give it to me in the right way. We want to arm people with the knowledge on how to do that so that they’re comfortable giving that feedback no matter who they are.

Does Kellogg work with its suppliers to help train them as well?

Brice: We do work with our supply base and also our co-manufacturers (co-mans). Our co-mans get a lot of the same training that our plants get. We have an “owner” from the supplier management team that oversees each of the suppliers and that owner manages what training the supplier needs, depending on where that supplier is in their journey. We provide them with the toolbox from Stop, so they can leverage those resources. and we have found that very helpful because if that supplier has a great food safety culture that means we’re going to great materials. Likewise, if our co-mans have a great food safety culture then we feel more comfortable with what they’re producing for us.

In addition to the videos, what are some of the other ways that the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness partners with companies?

Coffman: The Alliance was formed in 2018, and we have worked with companies across the food system from farm to fork. We utilize the power of Stop Foodborne Illness constituents and their stories of foodborne Illness. These are people who survived a harrowing experience or the loved ones of those who did not. They will go onsite, take part in town halls, write down their stories and share them on our website, and they have also participated in the videos. We make customized videos for companies like Kellogg, and we’ve been able to leverage that content to create shorter videos that are more generic for the toolkit website.

We also work with companies to develop other materials. As Sherry mentioned, we have some gamified learning. People can download those games and tweak them to their own needs, and some of those have been provided by Kellogg. We’ve also been able to create communication plans based on the nearly 20 Alliance members’ experiences and food safety culture journeys, and we share those plans with the small and medium-sized companies at no cost.

Sherry mentioned recognition of employees, what are good ways to publicly recognize good work in protecting food safety?

Coffman: Like many aspects of food safety culture, it is going to be company dependent. You do want to solicit input from your employees before implementing a rewards program. For example, some people love employee of the month recognition, while others would rather not be publicly recognized. They would prefer a gift card or time off. If you go to our YouTube channel, you can watch some of our past webinars, including one on rewarding and recognition.

Brice: We implemented an “Achievers” platform. Through the platform, we give points to employees and those points can be used to purchase items. We also do on the spot recognition and recognition dinners. It depends on the situation and the person, but “Achievers” is our main recognition platform because we have found that our employees like this. They can trade their points in for a gift card, a T-shirt, a vacuum cleaner—there are many different things on the platform.

It is often said that every company has a food safety culture whether positive or negative, how do you go about assessing where you’re at to understand what you need to implement?

Brice: You can do this through surveys and small group sessions. Asking open-ended questions so people can provide content that helps you understand truly where you’re at and listening are important. Anonymous surveys maybe the best place to start because people may not be very open to speaking up during a small groups. The surveys help you understand where you’re at and what areas do you need to focus on first. Stepping back and looking at what’s happening every day in the company will also give you an understanding of where your company is. How do people feel about stopping a line if they see an issue? Are they comfortable speaking up?

Coffman: Assessment isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. It has to be carefully thought out and will vary from company to company and even from location to location within the same company. I would like to add that assessment without action is fruitless. If you put forth the time and effort to collect and analyze data, you must take action.

Once you’ve done your assessment and are ready to improve your food safety culture, what are some of the steps you can take to get started?

Coffman: We have a page on our toolkit website dedicated to this, and it leverages learning from our 20 Alliance members from across the industry, looking at both the successes and the bumps they’ve encountered. It is going to look different for each company so I encourage everyone to go to the toolkit website and look at the Plan Your Journey tab.

Brice: The best plan includes people from all areas of the organization. You don’t want just the manufacturing base or the managers, you need to understand why people have the behaviors they have today and what needs to change. If all employees or departments feel that they have ownership in the plan, then the plan will come to fruition faster, and you’ll also create food safety champions along the way.

 

 

 

Salmonella
Food Genomics

Salmonella Outbreak Investigation Reinforces Importance of Drain Sanitation

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Salmonella

Drains can harbor pathogens and biofilms in facilities and have been cited as the cause of a Salmonella Motevideo outbreak in Quebec, Canada. For “Investigation of a Salmonella Montevideo Outbreak Related to the Environmental Contamination of a Restaurant Kitchen Drainage System, Québec, Canada, 2020–2021,” (Journal of Food Protection, October 2023), researchers André Paradis, Marie-France Beaudet, Marianne Boisvert Moreau and Caroline Huot, documented the investigation into the outbreak that affected at least 67 people between January 1, 2020 and August 13, 2021. An epidemiological investigation that included whole genome sequencing found that 66% of cases were directly linked to a restaurant in the area.

After an initial evaluation of hygiene, food safety, cases of illness among workers and food sampling failed to establish the source of the outbreak, environmental samples showed that the restaurant’s kitchen drains were contaminated with the same strain of Salmonella Montevideo as the cases in the outbreak. Several cleaning and disinfection methods were used repeatedly. When environmental sampling at the restaurant sites was repeatedly and consecutively negative, cases in the community stopped.

Over the course of the epidemiologic investigation, public health responders learned that the restaurant had experienced an accidental fire in its kitchen before the Salmonella Montevideo outbreak began. According to the Québec City fire department’s incident report, the fire started in—and was limited to—the oven used for cooking chicken.

The authors posited that the fire in the kitchen, which required emergency response from firefighters who used a powder extinguisher first, then a water jet to contain and extinguish the flames, may have played a role in the contamination of the restaurant’s sinks and drains.

The authors concluded that, “The most plausible explanation for the origin of this outbreak remains the contamination of the drains in Restaurant A. The presence of contaminated biofilm in the restaurant’s kitchen drainage system may have had a role to play in the extended duration of this outbreak.”

 

Jennifer Allen
Food Safety Attorney

Organic-Labeling Regulations

By Jennifer Allen
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Jennifer Allen

I have a tattoo on my arm of a stamp that proudly, if not entirely accurately, declares that I am “100% organic.” As a food lawyer and general foodie, it is very much on brand. I cover it with my sleeve whenever I go to court or otherwise feel that it is professionally appropriate to do so. But otherwise, my tattoo isn’t much of a liability, even if I display it to the world while proudly eating chemical-laden foods; to the contrary, it’s a fun conversation starter.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for food packaging. Food manufacturers who make that same claim, or others like it, without following the USDA’s stringent organic-labeling regulations, will face a lot more than a raised eyebrow, particularly since the USDA recently strengthened its enforcement ability with a new final rule that became effective earlier this year. So how can you let your more health-conscious customers know about the purity of your food without getting in trouble?

The safest and easiest way to do this is simply to identify any organic ingredients on the information panel of your packaging. If less than 70% of your ingredients are organic (by weight, excluding water and salt), then this is your only option. The ingredients listed as organic must in fact have been produced in compliance with the organic regulations and must not have come into contact with any prohibited substances. And you must keep records that allow the USDA to confirm this. Limiting your organic labeling to the information panel means that you don’t have to certify as an organic handler.

If more than 70% of the ingredients in your product are organic, then you probably want your customers to know that without having to read the ingredient list. Depending on the composition of your product, you want your principal display panel to declare that your food is “100% Organic,” “Organic,” or “Made with Organic” ingredients. The trade-off for making any of these claims is that you must certify as an organic handler, unless an exclusion or exemption applies to you. The ins-and-outs of certification are outside the scope of this article, but you can find them by referencing the regulations in 7 CFR 205. Although obtaining and maintaining certification is a rigorous standard, it allows you to use the USDA seal on your packaging.

Breaking Down the Three Types of Organic Claims

Let’s look at the broad requirements for these three types of claims. To make a claim that your product is “100% Organic,” all of your ingredients, and any processing aids, must have been produced in accordance with the organic regulations. Pretty simple, and common-sense.

To make an “Organic” claim, at least 95% of your ingredients, by weight, must have been produced in accordance with the organic regulations. Any nonorganic agricultural ingredients must meet a list of criteria, including that they are not commercially available in organic form and are not produced using certain prohibited processes. In addition, any nonagricultural ingredients including processing aids must be on the regulations’ list of approved substances.

To make a claim that your product is “Made with organic” ingredients, the product must contain at least 70% organic ingredients, by weight. In addition, all agricultural products must be produced without the use of sewage sludge, and cannot be irradiated or genetically engineered, and any nonagricultural ingredients including processing aids must be on the regulations’ list of approved substances. You are also limited to three ingredients or types of ingredients, and those ingredients must be included on the list of ingredients set forth in the regulations. The list currently consists of fish, fruits, grains, herbs, meats, nuts, oils, poultry, seeds, spices, sweeteners, vegetables and processed milk products. And all types of the ingredient (for example, tomatoes and tomato paste), must be organic, unless the non-organic type is identified separately as non-organic.

A major exemption for food manufacturers applies to producers of organic products whose agricultural income from organic sales is less than $5,000 a year. If this describes you, then you needn’t go through the rigorous certification process, but you must still follow the regulations for producing and handling organic products and all the applicable labeling requirements. The trade-off for avoiding the rigors of certification is that you may not use the USDA stamp on your products, and anyone who purchases your products cannot label them organic. And you must keep records sufficient to prove that any ingredients labeled as organic were in fact organically produced and handled and to verify the quantities that were produced from these ingredients.

To recap, absent an exemption or other exclusion, if you want to make a bold declaration about the organic nature of your ingredients, you will need to certify as an organic handler and follow all the relevant labeling regulations. For your efforts, you get to display the USDA seal on your products. If an exemption applies to you, you may make that bold declaration without certifying, but you do not get the added legitimacy of the USDA seal. If certification doesn’t make sense for you and no exemption or exclusion applies, then you may not make any bold declaration, and you are limited to listing the ingredients on the information panel.

Follow the regulations carefully. After all, what holds true for tattoos also holds true for organic labeling. Always think before you ink!

 

 

Matt Brown
FST Soapbox

Technology in the Food Chain: Insights from the IFT 2023 Traceability Challenge Report

By Matt Brown
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Matt Brown

In a report released in May of 2023, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) offered an encouraging and attainable outlook for cooperative and effective functionality throughout the global food supply chain. And with traceability as the primary goal in this diverse landscape of users, challenges and solutions abound. Less a snapshot of where we have been, this report is a helpful guide to where we are going and how best the industry will achieve compliance to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) by January 20, 2026.

Traceability Challenges in a Global Food Supply Chain

Traceability is a common goal in all industries. But when food and beverage is your bread and butter, the ability to trace a single ingredient can be a matter of life and death. Based on findings in a 2006 study, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported the following yearly totals: 37.2 million cases of foodborne illnesses; 228,744 resulting hospitalizations; and 2,612 deaths.[1] In order to improve the landscape of health and safety in the food and beverage industry, the IFT in conjunction with the FDA embarked on a study[2] of how low- or no-cost technology could improve traceability for businesses within the global food supply chain.

One of the greatest challenges in achieving uniform traceability lies in the vastness within the food supply chain itself. Those beholden to compliance are defined as “all persons who manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods that appear on the Food Traceability List (FTL).[3]” And this rule applies to all foods that are consumed in the U.S. market, not just those grown in the U.S. All laborers—planters, harvesters, processors, handlers, packers, distributors, shippers and retailers—who interact with any item on the FTL[4] must be recorded and tracked according to FDA guidelines. These guidelines include procedural protocol for food handling as well as timelines for processing and documentation. Whether the starting point of a single ingredient is stateside or overseas, it generally travels several places before arriving on a grocery store shelf or appearing on a restaurant’s menu.

Within this huge network of players lies the next challenge: economic and technological diversity. While economy and technology are not always one and the same, the typical overlap is demonstrated in the specific case of a head of lettuce. On one end of the supply chain continuum, a head of lettuce begins its journey in a field. There are no handheld scanners or databases in this lettuce’s origin story. There is only the hot sun, an irrigation system, and hard-working people laboring up and down the rows of lettuce. Now flash forward to Aisle 1 of your local grocery store. By now this lettuce has been inspected, washed, shrink-wrapped, labeled, UPC-ed, shipped, received and shelved. With each new set of hands it has passed through—both human and mechanical—it has likely experienced an ascending economic stratum with advancing technological features at each step. Sophistication and automation often increase exponentially as the number of places on the continuum increases. A head of lettuce purchased at your local farmers market, for instance, may have only changed hands once or not at all, while a vacuum-sealed carton of greens at your regional mega-outlet has likely seen many locales as well as top-of-the-line technology and automation.

In addition to a variety of technologies, it is likely that this head of lettuce has also passed through the hands of people speaking multiple languages. The laborers at the beginning of the continuum are often non-native English speakers. And regardless of a laborer’s native tongue, lower rates of literacy are common in entry level food industry jobs. According to statistics published by the Department of Labor in 2018, 77% of U.S. farmworkers report Spanish as their primary language. And the same report states that the average level of formal education completed was eighth grade.[5] Therefore, compliance across the continuum must be translatable and comprehendible to all levels of experience and available in all languages of users.

The challenge of complete supply chain compliance from one end of the spectrum to the other warrants cooperation across many lines: state, national, linguistic, cultural and economic to name a few. The need for intuitive solutions and an easy to implement process is paramount.

Technology as the Traceability Solution

With a better understanding of the global food supply chain itself, it is not hard to see why solutions can be found in the tech sector. When the food supply chain existed primarily in a local economy, keeping paper records was a viable process. Now the food supply chain is a global enterprise, and as such, processes must also operate on a global scale.

Tech solutions offer ready-made customization. Language translations, infographics, flowcharts and videos are easily incorporated into platforms for ease of use across all segments of the supply chain. This is beneficial to both domestic and international operations, and it is especially advantageous to those whose operations span both.

The availability of cloud-based platforms has elevated technological capabilities. No longer does every physical operation need its own dedicated server; rather, information is stored and remains accessible anywhere—from a single lettuce field all the way to the grocery store aisle across the world.

“It used to be common that shipments would arrive without necessary paperwork such as invoices, bills of lading or certificates of analysis. Even shipping labels would commonly be ripped off or illegible,” says Geoff Ellis, COO of Wherefour. “Things get lost in the mail. But when all pertinent information is stored in the cloud, it’s unquestionably accessible to the receiver, the shipper and the transport company.”

Not only does the use of cloud-based technology streamline operations for shipping and receiving, but it does the work ahead of time for quality assurance and regulatory compliance. Documentation does not have to be intentionally gathered and prepared for audits. Everything is already in order when a cloud-based tech platform is employed.

The FSMA’s Traceability Plan guide[6] mandates specific controls and standards for record keeping, all of which are reliant on lot codes. Lot code traceability is easily achievable with a comprehensive software solution. And data sharing is significantly improved with a cloud-based system. All involved parties can be in separate parts of one building or in different parts of the world, and they can still be on the same page operationally.

Expertise in the Tech Sector

With the FDA’s commitment to increased traceability, a shift in focus from response to prevention is apparent. And tech solutions have the unique ability to measure efficacy in procedural implementation across the supply chain continuum. Records are created, stored and shared in perpetuity, and those records can be instantly accessed from any location. Leaders in the tech industry are interested in creating solutions that are scalable and transferable. It is not uncommon for a platform whose original design was to address problems in one industry to end up solving a problem in a different industry altogether. Software solutions are by nature about operational functionality and can be applied to any operation therein.

Furthermore, evolution in the tech sector is rapid and collaborative. Expert insights and advancements drive competitors to continually improve and increase productivity and efficiency. “The tech sector is driven by a healthy sense of collaboration and competition,” says Ellis. “It’s exciting to watch the bar being raised by our competitors. It really motivates us to raise it even further with each new feature we develop.”

In order to achieve FSMA compliance within the diverse global food supply chain, implementing low- or no-cost tech-enabled traceability solutions is essential. It is in everyone’s best interest to remove any barriers that would otherwise prevent viable and nutritious food from getting to market.

References

[1] Scallan, E., Hoekstra, R. M., Angulo, F. J., Tauxe, R. V., Widdowson, M., Roy, S. L….Griffin, P. M. (2011). Foodborne Illness Acquired in the United States—Major Pathogens. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 17(1), 7-15. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1701.p11101

[2] Bratager, Sarah…Grantham, Alison. (2023, May 17). IFT’s Tech-Enabled Traceability Insights Based on the FDA’s Low- or No-Cost Traceability Challenge Submissions. Retrieved from https://www.ift.org/-/media/gftc/pdfs/ift-tech-insights-fda-nolowcost-traceability-report-2023.pdf

[3] FSMA Final Rule on Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods. (2023, June 26). Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/fsma-final-rule-requirements-additional-traceability-records-certain-foods

[4] Food Traceability List. (2023, June 26). Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/food-traceability-list

[5] Hernandez, Trish and Gabbard, Susan. (2018, January). Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2015-2016: A Demographic and Employment Profile of United State Farmworkers. 10-14. Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/naws/pdfs/NAWS_Research_Report_13.pdf

[6] Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods: What You Need to Know About the FDA Regulation: Guidance for Industry. Small Entity Compliance Guide. (2023, May). Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/media/168142/download

 

Pratik Jagad
FST Soapbox

Route-planning Software Reduces Food Loss, Improves Operational Efficiency

By Pratik Jagad
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Pratik Jagad

The food shipping industry has witnessed a surge in demand for more efficient services, and with that comes the need for more effective route planning. The success of food enterprises hinges on timely deliveries and cost optimization. To meet these challenges head-on, route planning software has emerged as a transformative tool that can reshape the logistics landscape for food companies. In this article, we explore efficient route planning in the food industry and how the adoption of route planning software can enhance overall operations.

The Importance of Effective Route Planning in the Food Industry

In the competitive world of food logistics and delivery, efficient route planning plays a pivotal role for several reasons. First and foremost, it directly impacts delivery times, ensuring that food reaches customers promptly. This not only satisfies the demands of discerning consumers but also strengthens customer loyalty and brand reputation.

Optimized routes have also proven to be a financial boon for food companies. By streamlining routes, businesses can significantly reduce food loss and improve fuel efficiency, leading to substantial cost savings in the long run. Additionally, effective route planning enables better resource allocation, enhancing overall operational efficiency and productivity.

Optimizing Delivery Routes with Route Planning Software

Route planning software leverages technology to optimize delivery routes. Some key ways in which route planning software is improving the logistics industry include:

  • Real-Time Traffic Updates: By incorporating real-time traffic data, route planning software dynamically adjusts delivery routes to avoid traffic congestions, ensuring timely deliveries even during peak hours.
  • Efficient Resource Allocation: With its ability to take into account various variables such as vehicle capacity, delivery time frames and driver availability, optimization software streamlines resource allocation, reducing idle time and improving overall delivery efficiency.
  • Cost Reduction and Fuel Efficiency: The software’s ability to design more efficient routes not only translates into cost savings but also reduces the environmental impact, as fuel consumption decreases, thereby contributing to more sustainable practices.

Ensuring Food Safety and Quality During Transit

For food shippers, maintaining the safety and quality of products during transit is of paramount importance. Route planning software addresses this concern through:

  • Temperature Control: User tools consider the specific temperature requirements of perishable goods and assign vehicles equipped with the appropriate refrigeration capacities, safeguarding the freshness and quality of products during transportation.
  • Minimizing Food Spoilage: Optimized routes reduce travel time, minimizing the risk of food spoilage, a crucial factor for businesses dealing with perishable goods.

Compliance with Food Safety Regulations

Adherence to food safety regulations is a non-negotiable aspect of the food industry. Route planning software assists companies in ensuring compliance with delivery and food safety laws, preventing potential legal issues and fines that could harm the reputation and financial stability of the business.

Enhancing Customer Satisfaction

In an era where customer experience reigns supreme, route planning software becomes an invaluable tool for food businesses aiming to enhance customer satisfaction. By streamlining delivery processes and reducing delays, the software contributes to meeting customer expectations and building brand loyalty.

Gone are the days of running your shipping operations from within a spreadsheet. The only logical next step is to implement technology tools that can help shippers catch up and eventually stay ahead of the curve. For food shippers, implementing route optimization tools and getting your perishable goods to shelves, freezers or onto plates faster can improve customer satisfaction and bottom line growth.

Food Safety Consortium 2023
Food Safety Think Tank

The Rise of Unforeseen Hazards and New Regulatory Strategies

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Food Safety Consortium 2023

The food industry is facing new challenges in food safety due to the introduction of novel foods and extreme weather events. In recent years, flaws within the nation’s regulatory system have also come to light. On October 16-18, food safety and quality professionals will gather at the 2023 Food Safety Consortium in Parsippany, New Jersey, to share lessons learned, join discussions with regulatory bodies and gain knowledge on how to mitigate current and coming food safety challenges. Join your peers as we examine topics including: 

Modernizing the U.S. Food Safety System

Following the infant formula crisis, the food industry, the public and the U.S. legislature called for changes to how we regulate food in the U.S. In this session, we look at key concerns and shortcomings with our current regulatory framework and how the system can be modernized to better address—and reduce—the most likely foodborne illness risks facing today’s consumers.

Panelists: Stephen Ostroff, M.D. former Acting FDA Commissioner, Bill Marler, Food Safety Attorney; Barbara Kowalcyk, Executive Director, Center for Foodborne Illness and Panelist of the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA. Moderated by Inga Hansen, Managing Editor, Food Safety Tech.

View the full agenda.

The Rise of Previously Unforeseen Hazards

With the combined effects of the recent pandemic, globalization, climate change, digitalization, and decreased regulatory inspection oversight, it is inevitable that previously unforeseen food safety hazards have emerged from within the food sectors previously thought low risk. Arguably, the rise of previously unforeseen food hazards may be attributed to the following:

  • Food Fraud. The addition of food fraud adulterants such as non-food grade chemicals, unapproved colors and flavors, and non-compatible allergenic ingredients, pose health risks to consumers. These hazards are changing and becoming more sophisticated.
  • Fusion Foods. With the internationalization food, food ingredients are being used in new and unexpected ways. As a result, new and unexpected hazards may occur, which may not be accounted for in food safety plans.
  • Clean Labeling. Foods that are considered “natural”, “healthy”, and “sustainable”, are free of artificial ingredients, to include preservatives. As foods are reformulated, hazards that were previously not a concern may become more prevalent.
  • Protein Alternatives. Food safety hazard analysis of plant-based and cell-cultured proteins cannot be approached in the same manner as traditional meat and poultry processing.

In this session, Tim Lombardo, Senior Director for Food Consulting Services, EAS Consulting examines the challenges of identifying emerging hazards associated with Food Fraud, Food Fusion, Clean Labeling, and Protein Alternatives as well as mitigation strategies to minimize these risks.

Make Data Useful Again: Building an Analytics Strategy to Drive FSQA Performance

Are you tired of sifting through vast amounts of data that don’t provide the valuable insights you need for your business? We understand that not all data is created equal, and it can be overwhelming to determine which information truly matters for making critical decisions. In today’s digital, world where every solution promises data insights, finding the right analytics and meaningful insights is crucial for success. Join our panel discussion where three seasoned F&B industry experts will share their hard-earned lessons and best practices for navigating the data deluge. Learn how they have successfully identified and utilized the data that matters, enabling them to drive important decisions and uncover critical gaps in visibility to revolutionize FSQA and supply chain programs.

Panelists: Gary Smith, Vice President, Quality Systems, Food Brands, 1-800-Flowers and Paul Bradley, Senior Director Product Marketing, TraceGains

Registration options are available for in-person and hybrid team attendance.

 

Food lab
In the Food Lab

Addressing Food Safety Challenges During Research and Development

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Food lab

Waiting until a product is at the tail end of R&D to examine potential food safety and regulatory compliance issues can lead to unnecessary delays and tension between teams, according to experts at the 2023 IAFP Conference in Toronto. Wendy White of the Georgia Tech Manufacturer Extension Program and Kory Anderson of Cargill co-moderated the panel discussion, “From Bench-top to Scale Up: The Unspoken Food Safety Challenges of Research and Development.” They were joined by panelists Shawn Stevens, an attorney with Industry Counsel, LLC, Benjamin Warren, Senior Science Advisor for Food Safety at the FDA, and Michael O’Rourke, North American Regional Microbiology and Food Safety Leader at Cargill.

Key food safety challenges associated with new product development highlighted by panelists included a lack of clear communication between departments, especially food safety, R&D and buyers.

Failure to bring your food safety leaders in early in product development can lead to sales and marketing decisions that are not implementable, said White. Stevens noted that traditionally there is tension between R&D and regulatory professionals in food companies that needs to be addressed in order to avoid food safety risks and delays in bringing new products to market.

Challenges when introducing new products or processing methods extend beyond in-house R&D to new suppliers as well. O’Rourke warned that risks occur when new buyers choose to purchase products from small companies that are not ready to scale up for national distribution. In addition, small companies with novel foods often have a lack of food safety know-how and may be introducing products that have not been vetted and/or do not meet regulatory standards.

O’Rourke further encouraged companies to be aware of risks when working with food brokers, as this may cloud traceability. “It may require pushback to get a clear view of the processing of the products at the primary source,” he said.

Meeting the Challenge

One way to avoid costly delays is to work with the FDA through its voluntary counseling program that encourages companies with novel products and new processing methods to meet with the FDA early in the R&D process. “This can help companies chart a regulatory path and smooth the transition to market. It helps companies understand what data is required—and what is not,” said Warren, noting that submissions to the FDA are often incomplete.

Another process that can help companies forecast safety risks and regulatory roadblocks early in the ideation and development process is a Design Hazard Analysis (DHA). “This mimics food safety plans, but begins during development to provide early consideration of regulatory requirements,” said Warren.

All panelists agreed that food safety team leaders should be brought in early in product development and be given a vote on what moves forward and what does not.

Food Safety Consortium 2023
From the Editor’s Desk

Tackling Today’s Greatest Food Safety Challenges:  The 2023 Food Safety Consortium

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Food Safety Consortium 2023

Food safety and quality professionals can take advantage of three days of education, networking and panel discussions at the 11th Annual Food Safety Consortium, October 16-18 in Parsippany, New Jersey. This year’s event is co-located with the Cannabis Quality Conference and Food Defense Consortium.

In-person and virtual registration options available

Erik Mettler and Sandra Eskin

Keynote Speakers: Erik P. Mettler, MPA, MPH, Assistant Commissioner for Partnerships and Policy, Office of Partnerships and Operational Policy, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) at FDA, and Sandra Eskin, Deputy Undersecretary Food Safety, USDA, Food Safety & Inspection Service.

Following the keynote presentations, attendees can take part in a Town Hall Q&A with Mettler and Eskin, followed by a panel discussion on Modernizing the U.S. Food Safety System, featuring Stephen Ostroff. Former FDA Commissioner, Barbara Kowalcyk, Executive Director of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention, and Bill Marler, Attorney with Food Safety Law Firm Marler Clark.

This year’s program includes four pre-conference workshops, taking place on Monday, October 16:

  • Food Safety Culture Design Workshop
  • CP-FS Credential Review Course
  • Food Safety Auditor Training
  • The Seed to Sale Safety Workshop

Days two and three feature panel discussions covering food safety culture, supply chain, recall patterns and succession planning, as well as breakout sessions on prevention, mitigation, control and regulation of key food safety hazards. Session highlights include:

Re-Imagining Food Protection as a National Security Issue – DHS Perspective, Presented by Mark Wittrock, Assistant Director – Health, Food, and Agriculture Resilience Office of Health Security, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Rise of Previously Unforeseen Hazards, Presented by Tim Lombardo, EAS Consulting

Food Safety Supply Chain Management, Presented by Celso Pagutalan, ASR Group

Succession Planning for Food Safety Inspectors, Panelists: Gina Nicholson Kramer, April Bishop of TreeHouse Foods, Barbara Kowalcyk, Executive Director of the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention, Erik P. Mettler, MPA, MPH, Assistant Commissioner for Partnerships and Policy, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) at FDA, Rance Baker of NEHA, and Jorge Hernandez of Wendy’s

Food Safety Culture: Creating a “Speak Up Culture,” Presented by Austin Welch, Sage Media

Risk Mitigation through Assessment, Testing, Monitoring and Compliance, Presented by Dr. Sandra Johnson, SGS North America

Recalls Trends, Regulation and Lessons Learned, Panelists: Erik P. Mettler, MPA, MPH, Assistant Commissioner for Partnerships and Policy, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) at FDA, Shawn Stevens, attorney with the Food Industry Counsel, and Stephen Ostroff, M.D. former Acting FDA Commissioner.

Food Allergen Advisory Labeling, Presented by Dr. Steven Gendel

View the full agenda.

Don’t miss out on opportunities to network with other food safety and quality professionals during the opening night reception, networking lunches and coffee breaks.

Registration options are available for in-person and hybrid team attendance.

Event Hours

  • Monday, October 16: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm (ET)
  • Tuesday, October 17: 9:00 am – 6:30 pm (ET)
  • Wednesday, October 18: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm (ET)

 

Sonia Acuña-Rubio
Allergen Alley

Reducing the Risk of Undeclared Food Allergens

By Sonia Acuña-Rubio
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Sonia Acuña-Rubio

Each year, 200,000 people in the U.S. require emergency medical care due to allergic reactions to food. Common foods that trigger allergic reactions include certain types of seafood, dairy, nuts, wheat, soy and sesame. For some, food allergy reactions can be serious and even life-threatening, requiring immediate treatment via the drug epinephrine.

Allergens are also one of the leading causes of food recalls globally. As food allergies continue to impact individuals and families across the nation, food manufacturers and distributors must be vigilant when manufacturing, packaging and selling foods to consumers.

Understanding Allergen Regulations

Many countries aim to protect individuals with food allergies by enforcing government regulations. Such regulations can require product manufacturers to disclose ingredients in packaged food and beverages.

In the U.S., the FDA recognizes nine major food allergens: crustacean shellfish, eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, soybeans and wheat. Sesame is the newest recognized allergen and was added in 2022 as part of the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education and Research (FASTER) Act. These allergens must be identified on labels for American food products.

Similarly, in Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has a list of 11 priority allergens, which includes eggs, milk, mustard, peanuts, crustaceans and mollusks, fish, sesame, soy, sulfites, tree nuts, wheat and triticale, which must be disclosed on pre-packaged foods sold in the country.

In both countries, products may be recalled due to improper labeling and announced via public notice. (A comprehensive list of recognized food allergens by country can be found on the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP)’s website.)

Activating Your Allergen Management Program

A comprehensive and effective allergen management program protects your consumers and your company and is necessary to meet regulatory and GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative)–benchmarked standard requirements. Creating an allergen management program involves developing processes and protocols and training employees to follow them.

Allergen cross-contact can occur when an allergenic food or ingredient is unintentionally incorporated into a food product. Food manufacturers and distributors should have a program that includes an allergen risk assessment, which helps to identify and manage any unintentional allergen contamination throughout the supply chain while tracing them throughout the facility. Good Manufacturing Protocols (GMP) should be followed for personal hygiene, handwashing, sanitation programs and more.

Managing Your Suppliers

Supplier communication is key to identifying allergens in raw materials. Use current supplier specifications and ingredient statements to identify allergens coming into the facility. Be alert for “may contain” statements and review your supplier’s allergen control policies and procedures.

In today’s food production environment, there are more supply chain disruptions than ever before. If there is a change in your raw materials or supplier, make sure that all documentation and finished product labels are updated.

Additional best practices when working with suppliers include:

  • Have a policy in place for label changes, noting that if a label from a product you purchase from a supplier changes, you must be notified of the change prior to the change being made and put into effect.
  • Ask for updated specifications/allergen information from suppliers on an annual basis. This could help to quickly identify issues if the supplier neglected to inform you of a change.

By identifying and listing sources in the facility, you can detect any ingredients and processing aids that contain or may contain allergens due to cross-contact or carry-over products. It is also important to prepare a master list of all ingredients in the facility and consider both primary and secondary ingredients, such as spices, colors and flavors.

Ask questions along the production process, identifying potential risks in recipes/formulas, traffic flow (of people, materials, and waste), potential crossovers of conveyors or pipe systems, shared equipment, storage practices, material segregation and airflow.

Avoiding Allergen Cross-Contact

Ensure that raw materials are labeled and segregated with incoming ingredient specification checks by weighing powders containing unique allergens in a separate and labeled area, covering totes or containers containing allergenic ingredients during transfer, and controlling the ventilation over lines where protein powders are dumped. Use product scheduling to maintain proper segregation.

Designate dedicated equipment, including utensils, if possible, as well as production sequencing or cleaning between allergen changeovers. Refrain from using original ingredient containers that previously held allergens. At the end of an allergen production run, conduct a complete and validated allergen clean.

Use documented visual inspection on each piece of equipment and environment between allergen changeovers and conduct regular labeling checks against the approved label/package design for each item produced. A third-party partner can be used to help develop and maintain supplier specifications, audit formulations, and review current packaging.

Protecting Consumers and Business Reputation

While ensuring products are free of any undeclared allergens may seem more challenging than ever before, establishing the right programs and practices can keep both your business and consumers healthy and safe. Implementing an allergen management plan, supplier checks, and allergen controls is key to avoiding cross-contact in the production process and throughout the supply chain, ensuing fewer disruptions in the manufacturing process, and ultimately, building trust with consumers.

Glen Ramsey
Ask The Expert

Ask the Expert: Why You Need to Pay Attention to Stored Product Pests

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Glen Ramsey

With food safety as a top priority for your business, keeping all pests out should also be top of mind. Stored product pests are tiny insects that can quickly damage your products and lead to lost profits. Glen Ramsey, board-certified entomologist and Director of Technical Services for Orkin, explains how facilities can keep stored product pests out of their facilities and why quick action is essential to successfully managing these pests if your facility confirms an infestation.

What are stored product pests?
Ramsey: Stored product pests are small insects, commonly beetles and moths, that feed on the ingredients in food manufacturing and handling facilities. These pests mainly target dry foods such as grains, cereals, seeds, chocolate and fruit. Depending on their feeding habits, they are categorized as external feeders, internal feeders, secondary feeders or scavengers.

Why are they harmful in food-handling facilities?
Ramsey: While they don’t cause structural damage or spread diseases, stored product pests can cause significant damage to stored goods resulting in lost product and lost profits for your business. These pests breed rapidly, so it’s important to look for signs of their activity and act quickly if you notice their presence. In addition to damaging your ingredients, many stored product pests can produce chemicals that alter the taste of food, and some of their larvae can irritate the digestive tract or even cause allergic reactions in vulnerable people.

What prevention methods can I implement to help avoid this pest issue?
Ramsey: Managing stored product pests takes a comprehensive strategy, which is where Integrated Pest Management (IPM) comes into play. Instead of relying on chemical treatments, IPM focuses on a proactive cycle of inspection, sanitation and monitoring tactics. Here are a few ways you can be proactive in helping to prevent stored product pest problems in your facility between pest control visits:

Storage

  • Store ingredients off the floor and at least 18 inches away from walls to allow access for staff to inspect and clean the area.
  • As a precaution, remove any products that are damaged or found in poor condition.
  • Try to maintain storage rooms at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or lower; stored product pests are generally inactive at these lower temperatures.

Sanitation

  • Use a vacuum with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter to remove debris from cracks and crevices.
  • Immediately clean up any product spills and encourage employees to do the same.
  • If you haven’t yet, start a continuous deep-cleaning program to ensure that every shelf is inspected, vacuumed and wiped down at least twice per year.

Ingredient Care

  • Inspect incoming shipments for signs of pests, such as webbing, larvae and live adult insects. Pay close attention if your packaging material has been damaged, as this can alert to product infestations.
  • If any suspicion of activity is seen, even only on the surface of the product, use a grain probe or similar instrument to inspect and determine the extent of the infestation.
  • Quarantine known infested product away from clean product.
  • Set aside a sample of every shipment in a closed, labeled plastic container. If insects appear over time, immediately quarantine and inspect any remaining product and notify your supplier.
  • Rotate ingredients on a first-in, first-out basis to help prevent them from deteriorating and inviting scavengers and secondary feeders.

When it comes to monitoring and managing stored product pests in your facility, you should work with a pest management provider. Make sure the provider you select is reliable and knowledgeable about the food and beverage processing industry.

 About the Expert:

Glen Ramsey, MS, BCE
Director of Technical Services, Orkin, LLC

Glen Ramsey is Director of Technical Services for Orkin. He is a board-certified entomologist and provides technical support and guidance across all Rollins brands in the areas of training and education, operations, and marketing. For more information, email gramsey1@rollins.com or visit www.orkincommercial.com.