Listeria
From the Editor’s Desk

Detection, Mitigation and Control of Listeria and Salmonella: What We Know and Where We’re Heading

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Listeria

The detection and mitigation of foodborne illness-causing pathogens continue to be a challenge for all aspects of the food industry from farm to fork. Join Food Safety Tech and the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention at the Fawcett Center at The Ohio State University on April 3-5 in Columbus, Ohio, for three days of food safety hazards education.

The Food Safety Tech’s Hazards Conference + CFI Think Tank brings together leading minds in industry and academia for two days of practical education on the detection, mitigation, control and regulation of key food hazards, followed by discussion geared toward identifying gaps for research and innovation. The program includes:

The USDA’s Proposed Approach to Salmonella Control in Poultry Products

Sandra Eskin

Sandra Eskin, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA

Sandra Eskin leads the Office of Food Safety at the USDA, overseeing the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which has regulatory oversight for ensuring that meat, poultry and egg products are safe, wholesome and accurately labeled. Prior to joining USDA, Eskin was the Project Director for Food Safety at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C. She also served as the Deputy Director of the Produce Safety Project (PSP), a Pew-funded initiative at Georgetown University from 2008-2009.

Salmonella: What We’ve Learned and Remaining Gaps in Detection and Mitigation

Barbara Masters

Barbara Masters, Vice President, Regulatory Policy, Food & Agriculture, Tyson Foods

Dr. Masters is the Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Food and Agriculture at Tyson Foods, Inc., where she provides regulatory vision and support for food safety and quality policies and procedures. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Partnership for Food Safety Education and the Steering Committee for the Global Food Safety Initiative. Dr. Masters spent nine years as a Senior Policy Advisor at Olsson Frank Weeda, where she worked closely to advise with the meat and poultry industry to ensure regulatory compliance, and served as Administrator of the USDA FSIS.

The Legal and Financial Risks of Food Safety Hazards

Bill Marler

Bill Marler, Food Safety Attorney, Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm

An accomplished attorney and national expert in food safety, William (Bill) Marler has become the most prominent foodborne illness lawyer in America and a major force in food policy in the U.S. and around the world. Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, has represented thousands of individuals in claims against food companies whose contaminated products have caused life altering injury and even death.

Shawn Stevens, attorney with the Food Industry Counsel, LLC

Shawn Stevens

Stevens is a nationally recognized food attorney and founding member of the Food Industry Counsel who has dedicated his firm to “Going All-In for Food and All-Out for Those Who Produce It.” He works closely throughout the U.S. and abroad with food industry clients (including the world’s largest growers, processors, restaurant chains, distributors and grocers) helping them protect their brand by complying with FDA and USDA food safety regulations, reducing food safety risk, managing recalls, and defending high-profile food safety cases.

 

Mitigating the Risks of Salmonella and Listeria in Your Facility & Products

Sanjay Gummalla

Sanjay Gummalla, Vice President, Regulatory & Technical Affairs, American Frozen Food Institute

Gummalla has broad industry experience in food science, food safety, and nutrition. He is in the forefront of coordinating Listeria monocytogenes prevention and control programs and policy efforts on behalf of the frozen food industry. Prior to joining the American Frozen Food Institute, Gummalla served as VP of product development at Zentis NA. He currently serves on key committees representing the industry, including advisor on the U.S. Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee for Processed Foods, a committee member on IAFP’s Journal of Food Protection, President of the Capital Area Food Protection Association, and chair of the International Food Science Certification Commission.

Rashmi Rani, Senior Manager of Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Schwan’s Home Delivery

Rashmi Rani

Rani has more than 18 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. In her current role she manages food safety programs, QMS, SQF of Florence facility, USDA and FDA compliance, and training. She works with cross functional teams on continuous improvement projects including reduction of nonconformance product cost and rework cost reduction. Prior to joining Schwan’s, Rani worked with AB-Inbev, BakeCo, McCormick Inc. and Wornick food (Baxter’s North America).

 

Registration is now open

Application of Ozone for Decontamination of Fresh Produce

Al Baroudi

Al Baroudi, Ph.D., Vice President of Quality Assurance & Food Safety, The Cheesecake Factory

In addition to his current role, Dr. Baroudi has conducted workshops, published White Papers and introduced the HACCP program to developing countries on behalf of the U.S. government. He is the recipient of Borden’s “President Award”, the Sani “Food Safety Champion Award”, and the “Outstanding Food Safety Program Innovation Award,” and the Southern California IFT “Distinguished Achievement Award.” In 2022, NR News named, Dr. Baroudi as one of the top 50 most influential restaurant executives in the country, and The NRA presented him their inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for “Outstanding Leader in Food Safety.” He was instrumental in passing the Food Facilities Sanitization Bill “AB 1427” in the California State Assembly that cleared the way for the ozone to be approved in California Cal Code (2012).

Ahmed Yousef, Ph.D., Department of Food Science & Technology, Ohio State University

Ahmed Yousef

Dr. Yousef earned his Ph.D. in Food Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before joining Ohio State as an Assistant Professor in 1991. Since the late 1990s, Dr. Yousef and his research team have worked to develop methods to pasteurize shell eggs and to decontaminate fresh produce while maintaining products’ fresh qualities. His ozone research led to developing methods to decontaminate spinach, apples, and other fresh produce. As a result of this research, Dr. Yousef established the largest ozone research laboratory in the U.S. at Ohio State.

Biofilm Prevention and Control Practices

Charles Giambrone

Charles Giambrone, Food Safety Manager, Rochester Midland

Giambrone received his M.S. degree in Microbiology from Rutgers University in 1978, where his research focus was applied and environmental microbiology. In his current and previous roles as VP & Sr. Technical Support Manager for Rochester Midland Corp, he provides applied research and technical support in the whole area of food safety and sanitation including processing and preparation, membrane cleaning, and water treatment systems plus supervision of R & D projects. Giambrone has a broad and in-depth expertise in the areas of hygiene, disinfection, and biocides. This includes working with systems to remove or prevent biofilm formation in food processing and water system lines as well as other applications.

View the full agenda and register here.

Holly Mockus, Product Manager, Alchemy Systems
Food Safety Culture Club

Improve Employee Loyalty and Food Safety by Building Better Leaders

By Holly Mockus
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Holly Mockus, Product Manager, Alchemy Systems

No matter where you look, labor shortages continue to linger. Good workers are in short supply, whether at a coffee shop, retail store, or food manufacturing plant. In some states, the problem has gotten so bad that lawmakers are proposing changes to child labor laws. Iowa, for example, has introduced legislation to make it legal for 14-year-olds to work in meat packing plants, which could present significant challenges to food and workplace safety. We shouldn’t have to resort to such drastic measures to maintain a stable workforce.

In addition to using higher wages and bonuses to attract workers, more manufacturers are creating workplace cultures that foster a feeling of importance, opportunity for advancement, and employee well-being—which all hinge on the strength of their frontline supervisors.

Bad supervisors or managers are among the most common reasons people cite for leaving their jobs. Last year, the employment and background screening services company GoodHire conducted a survey to determine why employees quit their jobs. Of the 3,000 workers surveyed, 82% identified bad managers as the top reason for leaving.

Set Up Leaders for Success

Being a good manager or supervisor is about displaying leadership qualities and habits that foster employee loyalty and best practices. That’s why it’s crucial to invest in leadership development. Good leaders can impact employee engagement by up to 70%, which improves safety and quality, enhances productivity, and reduces absenteeism and employee turnover.

In manufacturing, leaders are often selected based on their attendance or job performance. But we know it takes much more to be a good leader. Leaders must learn how to properly coach frontline workers, conduct constructive conversations, resolve conflicts, and more.

Frontline supervisors need leadership and soft skills training to improve communication, create good first impressions, provide and receive feedback, and conduct difficult conversations. Leadership training can also build trust and employee engagement in a manner that values differences.

Balance Empathy with Discipline

One of the biggest challenges for supervisors is maintaining a balance of empathy and discipline. While it’s important to understand and appreciate the challenges that manufacturing workers have endured over the last two years, supervisors must still hold employees accountable for their actions.

Many employees who were classified as essential workers during the pandemic are still working without a significant break. They’re watching friends leave for other jobs with higher pay. And they are taking on more work while replacements are slowly hired. They’re struggling financially as inflation outstrips their pay. And they might still be working without a path for promotions.

So, it’s important for leaders to understand their pain without looking the other way when safety policies go unfollowed. Leaders should be taught how to listen and ask questions about the general well-being of their teams while holding workers accountable for mistakes and shortcuts that can lead to safety issues.

While it might seem like a time to tread lightly around employees, letting safety issues go unfollowed can lead to significant consequences and allow other workers to develop bad safety habits.

Actively Listen to Employees and Value Differences

Frontline employees often complain that their supervisors rarely listen to their concerns. Active listening skills are needed to create an environment where employees feel included and valued. Training can help emerging leaders improve their listening skills and turn that feedback into something actionable.

Employees also need to feel included, which means leaders must learn how to understand and appreciate different backgrounds and cultures. In manufacturing plants with employees from multiple cultures and nationalities, it is essential for leaders to understand what drives and motivates employees before, during and after work.

This is also the time to improve overall listening skills, such as maintaining contact and eliminating distractions during conversations. Effective communication involves more than speaking clearly; it’s also about knowing when to stop talking and give others a chance to speak. Not all employees are comfortable with face-to-face meetings and being asked questions in a crowd. So, it’s important to know how employees like to communicate. This might involve email vs. direct or group conversations.

Make the Leap from Co-Worker to Leader

As leaders are selected from their groups, one of their biggest challenges will be transitioning from co-worker to supervisor. Too often, this conflict creates an environment where exceptions are made for friends. Training can help new leaders set clear expectations and boundaries for their friends and understand when they need to be firm and when they can be flexible.

These are just a few training areas that can help set new leaders up for success. Other areas of leadership training may include anger management, how to deal with difficult people, disciplinary actions, performance evaluations, and providing and receiving feedback.

When it comes to recruiting, new employees might come for the perks, but they’ll stay for a good supervisor.

Jennifer Allen
Food Safety Attorney

How to Make a Nutrient Content Claim

By Jennifer Allen
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Jennifer Allen

We’re all familiar with nutrient-content claims, even if we’ve never heard that name. Terms like high, low, good source, added, enriched, more, and fewer, when paired with a particular nutrient, signal to the consumer that a product is healthy. For many consumers, the nutrient-content claim may be the only information they read, so adding one to the product label can pack a significant punch.

The FDA regulates nutrient-content claims, with some general rules set forth in 21 CFR § 101.13, and more detailed requirements laid out in sections 101.54-69, these latter provisions being commonly referred to as Subpart D. Subpart D provides the maximum and minimum amounts of each regulated substance that would allow the product to qualify for a nutrient-content claim about that substance. This article summarizes the general rules for nutrient-content claims. But anyone wanting to make such a claim should also follow the detailed requirements in Subpart D before sending any label to the printer.

The FDA defines a nutrient-content claim as a claim that expressly or impliedly characterizes the level of a nutrient of the type that is required to be listed on the label’s nutrition-information panel (the information required to be on the nutrition-information panel itself is not considered to be a nutrient-content claim).

Express vs. Implied Claims

An express claim is one that directly states the amount of the nutrient. Examples of express claims are “100 calories” or “low fat.” An implied claim either 1) suggests the presence of a nutrient at a certain level or 2) suggests that the food may be useful for maintaining healthy dietary practices and also makes an explicit claim about a nutrient. The claim “high in oat bran” is an example of the former; the statement “healthy, 3 grams of fat” is an example of the latter.

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FDA provides some broad general principles for nutrient-content claims. When making a statement about the amount or percentage of a nutrient, the manufacturer has three options. It can simply state an amount that is not false or misleading, such as “100 calories.” Or it can make a statement that suggests that the amount of the nutrient meets Subpart D’s requirements for the particular claim, in which case it must in fact comply with Subpart D. An example of this type of claim would be “less than 3 g fat per serving.” That language implies that the product is low in fat, so the product must in fact meet Subpart D’s requirements.

Alternatively, the manufacturer can make a statement that suggests the product meets Subpart D’s requirements when in fact it does not, in which case it must include a disclaimer. An example of this kind of statement would be “only 200 mg sodium, not a low-sodium food.” The use of the word “only” indicates that the product is low in sodium, but the product does not meet Subpart D’s definition of low sodium (only products with 140 mg or less of sodium qualify as low-sodium foods). This statement is useful if a product is significantly “healthier” than competing products but not quite “healthy” enough to qualify under Subpart D.

Relative Claims

What about relative claims—those claims that a food has fewer, less, or more of something, or that a food contains added or reduced amounts of a nutrient? First, you must be comparing the amount of the particular nutrient in the product to an amount of that nutrient in an appropriate reference food. That makes sense; the fact that your celery sticks have more fiber than a serving of chocolate ice cream is hardly deserving of recognition.

For “less” and “fewer” or “more” claims, the comparison food may be a similar food or a dissimilar food within the product category. If your product is a bag of potato chips, you might compare it to another brand of chips, or to another similar snack food such as pretzels. If your product is orange juice, you could compare it to another brand of juice or to vitamin C tablets.

For claims that a product is “light”, “reduced,” “added,” “extra,” “plus,” “fortified,” or “enriched,” the comparison food must be a similar food e.g. chips for chips. For “light” claims, the reference food must be representative of the type of food that includes your particular product making the claim. For all other claims, you may simply use your regular product, or a product that another manufacturer has regularly offered for sale to the public for a substantial amount of time. Absent these restrictions, a manufacturer could create an experimental product with, say, 20,000 mg of sodium, and then, using that product as the reference food, claim that all of its products were reduced sodium. Of course, none of you would do that, but who’s to say what your competitor might try.

The product label must identify the reference food and the percentage or fraction of the amount of the nutrient in the reference food by which the labeled product differs; this must be immediately adjacent to the claim. For example, “1/3 fewer calories than,” or “30% less fat than.” Finally, you may not make a “relative” claim if the reference food would itself already qualify for its own nutrient-content claim.

While these regulations are complex and require careful attention to detail, they are also quite simple; their purpose is to prevent manufacturers from confusing consumers or misleading them into believing a product is healthier than it really is, or that the consumer ought to purchase one product over another for health reasons when the product lacks any real health benefit. When viewed through this lens, the regulations are in fact much easier to follow. By giving the consumer a product label that is low in misleading claims and high in informative facts, both the FDA and the consumer will be happy.

 

Steve Min
Women in Food Safety

Carve Your Own Path

By Laura Gutierrez Becerra
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Steve Min

The Women in Food Safety Group had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Min, Executive Vice President of R&D and Quality Assurance at International Dairy Queen (IDQ) about his career path as well as opportunities and advice for young female professionals who are interested in pursuing and/or expanding their careers in food safety.

Min, a secondgeneration Korean American, holds a bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Technology and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering from Ohio State University. His career has spanned food safety, R&D and quality management across multiple areas of the food supply chain. At IDQ, Min is responsible for ensuring global regulatory compliance, product development, and food safety and quality in more than 20 countries.

His personal journey in the food industry began at the age of 14 working in food concessions, food service and food catering. However, food science has run through his veins since birth as he is the son of a well-recognized food science professor. Min launched his professional career at Borden Foods and Mattson. He progressed to a management position at Battelle, where he focused on probabilistic and quantitative risk management, then a leadership position at Wendy’s before joining IDQ. 

Do you have any advice to those who are pursuing a career in R&D or FSQA?

Min: Try both. These two areas are tied to one another. Quality and safety are built in the development and specification process and further developed through the commercialization process. Understanding—and learning about—mitigation of food safety risk at the manufacturing and food service/end user level is imperative. I believe exploring both areas at early career stages is very valuable to help become well rounded and define a career path.

What motivated you to focus your career on food safety? 

Min: The combination of detailed thinking (risk analysis) and vision (risk mitigation) as well as the opportunity to solve problems piqued my interest. I enjoyed the analytical work during my college years. During grad. school, I focused my work on nonthermal technologies, such as Pulsed Electric Field processing, to inactivate organisms causing foodborne illnesses.

My engineering background helped me better understand the manufacturing process, while applying risk-based and science-based approaches to product design, quality and food safety.

Take part in three days of food safety education and networking at the Food Safety Tech Hazards Conference + CFI Think Tank, April 3-5 in Columbus, Ohio.

From the business perspective, understanding the importance of food safety to ensure companies are not negatively impacted is imperative. It also is important to recognize that safety is a continuous process that requires coordination with other teams to achieve customer satisfaction.

What do you like most about your job?

Min: Professionally, it allows me to interact and build relationships with people and share a risk-based culture. I take professional pride in knowing that our customers are getting safe food. Personally, I enjoy learning, which always is achieved by tackling issues and solving problems. The technical aspect of my career is fun, but that is only one aspect of the business. Success only is achievable through collaboration.

What are some of the obstacles or challenges you face as a food safety professional? 

Min: Throughout my career, I have faced challenges and I enjoy being challenged. It’s an opportunity to learn from other departments or pillars of the food industry, understand the challenges they are experiencing and define the work needed to solve a problem. This helps me stick to my beliefs and responsibilities during challenging times. Building relationships and your own credibility is extremely helpful, and this requires one to learn how to respectively disagree with and learn from people while effectively communicating the importance of food safety.

What have you learned by working with women during your career journey? 

Min: I have worked with outstanding female employees and leaders. Inclusion is something natural and important to me as I saw what my father, a Korean immigrant, experienced during his life.
Fundamentally, everyone brings strengths to work and I continue to learn about others’ strengths and how to best empower teammates to reach their potential. I’m putting more focus on understanding the background and the experience of a colleague or a new potential employee. I am learning to focus on understanding where and how the employee wants to grow and I try to help them break barriers or guide them on next steps to fulfill their career aspirations. To do this, I focus on the feedback I receive as a manager and try to be a better partner, as part of my own continuous development. I’m on an ongoing learning journey to leverage situational leadership and empathy in a way that allows all teammates to grow, find satisfaction and help IDQ achieve its mission and vision.

What is the best advice you received as a young professional? 

Min: There are three keys I learned from previous managers and mentors that guided me through a lot of challenges. I remain grateful to those who have helped me learn. They are:

  1. Build relationships in a time of calm and leverage them in a time of crisis.
  2. Seek and gather facts from different perspectives and assess them prior to making a final decision. There are often many sides of the story and details can be important but sometimes overlooked.
  3. “Stay on the side of the angels.” It’s all about doing what’s right. Doing what we think is right will protect people and the business.

I believe considering these three things is fundamental, especially when you work in a fast-paced environment.

If you could turn the clock back to the start of your career, what would you say to your younger self? 

Steve Min: Put more focus on networking and relationship building. Continue to help others, which ultimately helps all of us. Put your fears aside and take some risks. Learn more about business. Exercise more and spend more time with family.

What advice would you offer to young women, students and early-career professionals seeking to become leaders in food safety?  

Min: Starting a career path is an important decision. Research the entire scope of options that are available and talk to people that are in these roles, both new and tenured employees. I’ve never come across someone in our industry that hasn’t been willing to share their experiences with another, so just reach out. From there, consider what motivates you.

When you are starting out, you may need to switch jobs. This can be challenging but it may help you learn, find passion and carve your path. If you can explore both R&D and food safety/QA earlier in your career, it may help you become a well-rounded food professional and enable you to think about food safety more holistically.

Soft skills are especially important for career advancement, so learn to develop them as early as possible, specifically collaboration, business acumen, communication, and cross-functional leadership. Try always to put yourself in other people’s shoes to develop these soft skills. Ask for help, be bold, and don’t shy away from a challenge.

What do you hope to see in the next three to five years in terms of development and mentoring of women in the industry? 

Min: Right now, women are a tremendous part of the industry, and we have some wonderful women leaders. When I conduct interviews, I see a pipeline of capable and intelligent women who have strong career aspirations. I strive for continued growth of younger generations within the company and industry and help develop them to fit key roles in the future.

What advice do you have for those working towards a position in the executive team? 

Min: Develop your soft skills and find opportunities to display the quality of your work, your capabilities, and your leadership skills. Set your own vision and goals and look for strategic projects that can help you achieve those goals. Be bold, put yourself out there, and demonstrate your abilities. This requires stretching your comfort zone, raising your hand and seeking stretch opportunities. It is often important to take initiative to get promoted. The key piece of this is strategic thinking and having a vision. When you have a goal, you can assess the situation, and then work backwards and cross-functionally to complete projects and achieve priorities.

As a senior leader for a global team, do you have any suggestions on increasing diversity in the food industry?   

Min: Work with HR to continue to widen recruiting circles. Be deliberate in learning and having conversations about diversity and inclusion. If travel is part of your job, it is a great opportunity to learn from people who have varying cultures and backgrounds. It’s important to build more diverse relationships and help others make connections. Inclusion is so important and learning and practicing day-to-day inclusivity will drive positive change. Invest in relationships, teach others and keep learning. Consider leaning into or leading opportunities that come your way in this space.

Food Safety Consortium 2023
From the Editor’s Desk

Save the Date: Food Safety Consortium 2023 October 16-18

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Food Safety Consortium 2023

The Food Safety Consortium, now in its 11th year, will take place October 16-18, 2023, at the Hilton in Parsippany, New Jersey. Presented by Food Safety Tech, the Consortium is a business-to-business conference that brings together food safety and quality assurance professionals for education, networking and discussion geared toward solving the key challenges facing the food safety industry today.

In addition to the two full days of high-level panel discussions, this year’s program will include a second Food Safety Hazards track. These “Boots on the Ground” sessions build on the success of Food Safety Tech’s virtual Food Safety Hazards program by providing two days of education on the detection, mitigation, control and regulation of key pathogen, pest, chemical and physical food hazards.

Call for Abstracts Now Open

Also new this year is a strategic co-location with the Cannabis Quality Conference (CQC). Presented by Cannabis Industry Journal, CQC is a business-to-business conference and expo where cannabis industry leaders and stakeholders meet to build the future of the cannabis marketplace. Attendees will have the opportunity to take part in pre-conference workshops designed to address safety and compliance in cannabis edibles on October 16.

“We are bringing two great conferences together under one roof,” says Rick Biros, president of Innovative Publishing and director of the Food Safety Consortium. “The Food Safety Consortium will continue its strategic meeting of the minds format, but we are complementing that with the practical, boots-on-the-ground Food Safety Hazards track. Co-location with the CQC allows attendees to take advantage of additional education on product testing and quality assurance in the burgeoning cannabis market, as well as preconference workshops delving into infused product safety and compliance that will appeal to both food safety and cannabis professionals.”

All of these events will take place October 16-18, 2023, at the Hilton in Parsippany, New Jersey.

If you would like to present at the Food Safety Consortium, please submit abstracts here.

For sponsorship and exhibit inquiries, contact RJ Palermo, Director of Sales. Stay tuned for registration and early bird specials.

About The Food Safety Consortium
Organized by Food Safety Tech, the Food Safety Consortium Conference has been providing education and networking for Food Protection professionals since 2012. The conference focuses on food safety, food integrity and food defense as the foundation of the educational content of the program. With a unique focus on science, technology, best practices and compliance, the Consortium features critical thinking topics that have been developed for both industry veterans and knowledgeable newcomers.

About Food Safety Tech

Food Safety Tech is a digital media community for food industry professionals interested in food safety and quality. We inform, educate and connect food manufacturers and processors, retail & food service, food laboratories, growers, suppliers and vendors, and regulatory agencies with original, in-depth features and reports, curated industry news and user-contributed content, and live and virtual events that offer knowledge, perspectives, strategies and resources to facilitate an environment that fosters safer food for consumers.

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Food Safety Think Tank

Food Safety Tech Hazards + CFI Think Tank Coming to Ohio April 3-5

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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The Food Safety Tech’s Hazards Conference Series + CFI Think Tank, “Industry & Academia Advancing Food Safety Practices, Technology and Research,” will take place April 3-5, 2023, at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

The program brings together leading minds in industry, academia, standards and regulation to provide in-depth education and discussion on the most significant pathogenic and chemical risks facing the food industry today.

Building on the popularity of the Food Safety Tech Hazards virtual series, the in-person event will offer practical guidance and cutting-edge research on the detection, mitigation, control and regulation of the most significant foodborne illness risks.

The CFI Food Safety Think Tank on April 5 will bring food safety experts together to take a deeper look at the hazards discussed during the first two days of the conference. Participants will brainstorm in small groups to develop a roadmap on research, innovation, policy, and prevention measures that need to be taken to make our food supply safer in the future.

“Food safety hazards continue to be a challenge for all aspects of the food industry from farm to fork.” said Rick Biros, publisher of Food Safety Tech and director of the Food Safety Consortium conference and Food Safety Tech Hazards series. “The detection, mitigation and control of food safety hazards issues must be discussed among peers and best practices must be shared, something you can’t do virtually. The human connection is so important for conference attendees. Whether it’s a random connection over lunch, a one-on-one question with a speaker after a presentation or a seat next to a new friend in a learning session—connecting with others is what makes events so valuable. We are excited to bring this program, designed to help facilitate this much needed critical thinking and sharing of best practices, to OSU.”

Learn more and register here.

For sponsorship and exhibit inquiries, contact RJ Palermo, Director of Sales.

About Food Safety Tech

Food Safety Tech is a digital media community for food industry professionals interested in food safety and quality. We inform, educate and connect food manufacturers and processors, retail & food service, food laboratories, growers, suppliers and vendors, and regulatory agencies with original, in-depth features and reports, curated industry news and user-contributed content, and live and virtual events that offer knowledge, perspectives, strategies and resources to facilitate an environment that fosters safer food for consumers.

About Food Safety Tech Hazards

Launched in 2020, the Food Safety Tech Hazards series brings together industry leaders, researchers and regulators to provide in-depth education and discussion on the detection, mitigation, control and regulations of the most significant pathogenic and chemical risks facing the food industry today.

Walter Brandl
Ask The Expert

Ask the Expert: Walter Brandl

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Walter Brandl

As the Regional Director of Chemistry, North America, at Mérieux Nutrisciences, Walter Brandl oversees thousands of employees at the company’s state-of-the-art laboratories throughout the U.S. Here, he discusses the experiences that prepared him for a career in food contamination detection, his greatest successes, and the evolution of third-party testing in food safety. 

How has your professional background prepared you for your role as the Regional Director of Chemistry for North America?

Brandl: Strangely enough I think my experience outside the food industry has prepared me for my role as Regional Director of Chemistry. My background in environmental chemistry has given me insight into many approaches for contaminant determination in foods while my experience in biotechnology analysis allowed me to learn a very structured approach to method development and validation.

Of all the projects you have been a part of, which do you believe have had the most profound impact on food quality and safety?

Brandl: Our work in some of the FDA survey studies on acrylamide, arsenic speciation, and other contaminants that were used to assess risk and help provide a body of knowledge for policy decisions has probably had the biggest impact on food quality and safety. 

As an expert in the field, where do you see third-party testing laboratories headed? What will be the biggest challenges and keys to success?

Brandl: I think that the scientists who previously saw themselves as having purely technical responsibilities are now being asked to become a bigger part of the process in terms of providing guidance and interpretation of results. We will be required to have a more in-depth understanding of our client’s processes and problems so as to take a more active role in solving their problems. Communication and a greater knowledge of multiple industries will be the wave of the future. 

What famous person past or present would you most like to have dinner with and why?

Brandl: Tough question, but I think I would choose one of the very successful sports coaches, someone like Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots or Sir Graham Henry of the New Zealand All Blacks. Probably Graham Henry due to the nature of rugby. The reason is that I see the challenge of blending technical knowledge with personalities and emotions in sport reflected in the passion that scientists have for their endeavors. I would love to get their take on how to maintain intensity without burnout, making everyone’s contribution absolutely essential, and motivating people to get better every day.

Contact our chemistry food experts today! 

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From the Editor’s Desk

FDA Proposes Redesign of Human Foods Program

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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On January 31, Robert M. Califf, M.D., MACC, FDA Commissioner of Food and Drugs shared a proposal for a unified Human Foods Program that would combine the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Food Policy and Response (OFPR) and certain functions of the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) under one leader.

The new model was proposed in response to the findings of an external evaluation of the FDA Foods program conducted by an expert panel of the Reagan-Udall Foundation and a separate internal review of the agency’s infant formula supply chain response completed last year.

The Reagan Udall evaluation identified several concerns, including lack of communication, lack of a clear vision and mission, lack of a clear, overarching leader, and siloed workers within the FDA’s Human Foods program. The panel also found that the FDA Human Foods program was ill defined with multiple agencies, including CFSAN, OFPR and OVA, working independently of each other, often with separate leadership and little sharing of information. It recommended creating a new Federal Food Administration under HHS that would operate parallel to, rather than under the auspices of, the FDA.

In his statement announcing the proposal for a more unified Human Foods program, Califf highlighted the issues identified by these independent reviews, including problems with the current culture, structure, resources, and authorities in the FDA Human Foods program.

“Today I am announcing a new, transformative vision for the FDA Human Foods Program. I am also announcing a transformative vision for the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA, the FDA’s field-based operations) to support the FDA organization as a whole. The proposed structures for both groups will have clear priorities that are focused on protecting and promoting a safe, nutritious U.S. food supply that more quickly adapts to an ever-changing and evolving environment,” said Califf.

The “Vision for a Reimagined Human Foods Program” includes the recommendation to create a Human Foods Program under a single leader who reports directly to the Commissioner. Under this plan, the functions of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Food Policy and Response (OFPR), as well as certain functions of ORA will be unified into a new organization called the Human Foods Program.

“The FDA will conduct a competitive national search for a Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, who will oversee the Program. The person in this position will report directly to me and will be charged with leading a unified Human Foods Program that keeps the foods we regulate safe and nutritious, while ensuring the agency remains on the cutting edge of the latest advancements in science, technology, and nutrition,” said Califf. “The Deputy Commissioner will have decision-making authority over policy, strategy, and regulatory program activities within the Human Foods Program, as well as resource allocation and risk-prioritization.”

Other key elements of the proposed new Human Foods Program include:

  • Creation of a Center for Excellence in Nutrition that prioritizes the agency’s ongoing efforts to help American consumers make more informed food choices, including by working with industry to offer healthier, more nutritious food products.
  • Establishment of an Office of Integrated Food Safety System Partnerships that will focus on elevating, coordinating and integrating the FDA’s food safety and response activities with state and local regulatory partners to more effectively meet the vision of an Integrated Food Safety System in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011.

The proposed program would also include the establishment of a Human Foods Advisory Committee made up of external experts who will advise the agency on challenging and emerging issues in food safety, nutrition and innovative food technologies.

“Finally, there will be an emphasis on strengthening our enterprise information technology and analytical capabilities to fulfill the promise described in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety and support the improvement in workflow that will accompany these changes,” said Califf. “This area of focus will support the work of the Human Foods Program by enabling more facile communication, more efficient operations and enhanced empirical risk algorithms to guide the priorities of the program and the work in the field.”

To execute this new plan, the FDA has formed an Implementation and Change Management Group that will be charged with developing a detailed plan for implementation of the newly organized agency. “While details of this proposal continue to be developed, CFSAN, ORA, and OFPR will continue to operate under their current structures, with my direct oversight. I look forward to providing additional public updates by the end of February on our progress, organizational design and timeline,” said Califf.

 

Rick Farrell, Plant-Tours
FST Soapbox

Improving Communication on the Food Plant Floor

By Rick Farrell
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Rick Farrell, Plant-Tours

In the food manufacturing industry, a well-trained workforce is essential to maintaining product quality, consumer safety and operational efficiency. In this line of work, everyone must know what they’re doing and be engaged with the task at hand. Yet, ensuring workers are trained, competent, and properly onboarded can be a challenge.

Time is one of the biggest impediments to employee onboarding and training. Most food manufacturers have limited time to offer training before getting new workers onto the floor, and it can be difficult to offer ongoing training in an efficient and effective manner. Part of this is due to the nature of manufacturing work. The production floor is a fast-paced, noisy environment where workers are engaged in time-dependent, manual activities.

Unlike knowledge-based professionals, it’s difficult to train manufacturing workers without interrupting the corporate workflow. Employees can’t be removed from their work for training purposes without disrupting the rest of production or cutting into manufacturing hours.

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This results in high costs and limited opportunities for dedicated training times, leaving many food manufacturers heavily reliant on initial training and onboarding sessions. As a result, employees often complete their onboarding and initial training without fully grasping what they were taught.

In an independent study by the Center for Research and Public Policy (CRPP), workers across the food chain reported not being well-trained. Nearly one third (29.6%) of respondents felt they hadn’t received enough training to perform work safely, 37.2% felt their training was too complicated or difficult to understand, 20.6% said they received too little safety training before doing their job, and only 51.8% reported receiving enough on-the-job coaching.

We can’t onboard new food workers by dumping knowledge onto them during a few preliminary training sessions, then leaving them to work things out on their own. This can result in employees adopting poor work habits from co-workers, becoming disengaged, and leaving the workplace.

How To Bring New Team Members Up to Speed Quickly

Offering only a few information-packed training sessions or learning courses isn’t an effective way to train workers involved in motor skill-based work. Employees trained this way tend to find the information hard to understand, are likely to forget what they’ve learned, and may have difficulty translating theoretical knowledge into practical work tasks.

If you want to get new hires up to speed faster, offer learning that’s action-oriented, continual, and manageable. Employees, especially new hires, also need immediate feedback on whether they’re performing their work correctly. This requires direct, mid-task guidance and corrective observations rather than delayed video training.

After your initial onboarding and training, employees need ongoing training to reinforce initial learning, deepen knowledge, shore up weak spots, and provide updates. This is best done in brief stretches of around five to seven minutes. Longer learning sessions can overload workers, leading them to tune out, lose focus, and forget. Brief, tactical training sessions are far more effective and efficient, and can be used for on-the-spot training and knowledge refreshment.

Supplement these short training programs by placing multimedia training materials, such as videos or recorded reminders, in break rooms, locker rooms, and other areas where workers spend downtime. Offer mobile coaching tools, apps, and handouts for independent learning.

Peer support can be invaluable in onboarding and training new employees. Workers joining a new organization look to their co-workers to understand how things are done and what values are truly upheld.

By incorporating rapid skill acquisition tactics, environmental learning cues, and approved employee partnering or mentoring programs, companies can onboard and train new employees more quickly, while keeping training requirements manageable and efficient for the organization.

How to Keep Workers Safe and Happy

In the CRPP report, 60.5% of food production supervisors and managers felt that lack of training was the primary cause of workplace injuries within their facility. Employees who are well-trained, supported, and socially engaged report higher levels of job satisfaction and happiness. In addition, they are more comfortable letting higher-ups know about potential issues, leading to a safer work environment and end product.

Therefore, companies must consider cultural onboarding that includes constructive communication and social interaction with coworkers and supervisors, in addition to skill-based and protocol training.

Happy and satisfied workers experience high levels of social exchange with their organizations, leaders, and peers. Good communication allows them to share information, integrate into the culture, become more invested in their work, and achieve positive outcomes.

Manufacturers can support a safer, more productive, and happier working environment by facilitating productive communication on the floor.

Tools and Strategies That Support Effective Communication

Quality on-site communication can be achieved through strategically selected channels and technologies. Most organizations already have effective ways to broadcast communications and offer mass learning opportunities. For example, emails with safety reminders, tips, process guidelines, or recommendations can be blasted out to various employee segments. Video displays, posters, and other media forms can be placed around the environment to provide warnings or critical reminders, while apps and online courses can be used to facilitate independent, self-paced learning.

These are all, however, impersonal mechanisms that don’t connect workers with supervisors who can guide, assess, or correct their knowledge. The real challenge for food manufacturing has always been how to train employees while on-the-job.

Common challenges for management include spending enough personal time with new hires, correcting errors spotted from a distance, guiding workers without interrupting workflow and providing ongoing training without removing workers from the production line.

These specific issues can be resolved with technology that allows instant communication at a distance, such as two-way communication headsets. Two-way headsets enable one-to-one or one-to-many conversations, providing clear audio even on noisy plant floors.

Industrial communication devices can be used to facilitate ad hoc, personalized onboarding assistance or coaching from coworkers and team leaders. Trainers can use headsets to remain connected with new hires, provide training as needed, offer instant corrections, and assess entire groups at a time. To further boost onboarding, experienced peers can be offered headsets to guide new workers.

Food manufacturing has always been a tech-forward industry. Safe and efficient operations depend on the effective use of new technologies. By continuing to investigate and adopt new tools and strategies, manufacturers can continue to drive business objectives forward while bolstering on-the-job safety, performance, and employee satisfaction levels.