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Return of FSMA IQ Test: Part VI

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Two years ago, Food Safety Tech published a series of six FSMA IQ tests to “test” industry’s knowledge about FSMA. It seemed appropriate, as at that point in time, folks still had a lot of unanswered questions. Now that we have a couple of years under our belt, how much to we know? Over the past several weeks, we published Parts I through V. This is the final test. Then at this year’s Food Safety Consortium, the creators of the test–Bill Bremer, principal of food safety compliance at Kestrel Management, LLC and his team–will compare 2016 vs. 2018 during an interactive session. And if you have questions or comments on any of the elements brought up in the IQ test, please include them comments section below the test, so Bremer’s team can address them either live on our site or during the Consortium session.

Take Part V here.

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Prop 65 label

California Proposition 65 To Impact Food Labels

By Nick Recht
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Prop 65 label

The fast-approaching August 30th deadline for California’s Proposition 65 has food manufacturers of all sizes working to make sure affected labels comply with the new labeling requirements. According to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), Proposition 65:

“…requires businesses to provide warnings to Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. These chemicals can be in the products that Californians purchase, in their homes or workplaces, or that are released into the environment. By requiring that this information be provided, Proposition 65 enables Californians to make informed decisions about their exposures to these chemicals.”

Proposition 65, also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, is intended to help better equip Californians to make informed decisions about the products they purchase. The OEHHA is responsible for determining which chemicals meet the legal and scientific requirements for inclusion on the Proposition 65 list, a list which has grown to more than 900 chemicals since it was originally published in 1987.

The new law will be enforced by the California Attorney General’s Office as well as any district attorney or city attorney for cities whose population exceeds 750,000. Individuals acting in the public’s interest may also seek to enforce Proposition 65 by filing a lawsuit against companies alleged to be in violation. Companies that are found to be in violation may be fined as high as $2,500 per violation per day.

To ensure compliance with the new law, food manufacturers must reference the list of included chemicals to determine which of their products, if any, are impacted. Manufacturers must then provide “clear and reasonable warnings” that chemicals used in the production of their goods or products sold in California are known to cause cancer, birth defects and/or other reproductive harm. The ruling impacts goods sold in California as well as those sold via catalog or the internet.

Proposition 65 underscores the importance of an agile labeling environment for food manufacturers, particularly as it relates to their ability to adjust labels prior to compliance deadlines. It also implores manufacturers to look to automation to reduce the room for human error. For example, labeling software can be leveraged to create a table look up so if an impacted ingredient is included in a product and printed on a label, the required warning statement is also automatically included on the label.

Leveraging a database connection to apply such warnings can help businesses mitigate risk, as failing to include a required warning could result in fines, business disruption and lost revenue. It is also important to note that compliance with Proposition 65 will require food manufacturers to stay up to date on changes, as new chemicals may be added and/or revisions to law may continue to occur. Food retailers must also stay abreast of labeling changes required by Proposition 65 to ensure the products they sell are in compliance. Learn more about Proposition 65 at the OEHHA’s official website: https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov.

Prop 65 label
Label design products can help a company add a warning statement to a current label. Image courtesy of TEKLYNX.
Chipotle

Chipotle Retraining Workers Following Illnesses that Shut Down Ohio Location

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Chipotle

Last month Chipotle Mexican Grill closed a location in Powell, Ohio after nearly 650 reported illnesses were tied to the location. The outbreak was caused by Clostridium perfringens, a type of bacteria that thrives at room temperature—in other words, food at this particular Chipotle location may have been kept at unsafe temperatures.

Following this latest incident, the company has decided it will retrain all of its estimated 70,000 employees on food safety and wellness protocols. Currently a source of the outbreak has not been found.

“Chipotle has a zero-tolerance policy for any violations of our stringent food safety standards. We are committed to doing all we can to ensure it does not happen again.” – Brian Niccol, Chipotle

In line with the company’ zero-tolerance policy, some employees who worked at the Powell location were reportedly let go after the outbreak.

Chipotle has had several outbreaks that have made headlines over the last three years.

Question mark

Return of FSMA IQ Test: Part V

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Two years ago, Food Safety Tech published a series of six FSMA IQ tests to “test” industry’s knowledge about FSMA. It seemed appropriate, as at that point in time, folks still had a lot of unanswered questions. Now that we have a couple of years under our belt, how much to we know? We will publish each section of the test every week for the next six weeks. Then at this year’s Food Safety Consortium, the creators of the test–Bill Bremer, principal of food safety compliance at Kestrel Management, LLC and his team–will compare 2016 vs. 2018 during an interactive session. And if you have questions or comments on any of the elements brought up in the IQ test, please include them comments section below the test, so Bremer’s team can address them either live on our site or during the Consortium session.

Take Part IV here.

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Tyson Foods

Report: Tyson to Buy Keystone Foods for $2.5 Billion

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Tyson Foods

This morning Reuters is reporting that Tyson Foods is acquiring Keystone Foods, a U.S.-based chicken processor, from Marfrig Global Foods SA for $2.5 billion. Neither Tyson Foods nor the Brazilian meatpacker commented on the report.
According to Reuters, Marfrig’s controlling shareholder Marcos Molina signed the deal Thursday evening.

In June, Tyson acquired organic chicken producer Tecumseh Poultry, LLC, but the terms of this deal were not disclosed.

McDonalds, golden arches

FDA Investigation of Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Salads Continues

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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McDonalds, golden arches

Yesterday FDA provided an update on the multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections “likely” linked to people who consumed salads from McDonald’s. The outbreak spans across 15 states and has infected 476 people, 21 of whom have been hospitalized. According to FDA’s latest release, the agency is reviewing distribution and supplier information for romaine lettuce and carrots.

Last month, USDA’s FSIS issued a public health alert on beef, pork and poultry salads and wraps, distributed by Caito Foods, LLC, that were potentially contaminated with Cyclospora. Fresh Express, Caito Foods’ supplier, had notified the company that the products with romaine lettuce were being recalled. However, no products related to this particular outbreak have been recalled, according to FDA. In addition, McDonald’s has reportedly ceased using the Fresh Express salad mix at restaurants impacted by the outbreak.

FDA stated that it currently does not have evidence suggesting that this Cyclospora outbreak is connected to the Cyclospora outbreak linked to Del Monte vegetable trays.

Karen Everstine, Decernis

Food Fraud: FSMA Rules, GFSI Compliance

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Karen Everstine, Decernis

Question 1: Is food fraud addressed in the FDA’s Intentional Adulteration rule (“Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration”)?

Karen Everstine: Food fraud, or what the FDA calls “economically motivated adulteration” (EMA), is certainly an intentional act. However, recent U.S. regulations for food fraud/EMA are outlined in the Preventive Controls (PC) rules (“Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food” and “Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Food for Animals”) and not in the Intentional Adulteration (IA) Rule. FDA indicated that the IA rule was intended to “prevent acts intended to cause wide-scale harm.” Therefore, new requirements related to food fraud/EMA are included in the hazard analysis requirements in the PC rules. FDA indicated they anticipate EMA preventive controls to be needed only in rare circumstances and “usually in cases where there has been a pattern of EMA in the past.” It is important to note that these requirements are specific to hazards that may be introduced for the purposes of economic gain. EMA that only affects product quality is outside the scope of the PC rules. However, there are misbranding and adulteration provisions of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act that apply to EMA more broadly (whether or not the substance used may be a hazard).

Question 2: If my facility includes food fraud/EMA in our hazard analysis, will we be compliant with global food fraud requirements?

Everstine: Addressing food fraud/EMA only in your hazard analysis is not sufficient for GFSI compliance. Therefore, if your facility needs to be GFSI compliant, you will need to implement a food fraud vulnerability assessment and mitigation plan that covers all types of fraud. This includes fraud that only affects quality and it includes counterfeiting, theft, diversion, and gray market production. While FDA has indicated they are primarily focused on food fraud/EMA that has a known pattern of occurrence and could be a hazard, GFSI requires that industry evaluate vulnerability more broadly. This includes identifying fraud opportunities (such as complex supply chains), individual capability, and “weak signals” of fraud that could include indicators such as price changes for commodities.

Kroger

Kroger to Sell Groceries in China Via Alibaba

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Kroger

The Cincinnati-based supermarket chain Kroger has entered into a pilot partnership with Alibaba’s Tmall Global platform to sell its “Our Brands” products online to consumers in China. This platform is China’s largest business-to-consumer marketplace, and helps retailers that don’t have physical operations in the country build virtual storefronts and send products to China.

The pilot will start with Kroger’s Simple Truth products, which are positioned as natural and organic, and are also the second-largest brand sold in Kroger stores. This year alone the brand generated more than $2 billion in sales, earning it the title of largest natural and organic brand in the United States, according to Kroger.

“Kroger is the world’s third largest retailer by revenue–$122.7 billion in sales in 2017,” said Yael Cosset, chief digital officer at Kroger in a news release. “We are creating the grocery retail model of the future by focusing on digital and technology.”

The partnership also supports the company’s “Restock Kroger” pillars of redefining the grocery customer experience by elevating “Our Brands” and creating customer and shareholder value through promoting top line growth via alternative revenue streams.

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Return of FSMA IQ Test: Part IV

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Two years ago, Food Safety Tech published a series of six FSMA IQ tests to “test” industry’s knowledge about FSMA. It seemed appropriate, as at that point in time, folks still had a lot of unanswered questions. Now that we have a couple of years under our belt, how much to we know? We will publish each section of the test every week for the next six weeks. Then at this year’s Food Safety Consortium, the creators of the test–Bill Bremer, principal of food safety compliance at Kestrel Management, LLC and his team–will compare 2016 vs. 2018 during an interactive session. And if you have questions or comments on any of the elements brought up in the IQ test, please include them comments section below the test, so Bremer’s team can address them either live on our site or during the Consortium session.

Take Part III here.

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Return of FSMA IQ Test: Part III

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Question mark

Two years ago, Food Safety Tech published a series of six FSMA IQ tests to “test” industry’s knowledge about FSMA. It seemed appropriate, as at that point in time, folks still had a lot of unanswered questions. Now that we have a couple of years under our belt, how much to we know? We will publish each section of the test every week for the next six weeks. Then at this year’s Food Safety Consortium, the creators of the test–Bill Bremer, principal of food safety compliance at Kestrel Management, LLC and his team–will compare 2016 vs. 2018 during an interactive session. And if you have questions or comments on any of the elements brought up in the IQ test, please include them comments section below the test, so Bremer’s team can address them either live on our site or during the Consortium session.

Take Part II here.

Create your own user feedback survey