Tag Archives: Focus Article

Deirdre Schlunegger, STOP Foodborne Illness
Food Safety Culture Club

Ten Years and Counting: Advocating Change

By Deirdre Schlunegger
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Deirdre Schlunegger, STOP Foodborne Illness

According to the CDC, people from 26 states were reported to have E. coli O157:H7 from fresh spinach: This month marks 10 years since this outbreak wreaked havoc on the lives of 205 confirmed persons, three of whom lost their lives. Something in the system, and the process, definitely needed to be fixed. A sea change was in order.

At the 2016 Food Safety Consortium, STOP Foodborne Illness will have a fundraiser to honor heroes in food safety. |December  6, 2016, 7–9 pm | LEARN MOREAmong those whose lives were irrevocably changed was Rylee Gustafson, a young woman whom STOP Foodborne Illness considers not only a friend and constituent, but also a powerful advocate for change. She was 9 years old when she volunteered to choose what her family was going to eat that day. She chose spinach, and what should have been an insignificant event—dinner with her family—became a monumental force in her life. Rylee was knocked down, but she got back up and has been telling her story, changing people’s lives, and enlightening government and industry decision-makers ever since. Subsequently, Rylee has influenced the life of every American.

Thanks to the hard work of advocates like Rylee, the question of how to create a food safety culture has been making its way into the consciousness of America. In October, STOP Foodborne Illness will be hosting a webinar addressing the very question of creating and sustaining a food safety culture. “Food safety culture” has become a buzz word in the industry. but what steps can be taken to strategically ensure that it not only happens, but that it thrives?

Together with Frank Yiannas, vice president of food safety for Walmart, Mike Taylor, senior fellow at Freedman Consulting, and Steve Schluneger, principal of Intrinsic Leadership, I will present and answer these questions and more during this webinar.

Thanks to the generosity and technical prowess of Food Safety Tech, and our esteemed guests, this event is sure to be a powerful and enlightening discussion.

The webinar is titled, Food Safety Culture: We Know Why, Let’s Talk About How. It takes place from 1-2 pm CST on October 11, 2016. The cost of registration before October 4 is $129. Register here.

Please join us!

Changing Landscape for Selecting a Food Safety Contract Laboratory

By Bob Ferguson, Thomas R. Weschler
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A recent study of more than 100 food processing customers of food contract laboratories examined the key factors that make a commercial food laboratory competitive in the eyes of their customers. The details of this study, which was conducted by Strategic Consulting, will be presented at the Food Safety Consortium in December.

The 2016 Food Safety Consortium takes place December 5–9 in Schaumburg, IL | LEARN MOREThe volume of microbiology testing worldwide is growing annually at 6%. The study data, however, shows that the growth of microbiology testing at food contract labs is growing at twice that rate—12%—annually. This means that every year food contract labs are taking a larger share of the micro-testing market. Specific to pathogen testing, the situation is more pronounced. Two-thirds of the food processors surveyed conduct routine microbiology testing at their in-house lab, but the number willing to conduct pathogen analysis in-house has dropped to one-third. With more and more companies becoming wary about the risks and costs of analyzing pathogens in a plant lab, outsourcing continues to grow and the volume of total pathogen tests conducted at food contract labs is growing at more than 13% per year. Based on the data generated from the study, it can be deduced that, for the first time in the United States, the number of pathogen tests conducted at food contract labs now exceeds 50% of all pathogen tests conducted in the country. This is not only changing the face of microbiology testing, but it is also creating a very competitive market for laboratory services.

With this test volume now going to food contract laboratories, anyone who needs microbiology analysis has already (at least once) checked the qualifications of a food contract laboratory and validated that it has the right scope of accreditations, specific experience with product type, and proof that they can reliably meet test specifications and detection limits.

These basic qualifications, however, are “table stakes” in today’s highly competitive food safety contract laboratory market.

In the study, the most common answers to the question of the top decision criteria used when selecting a food contract laboratory for microbiology testing were, in order of importance, price, turnaround time, and dependability. When asked about testing of pathogens, most respondents reported that “accreditations” was their number one decision criteria, followed in order by the three previous factors of price, turnaround time and dependability.

A key distinction to understand in this analysis is the term “accreditations” was certainly used to describe formal lab accreditations, but it was also commonly used interchangeably with “expertise.”  In detailed conversations with buyers, it was clear that specialization and competence in pathogen testing was of primary importance and, in many cases, specific experience with the specific pathogen in which they were interested, and in most cases, experience with their specific product type (e.g., meat, dairy, processed foods, etc.).

Interestingly, although proximity to the plant ranked last of the six most common selection criteria, greater than 70% of the plant personnel interviewed reported that they use a food contract lab for pathogen testing that is within 100 miles of their production location. Based on the interviews it was clear that proximity was very important (and linked to turnaround time), but it also revealed that all of the major customers reported that all of the labs they would even consider had locations within a 100-mile radius of their plant. Of these labs, 60% offered a courier service to collect samples at the plant and deliver them to the lab. It is clear that proximity and a sample collection service, while once a point of differentiation, is now seen less as key selection criteria and more of a “table stake” for being considered at all.

Food processors, of course, run samples for testing for parameters other than microbiology. In this study, 78% of the companies surveyed ran tests for nutritional chemistry and, of those, 42% used an in-plant lab. In addition, 81% of the companies test for contaminants (e.g., pesticides, drug residues, metals) and of those, 55% run the tests in an in-plant lab. Of the companies that use a food contract lab for either types of tests, 60–65% (depending on the parameter) report sending samples to a lab that is more than 100 miles from their plant.

It is clear from this data that food processors are far more comfortable analyzing samples for nutritional parameters, contaminants and routine microbiology in an in-plant lab, but fewer are comfortable running pathogen tests in-plant. And while proximity is important for pathogen tests, it was not a top qualifier for nutritional or contaminant testing. As more and more pathogen samples are outsourced to food contract labs, however, it remains to be seen if the samples will “drag” samples for these other parameters along with them to the closer proximate labs. But it is clear that the contract labs with a network of locations that place them close to their customer’s locations and who have expertise in pathogens as well as a full range of other analyses will likely have an advantage.

The role of food contract laboratories will continue to grow, creating great business opportunities. The dynamics of this market, however, are clearly changing the ground rules and presenting companies with new risks and opportunities. Understanding this changing landscape will be of paramount importance to food contract labs, and their  success or failure will depend on their strategic decisions and how well they navigate these changing conditions.

These business environment changes are also essential for food processors to understand. As market conditions change, pricing, turnaround times, and add-on services available from food contract labs will also change, presenting risks and opportunities for processors. Food processors that understand these changes will also be able to take advantage and improve their testing programs.

FDA

FDA Extends Compliance Dates for FSMA Rules, Releases Draft Guidance on PC Rule

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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FDA

FDA recently took action to aid industry with the upcoming FSMA compliance dates. The agency issued two draft guidances with the intent of helping both domestic and foreign companies comply with the CGMP requirements and the human food by-product requirements in the FSMA Preventive Controls for Animal Food rule.

FDA is also extending compliance dates for provisions within the FSMA Preventive Controls, Foreign Supplier Verification Programs and Produce Safety rules. According to an agency release:

“The changes include providing more time for manufacturers to meet requirements related to certain assurances that their customers must provide, more time for importers of food contact substances, and other extensions to align compliance dates for various other food operations or provide time for FDA to resolve specified issues. The rule also clarifies the timeframe for agricultural water testing.”

In addition, FDA also released the draft guidance, Classification of Activities as Harvesting, Packing, Holding, or Manufacturing/Processing for Farms and Facilities.

All three drafts are available for public comment. More information is available on FDA’s website.

Water

Water Contamination Threat Potentially Everywhere

By Maria Fontanazza
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Water

With water consumption increasing on every continent, the agricultural industry has an important issue in front of them: Will there continue to be enough water of suitable quality for agricultural production for the foreseeable future? Daniel Snow, director of the Nebraska Water Sciences Laboratory at University of Nebraska, posed this question at the IAFP annual meeting earlier this month.

Worldwide, it is estimated that the availability of freshwater (annual per capita) is just 1700 m3. According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, when this figure drops below 1000 m3 it puts pressure on not only on the economy but also on human health.

The amount of freshwater available for food production is limited (less than 3% of the world’s water is fresh). Further complicating the matter is the fact that this water comes from many different sources, and emerging contaminants are potentially everywhere. “We don’t really understand the effect [of these contaminants] on the environment or on human health,” said Snow. “We know the compounds occur in the water and likely occur in the food supply, but we don’t really understand the implications.”

According to Snow, there is very little regulation around water used for irrigation. Top concerns surrounding emerging contaminants include:

  • Water reuse. Recycled wastewater contains traces of the following contaminants, which accumulate over time:
    • Xenobiotics (organic compounds)
    • Inorganics
    • Antibiotic-resistant bacteria/germs. Up to 90% of some of the antibiotics excreted are not metabolized by animals and humans
    • Endocrine disrupters (steroids—natural and artificial in running water)
    • Pharmaceuticals (both human and veterinary)
  • Arsenic (namely related to rice production).  The element is not only found in soil in Asia but also in soil in certain parts of the United States
  • Co-occurrence of nitrate and uranium in ground water. There is growing evidence that uranium is being mobilized in water and one study has shown that uranium is readily taken up in food crops

It’s not all doom and gloom, said Snow. The upside to the issue: “We know enough now that we can start to understand the system and hopefully control the contaminants when producing food,” he said. The larger concern is determining which emerging contaminants pose the most significant problem.

Food Safety Tech

What’s Hot in Food Safety This Summer

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Food Safety Tech

With summer feeling like it’s almost over, here’s a look at the stories that have been heating up the food safety space.

 

5: The Senate Agriculture Committee praises the bill as a “win for consumers”, but there are industry folks who disagree.

Senate Deal Requires Nationwide GMO Labeling

 

4: Don’t overlook the basics—especially when it comes to document control.

Five Errors That Impact GFSI Compliance

 

3. Determining whether to initiate a market withdrawal or recall procedure depends on the situation and unfortunately, is not always a clear-cut decision.

Market Withdrawal Vs. Recall: What’s the Difference?

 

2. According to the CDC, the multi-state outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. Coli O121 has sickened at least 42 consumers (with 11 hospitalizations) across 21 states.

More E. Coli Illnesses, General Mills Expands Flour Recall

 

1. A look at a recently released test that aims to provide more accurate and affordable GMO testing.

Next-Generation Sequencing Targets GMOs

Cecile Camerlynck, Transparency One

Why We Buy: The New Era of Transparency

By Cécile Camerlynck
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Cecile Camerlynck, Transparency One

Supply chains are getting increasingly more complex. Add to this the fact that consumers want more and more information about the products they buy. How can we obtain and store the information we want (and need), when we interact with hundreds of suppliers? Transparency in your supply chain is no longer a “nice to have”, but has become a must-have.

Product, price and quality used to be enough. Brands created products with good, better and best strategies targeting specific customer segments based on price and quality differences. Classifying customers and products allowed for more targeted offers—and a closer connection to the consumer.

And then Apple and Amazon reinvented the shopping experience. Digital and mobile took off. The customer experience became a point of differentiation in the store, online and on devices. As a result, the customer experience and omni-channel retailing have been core values for the past decade.

Today, a new value is emerging: Transparency. It is no longer enough to have a high-quality product, at a good price and with a rewarding shopping experience. The rise in health-conscious consumers, a highly interconnected society (transparency in the digital era), and a greater frequency of recalls and social responsibility issues has increased consumer demand for transparency. They want to know where and how products are made, what they are made of, and who made them.

Unsurprisingly, shoppers are very concerned by news about food safety issues such a Listeria and food fraud, which have become increasingly well publicized. Experience shows that these events have a significant impact on consumer confidence in brands and in certain types of products, which can take a long time to overcome.

According to a report released this year by World Vision Canada, consumers want to make ethical buying decisions.1 However, they are kept in the dark and don’t have enough information about products to do so. The organization is pushing for a new law, such as those already passed in the United States and the UK, to ensure that factories in foreign countries supplying the Canadian market don’t use minors to make products.

Every brand will need to determine the right level of transparency for their company and customers (consumer trust drivers like country of origin, label accuracy, etc.). Only 1% of consumers will want to know everything. For the other 99%, what they really want to know is that the brand they are buying from has a safe and responsible supply chain. They want to trust the brand promise. However, many brands still only know their immediate suppliers—and to ensure this trust, they need to dig deeper.

Providing transparency in your entire supply chain will reduce what we call the “visibility barrier” and give you access to all the information that you need and that your customer wants. Rather than simply reacting when a crisis emerges, you will proactively know your entire supply chain identity.

In 2016, technology and business practices exist to truly create brand trust by ensuring a safe and responsible supply chain. Yes, supply chains are complex and global. Yes, they represent thousands of companies, some of whom may not want to share information. But if more than a billion people can connect on Facebook, when it comes to knowing the supply chain, it’s simply not enough to say “I don’t know.”

Reference

  1. Press, J. (June 9, 2016). “New report on child labour raises call for supply chain transparency law”, Times Colonist, Accessed August 12, 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.timescolonist.com/new-report-on-child-labour-raises-call-for-supply-chain-transparency-law-1.2274235
Food Lab count

Infographic: How Many Food Labs Are in the United States?

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Food Lab count

Food Safety Tech: Earlier this year in “Counting Food Laboratories”, you discussed the fact that there is an unknown amount of food laboratories in the United States and an inconsistency in how we account for the labs testing our food. What impact does this have on the industry?

Robin Stombler, president of Auburn Health Strategies: There is limited information available on the presence and quality of food laboratories in the United States. Without this essential accountability, the health of the public, the economy and our nation’s security are at risk. For example, when a new food pathogen emerges, we do not have a system for contacting and educating all existing food laboratories on how to detect it. Frankly, we do not know where all food laboratories are located, so we do not know if they are properly equipped to handle the detection, monitoring or verification responsibilities. The lack of data also makes it difficult for industry to plan, track testing trends, and improve quality.

Counting Food Labs
Infographic courtesy of Auburn Health Strategies; Credit: Justin Stombler
Pathogen

IBM Research Uses Data to Accelerate Source of Contamination During Outbreaks

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Pathogen

Using electronic retail scanner data from grocery stores, IBM Research scientists may have found a faster way to narrow down the potential source food contamination during an outbreak. Researchers from the firm conducted a study in which they were able to show that, using just 10 medical exam reports of foodborne illness, it is possible to pinpoint an investigation to 12 food products of interest in a only a few hours. A typically investigation ranges from weeks to months.

The study, “From Farm to Fork: How Spatial-Temporal Data can Accelerate Foodborne Illness Investigation in a Global Food Supply Chain”, demonstrated a new way to accelerate an outbreak investigation. Researchers reviewed the spatio-temporal data (i.e., geographic location and potential time of consumption) of hundreds of grocery products, and analyzed each product for shelf life, consumption location and the probability that the product harbored a pathogen. This information was then mapped to the known location of outbreaks.

“When there’s an outbreak of foodborne illness, the biggest challenge facing public health officials is the speed at which they can identify the contaminated food source and alert the public,” said Kun Hu, public health research scientist, IBM Research – Almaden in a press release. Rsearchers created a system to devise a list that ranked products based on likelihood of contamination, which would allow health officials to test the top 12 suspected foods. “While traditional methods like interviews and surveys are still necessary, analyzing big data from retail grocery scanners can significantly narrow down the list of contaminants in hours for further lab testing. Our study shows that big data and analytics can profoundly reduce investigation time and human error and have a huge impact on public health,” said Hu.

The researchers point of out their method isn’t a substitute for proven outbreak investigation tools but rather serves as a faster way to identify contaminated product(s). According to the study, researchers assert that their methodology could significantly reduce the costs associated with foodborne illness, outbreaks and recalls. Thus far IBM Research’s approach has been applied to a Norweigan E. coli outbreak in which there were 17 confirmed cases of infection. Public health officials used the method to devise a list of 10 potential contaminants from the grocery scanner data of more than 2600 products. From there, lab analysis traced the contamination source to batch and lot numbers of sausage.

The study was published in the Association for Computing Machinery’s Sigspatial Journal.

Deirdre Schlunegger, CEO of STOP Foodborne Illness
Food Safety Culture Club

Motivating the Culture Shift

By Deirdre Schlunegger
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Deirdre Schlunegger, CEO of STOP Foodborne Illness

At the 2016 Food Safety Consortium, STOP Foodborne Illness will have a fundraiser to honor heroes in food safety. |December  6, 2016, 7–9 pm | LEARN MOREIn 2012 STOP Foodborne Illness established a relationship, which evolved into a partnership, with the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (LGMA) organization. On my first visit to LGMA, I met key staff members and observed a mock audit. We had good initial conversations. Scott Horsfall, CEO of LGMA, and I continued to talk and a second visit ensued, this time with individuals who had been ill with E-Coli from Leafy Greens. Everyone was a bit nervous, but it was a productive and even healing experience. We visited farms and processing plants, heard from farmers and shared a lovely meal outdoors with the farmers. On the last day, we sat in a room with tables configured in a large square and each person took turns introducing themselves, talking about why they were at the table, what roles they had in the leafy green business, and the visitors shared personal heart wrenching stories of illness and death from foodborne illness.  There was not a dry eye in the room during and after this encounter. Every farmer vowed to do everything possible to prevent pathogens from making their way into the market place. This was a profound experience for everyone involved.

The following year, Scott proposed that STOP Foodborne Illness and LGMA jointly create a video for training purposes. That project came to life in the summer of 2014. It is a video and a project that LGMA and STOP Foodborne Illness professionals are deeply proud of and love to share with others (the video comes in several versions and is available in Spanish). Scott and I continue to speak about the partnership and look for additional ways to collaborate.

Food safety is about collaboration and finding solutions and preventing illness and death from foodborne pathogens. This week I spoke with a mother whose daughter died a year ago from foodborne illness (not from produce). I told her that I so badly wish that we could have prevented her beautiful daughter’s death and vowed to continue this important work. We are not there yet: Each of us must be completely committed to getting to a place where we don’t hear these stories.  And we will get there by keeping the “why” at the forefront and continuing to develop critical strategies that reduce and work to eliminate the problem. Thank you to all who are dedicated to creating and sustaining a safe food supply and a special thanks to LGMA. You can see the LGMA video, “Video: The Why Behind Food Safety”, on our homepage.

Stephen Ostroff, FDA

Pathogens, Partnerships and FSMA: Where FDA Is Headed

By Maria Fontanazza
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Stephen Ostroff, FDA

This year is a big year for food safety at FDA. All seven of the FSMA rules have been finalized, and the first compliance date is right around the corner (compliance with the Preventive Controls for Human Food rule starts in September for large companies). Stephen Ostroff, M.D., just took the helm from Michael Taylor as the agency’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine. And finally, FDA is taking a hard line in both improving the tools and methods used to detect outbreaks as well as working with the Department of Justice to prioritize enforcement actions against companies that introduce adulterated foods into the supply chain.

Yesterday Ostroff provided an update on FDA’s recent initiatives and its plan of action to achieve success in FSMA implementation and pathogen detection at the IAFP annual meeting in St. Louis. Ostroff highlighted several tenets of FSMA:

  • Keys to FSMA success will be dependent upon achieving high rates of compliance
  • Domestic and import parity
  • Education before and while regulating (establishment of training and education networks)
  • Taking a risk-based approach to inspection and planning
  • Partnerships are critical
Stephen Ostroff, FDA
FDA’s Stephen Ostroff will be the opening keynote at the 2016 Food Safety Consortium, December 7 in Schaumburg, IL. LEARN MORE

Industry can expect three more rulemakings as required by FSMA in the areas of lab accreditation, a reportable food registry and product tracing. In addition, FDA is working on guidances related to the preventive controls, produce, and foreign supplier verification program rules. “We’re tantalizingly close so stay tuned,” Ostroff said.

Expect to see more program alignment with the Office of Regulatory Affairs as well. The inspection and compliance staff will be trained as specialists and there will be horizontal integration of programs between field activity and agency headquarters. Although the next fiscal year will be a transition year, Ostroff is hopeful that changes that need to be made at the agency, along with program alignment, will be in place by fiscal year 2018.

Other notable actions at FDA over the past year include:

  • In response to the OIG’s conclusion that FDA’s food recall program is not efficient or effective, the agency is ramping up its use of the strategic CORE (Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation) network in order to examine recalls that might not be moving as smoothly or quickly as the agency prefers. FDA is also leveraging greater application of whole genome sequencing (WGS).
  • GenomeTrakr network and WGS. More than 50,000 genome sequences have been added to the database (largely Salmonella). Ostroff called WGS a game changer that holds the opportunity to more quickly identify problems and detect outbreaks while they’re still quite small. In partnership with the CDC, FDA set up a successful module for WGS of Listeria and the agency hopes to expand the model for use with other pathogens.
  • Nutrition (Not just what consumers are eating, but how much of it): The move that declared partially hydrogenated oils as no longer GRAS with compliance required by 2018.  The agency also issued a final guidance on menu and vending labeling in May, issued levels for arsenic in infant rice cereal, made determination for folic acid fortification in corn/masa, made revisions to nutrition facts labels that takes effect in 2018, issued a draft guidance on voluntary sodium reduction, and will continue to exam the terms “natural” and “healthy”.
  • Genetic engineering. FDA approval of GE salmon following one of the longest reviews in the history of FDA (20-year review), along with issuing voluntary labeling guidance.
  • Monitoring antimicrobial resistance through NARMS  (National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System). FDA will be collecting antimicrobial sales by species and, in cooperation with USDA, hopes to release farm-based data about antimicrobial use at the farm level.

Ostroff emphasized FDA’s strategic 10-year plan, released this year, pointing to public health as a first priority, maintaining partnerships as a key to success (including re-establishing overseas offices), continuing research as a foundation, and maintaining transparently.