Paper-based systems continue to be a challenge for many food manufacturers and processors. Yet, the transition to automated record-keeping is often put off, as the task can seem daunting at best. While the timing for a technology implementation may never seem perfect, however, it turns out that this undertaking is well worth the effort. It will lift the burdens of a paper-based system, including tedious tasks, wasted time, and missing or incomplete documents.
Such was the case for HyLife™, a leading pork producer in Canada. Discover how the company solved their paper-related challenges with SafetyChain’s efficiency-driving FSQA solution below.

The start of 2020 brings us not only into a new year, but into an entirely new decade of food safety. Now seems the most fitting time to consider how food safety will evolve through the 2020s, and which shifts will have the greatest impact on the industry.

As 2019 came to a close, a couple of new FSMA developments emerged. For one, the FDA proposed a rule in regards to Section 202 of FSMA, which would require the use of an accredited lab for eligible facilities. For instance, upon receipt of a 483 notice, facilities could be required to go through an accredited lab when performing finished product and zone 1 contact surface testing to control risk. It’s also possible this rule could give the FDA the authority to request data from lab results as soon as they’re available, which would have a significant impact on the industry.

How to Prevent Hepatitis A in Your Food Plants

When we think of preventing food-borne illness, pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella often come to mind. Yet, there are other illnesses which can be transmitted through food, including the hepatitis A virus (also known as HAV). While only a small percentage of cases are believed to be acquired through food exposure, an HAV-infected food handler could pass the illness along to dozens of individuals. For this reason, it’s important for all food manufacturers, processors, restaurants, and retail establishments to take a defensive approach against the spread of this condition. 

The Importer Preventive Controls under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) is of great interest to Canadian importers as well as U.S.-based companies exporting food to Canada. While SFCR is very similar to FSMA, there are some inherent differences.

September saw two noteworthy FSMA developments of which food companies throughout the U.S. should be aware. For one, the FDA and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) have recently reached an agreement to partner together to implement the FSMA Produce Safety Rule within the industry.

On July 24, 2019, the FDA announced the user fee for the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP). Participation in this program may be an attractive option for U.S.-based food companies who wish to expedite the import process for human and animal foods. The user fee for the program is $16,681, which will support program benefits from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020. Here, we will explore what participation in the program entails.

Sprout growers face a number of unique food safety challenges. The potential for contamination arises at various points through growing and handling processes, making risk mitigation an important priority for this particular industry. Yet, many of the risk management strategies can benefit other niches in the produce sector as well. Thus, developing a comprehensive understanding of FSMA’s Produce Safety Rule is essential not only for sprout growers, but for agricultural operations as a whole. Here, we’ll look at some of the challenges and best practices for sprout growers, with the understanding that many of these factors also apply to farms in general.  

While all produce operations are subject to a broad range of food safety challenges, sprout farms have very specific and heightened risks. Seed contamination can take place on the farm itself, while germination conditions are also ideal for pathogen development. Contamination can also occur during production, and in recent years, sprouts have been linked to a number of pathogen outbreaks, including salmonella and listeria.

The month of June, 2019 was busy for the FDA, as many implementation dates for requirements have come and passed or are soon approaching. As such, the FDA has issued a number of guidance documents and made a few other key developments to prepare the industry for FSMA-related changes. Below are a few of the most noteworthy updates from last month.