Posts Tagged ‘food safety’
IF We had an Undersecretary of Food Safety…
IF there was an undersecretary for food safety this is what they should be doing…
1. Tattoo on a body part that you use every day the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Mission Statement:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service is the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.
2. Push for tax credits for workable food safety innovations for small, medium, and large producers and support small and medium-sized agriculture by growing local and regional markets for meat.
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11. Make better use of technology to ensure traceability of all food so that when an outbreak occurs authorities can quickly identify the source and limit the spread of the contamination and stop the disruption to the economy.
Emerging Food Safety Issues in 2010
The Produce Traceability Initiative is the grower-vendor answer to events like the outbreaks involving spinach and (FDA thought) tomatoes. With bar codes and radio frequency tags and ways to link all the information in the supply chain, those behind traceability want to be able to drive to the specific field, walk down the right row, and reach over and pick up whatever the problem is.
They want a system with no fuss, no muss that will prevent financially devastating recall costs and outbreaks that make more people sick. They’ve been at it for a couple of years now and the next important deadline is approaching in Oct. 2010 when it is supposed to be possible to read the labeling involved.
The industry wants FDA to enforce the so-called “one up and one down” requirements of the PTI, but not impose anything that’s not already in the plan. FDA opted to end 2009 without putting out its own traceability regulations on the table.
Food Safety and Traceability in CPG Industry
In this post I will explain how the Food Safety and Traceability needs can be addressed by SAP.
How SAP can help?
Today companies must increase efficiencies, reduce costs, and ensure compliance with food regulations over the whole supply chain. Hampered by a legacy of nonintegrated systems that impede visibility and perpetuate inefficiencies, many companies recognize the need to standardize on a single platform.
SAP has the necessary features already inbuilt for handling food safety and traceability. Safety measures can be implemented in the whole process chain, right from procurement of raw materials from supplier, during production of goods in the plant till the delivery of the finished product to the customer / end consumer.
SAP can help the CPG industry with:
* Track, monitor, and trace batches and inventory
* Streamline procurement, production and sales processes
* Manage sales returns
* Enable targeted product recalls
Food Safety News Naughty List 2009
After much thought and consideration, here is the Food Safety News Naughty list for 2009:
NAUGHTY: Stewart Parnell, President of Peanut Corporation of America, for asking for nearly $1 million from his bankrupt business for his own criminal defense fund after shipping peanuts his own tests showed were contaminated with Salmonella that sickened over 700 and killed at least nine. (See “PCA Executives To Divide $875,000,” Dec 11, 2009)
Food Safety News Cites TraceGains’ William Pape
NAIS: Simpler Technology Fuels Fire according to William Pape in the Nov 14th issue of Food Safety News. William Pape is the co-founder and EVP of TraceGains, Inc., a software company that makes the food supply chain safer and more profitable by helping companies produce better finished goods faster and more cost-effectively. Pape said, “No sooner have most people pronounced NAIS dead-on-arrival, than a number of recent events may have breathed life back into the U.S.A.’s National Animal Identification Scheme. A combination of market forces aligned with a simplified tracking technology, and some rare positive news may have reinvigorated USDA’s moribund, voluntary animal traceability initiative.”
Even though the U.S. House of Representatives had voted to cut off funding for the NAIS as part of the Farm Bill, a joint House-Senate conference committee agreed a few weeks ago to continue funding the program to the tune of $5.3 million for fiscal year 2010-2011. This funding is a reduction from the $14.2 million authorized for last year and less than the $14.6 million the Senate approved, but the program will continue.
Schnucks’ Food Safety Training Starts with CEO
Schnuck Markets here has implemented “some massive improvements” in its food safety efforts, including a wide-ranging training program, said Dianna Pasley, the chain’s director of food safety and chair of the Food Marketing Institute’s Food Protection Committee, during an SN-hosted webinar yesterday.
Food safety training has been implemented for everyone “from our CEO to our warehouse folks down to the store level, even our porters,” she said.
Consumers play a part in food safety
Much has been in the news lately about the safety of our nation’s food supply. A safe food supply involves three components — the growers, food processors and the consumer. The main emphasis for a safe food supply is on prevention and, as a consumer, you can contribute to your own food safety.