May 2019 Food Industry Employment Program News
Food Industry Employment Program Newsletter May 2019
Food Safety First
Noncompliance=Death
Welcome to May’s newsletter from the Food Industry Employment Program. Spring is finally here in south New Jersey, and that means enjoying locally grown asparagus and strawberries. What is your favorite food in the spring?
Featured Article
I examined the different options required for food safety plans. There are a lot of options when it comes to food safety plans and a lot of it depends on who is your regulatory authority. On my blog I discussed which one might be most appropriate for your business.
”So you’ve been asked for your HACCP or food safety plan and don’t know what that means. Sometimes you need a food safety plan/HACCP to get through your inspection. Or perhaps a wholesale customer has asked what you do for safety and someone mentioned the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA; pronounced Fizma) because your product doesn’t contain meat.” Check it out
Books to Consider
I just finished reading Swindled by Bee Wilson, which discusses food adulteration in England, Europe and USA, from the early 1800s to the present and placed the problem of adulteration with the political climate at the time. Did you know that candies used to be colored with lead? Not only does it give a good red color, it also adds sweetness. As a food scientist who is steeped in the wonders of the food industry, I definitely enjoyed reading how science helps discover food fraud. The book was a good reminder that food hides behind regulations. For example, in England “strawberry flavoured” is different from “strawberry flavour”:
Flavour means that the food tastes of something but does not contain it
Flavoured means that the food contains the specified ingredient.
Compliance and Regulatory News
The USDA Food Safety Inspection Services just came out with their first quarterly report from 2019. They found that there was 98.6% compliance to regulations. Unfortunately that means that nearly 25,000 instance of noncompliance. Some of these non compliance notices were issued for not following sanitation controls or for inhumane treatment of animals. Ref
Please contact me, if you have any questions about your sanitation program.
Food for Thought
Continuing the food fraud theme: An organized crime group that was dealing in adulterated olive oil has been dismantled. Over a million liters headed for German restaurants were seized. Someone could make a good movie out of this (Ref and Ref).
A good lesson into why you should really check out your suppliers and have a good supply chain program.
Contact me if you want to discuss developing a good supply chain program.
That’s all for this month.
All the best,
Cathy
Remember
Food Safety First
Noncompliance = Death