Eating fads continue to come and go, and some of those trends bring new safety challenges for the food industry. Locally-sourced food – including gardens inside restaurants — raw smoothies, and peoples’ undying love of cookie dough have led to the consumption of unsafe food. One trend embraced among food safety experts is a focus … Continue reading “Improving food safety by testing for indicator organisms and pathogens”
None of us likes to be surprised by opening a container of butter and discovering it’s rancid. Nor do we enjoy reaching into a bag of apples to find a soft and squishy one. Food spoilage is inevitable for most products, but certain microorganisms can accelerate the decaying process. Improper storage and handling can expose … Continue reading “Ensuring high-quality and safe food: monitoring for spoilage organisms and allergens”
The old adage – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – has never been truer for the food and beverage industry. Food safety experts are shifting their focus from testing end products to ensuring the entire processing environment, including equipment and surfaces, is free of contamination. Legislation is helping shift the … Continue reading “Testing food processing environments for organic residue”
Food recalls have become something most of us have been aware of or impacted by. Everything from peanut butter to cantaloupe to baby formula has made headline news. Terms like E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella are on the tips of the tongues of not only food safety specialists, but also of reporters and the general … Continue reading “Be proactive with food safety through environmental monitoring”
3M Food Safety recently made history and accepted a gold Edison award for the 3M™ Petrifilm™ Rapid E. coli/Coliform Count Plate in the Lab Advancements category. This is the third time a 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plate product has received an Edison award, and a second time that a rapid plate has been recognized for innovation. We … Continue reading “3M Food Safety Wins Gold at Edison Awards”
As a food manufacturer in a rapid-turn environment, you are constantly looking for ways to maintain quality and safety while getting your food to the shelf faster than ever. The dairy industry has seen a lot of new technologies and techniques to detect pathogens and spoilage bacteria since the first Pasteurized Milk Ordinance was passed … Continue reading “Does your dairy test measure up? Why certifications matter”
Want your work tasks to be simpler and faster? The answer for most of us is, yes! Food manufacturers want to move food from the plant to the shelf as quickly as possible. When testing for pathogens, getting an answer quickly can help get your products to the shelf faster. Culture-based tests or rapid methods … Continue reading “From PCR to LAMP: The evolution of rapid-testing in food safety”
Microbiological analysis of food and a well thought out environmental monitoring plan forms the backbone of an effective safety and quality system for the food industry. The presence of undesirable organisms including both quality indicators and pathogenic organisms has necessitated routine microbiological testing with a goal to ensure food safety, quality and regulatory compliance. Routine … Continue reading “Why a faster method matters in Indicator testing”
Trying to decide if you should take time out of your schedule to attend a conference? It’s a chance to hear from experts around the globe, find out more about common industry challenges and discover new ways to solve them in the constantly-changing world of food safety. The 2019 GFSI annual global conference is focused … Continue reading “Sharpen your expertise at the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Conference”
Does honey have an endless shelf life? In the right conditions, it can last indefinitely. When 3,000-year-old honey was found in a tomb in Egypt, scientists determined that it was still edible. Honey’s unique chemical make-up – its acidity, low amounts of water and the presence of hydrogen peroxide – helps it stay pristine and … Continue reading “Why you should test low-moisture foods”
