In my column last month (“USDA policies drag down processors who ‘test and find’, The National Provisioner, March 2012), I discussed how current FSIS policy (which invariably reacts critically to any positive testing results) discourages companies from aggressively testing to find pathogens in their products.
Read More

In recent months, the beef industry in general, and BPI in particular, have fallen victim to a cultural and media firestorm that continues to do damage to the food industry.
Read More

In my column last month (“USDA policies drag down processors who ‘test and find’, The National Provisioner, March 2012), I discussed how current FSIS policy (which invariably reacts critically to any positive testing results) discourages companies from aggressively testing to find pathogens in their products.
Read More

Microbiological sampling can be an effective tool to help companies verify that their interventions are working. But how much testing is really expedient given the current food-safety climate?
Read More

There are any number of scenarios under which FSIS may decide to perform its own environmental sampling in a slaughter or processing facility.
Read More

In today’s world, safety seems to be something most people leave on the back burner. Although our world is an inherently dangerous place, the fact remains that, during the course of an average day, most people still never really worry about their own personal safety.
Read More

In matters of food safety, it is most often what you cannot see that poses the greatest threat to the safety of food. Indeed, invisible pathogenic organisms are the greatest threat to the food-industry’s collective well-being.
Read More

A history of E. coli O157:H7 as an “adulterant,” and why other EHECs should be “adulterants” too.
Read More

It is difficult to overstate the importance of maintaining a system which maximizes effective and accurate food traceability. Certainly, failure can and has resulted in financial disaster and bankruptcy for even the largest of companies.
Read More

Generally speaking, there are three types of hazards in a food-processing facility. They are physical, chemical and biological.
Read More