Food Safety

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The move to reduced-use and no-antibiotics-ever production systems is prompting the broiler industry to explore other tools, not just for managing gut health but also for reducing the number of foodborne pathogens.

What if the key to improving food safety in thermal processing — heating, cooking and smoking — is more water?

Employee hygiene in packing plants is now not just about protecting food, but protecting employees.

Traditional processing of summer sausage applies lower fermentation pH values (≤4.6) and higher thermal treatments after fermentation to meet U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) performance standards for E. coli O157:H7 lethality (5D process; decimal reduction dose).

While listening to an inspiring podcast recently, the speaker made an impact on my view of the unusual times we as a global community have recently encountered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three main components of pre-harvest intervention — probiotics and prebiotics in animal feed, pathogen resistance through vaccines or antimicrobials, and biosecurity protocols — all work together to reduce foodborne pathogens in beef, poultry and pork. Each operation, however, has to tinker with the formula to create its ideal solution.

As most of you know, as a food industry lawyer, I have represented the food industry for over 20 years. During the course of that time, I have closely tracked evolving USDA policy, the strengthening of FSIS inspection and surveillance programs, the continuing parade of food product recalls, and the nearly monthly emergence of new foodborne illness outbreaks.