Expert Commentary

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Through my 46 years in the business, I’ve witnessed some key changes. Today, across essentially all proteins, the live animals are being harvested at 50 percent to 80 percent heavier weights and consuming 30 percent or so less feed per pound of gain.

On April 11, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the exemption secured under CERCLA and EPCRA. Animal agriculture needs to be aware of and develop a comprehensive plan to address this adverse decision.

On May 1, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) began the next phase of its nationwide Raw Pork Products Exploratory Sampling Project (RPPESP). The purpose of the project is to determine the prevalence of pathogens in pork and use this data to “inform food safety policies.”

Meat scientists from across the country will gather in College Station, Texas, June 18-21, 2017, hosted by Texas A&M University at the AMSA’s 70th Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC).

While the FSIS-regulated food industry has directed most of its limited food-safety resources over the last decade toward keeping harmful pathogens out of its food products, the existence of undeclared allergens has become a major issue.

Independent Processor editor Sam Gazdziak explains why consumers are scaling back on serving sizes, and what the meat industry can do to meet the needs of consumers looking for smaller portions.

Based on my representing the food industry and information from colleagues, I have compiled a list of items to consider regarding control of allergens during production.

We can track yields and loss at each step in our operation, but what value, if any, has your Food Safety and Quality (FS&Q) team added?