Blog Articles

If you are a Texan, then you know that Blue Bell ice cream is high on the Lone Star State’s pantheon of beloved brands, sandwiched somewhere between Buc-ee’s and Whataburger.

You might also recall that Blue Bell was at the center of a high profile multi state listeriosis outbreak, a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with one of the 20+ species of the listeria bacteria.

Grilling out over the Memorial Day Weekend is a holiday tradition but some Americans might have made the “mis-steak” of using meat products that have been recently recalled and could make their families sick.

In a global economy companies need to navigate different standards across borders and that can be tricky in the food and beverage industry where there are significant differences between Europe and the United States.

When it comes to food labels, there is the fine print and the not so fine print. Both are equally important when it comes to food safety and the sustainability of food we purchase and consume.

“Reading labels can help you make informed food choices,” says the National Institute of on Aging

The fine print includes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Nutrition Facts, which includes key details such as calories and nutritional make-up per serving size, and the product’s ingredients list, vital information, especially for those with food allergies.

While the fine print is normally found on the back of a product, the not so fine print can be found anywhere with “sell by”, “use by” and “best if used by” dates printed discreetly in random spots.

Ransomware hit the news this year when the Colonial pipeline was attacked — showing that no one is safe from criminal attackers. Every year, countless companies lose millions of dollars to cybersecurity breaches. Every company needs to be concerned about ransomware and cybersecurity, and every company needs to be prepared.

In the world of cyber security, it is just not high-value economic assets like oil and gas pipelines, and information-sensitive government agencies that are the targets of cyber attacks but everyday businesses, including those in the food industry, are under increasing threat.

There is nothing worse than enjoying a good meal only to feel sick, hours or sometimes days later from something you ate. Most Americans experience it at some time with the CDC estimating that some 48 million get sick from a foodborne illness each year.

In an ideal world all our meals might be farm-to-table, consuming food like Americans did 200 years ago when 90 percent of the population lived on farms and produced their own food to eat. The reality, however, is that most of the food on our fork today is the product of an increasingly complex global food supply chain tasked with feeding the planet’s 7.8 billion people.

To ensure safety, security and sustainability in this complex situation, the food and beverage industry relies on traceability to follow the path food takes from the field or farm to our tables, connecting the dots every step along the way.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are currently investigating three E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks that have sickened more than 50 across 15 states, including one death in Michigan.

There is nothing more stressful than dealing with a food recall. Food issues can happen throughout the entire supply chain process, whether the problem occurred while the food was growing on the farm, during the processing, or when shipped out to retailers. There are several different reasons why a food product may be recalled. Timely communication must be performed to ensure that the product is pulled from the shelves and that the public understands the recall in case they have purchased the specific product.