Common pathogens associated with food production are campylobacter, listeria and salmonella. Pacific Vet Group USA is currently developing a product that will drastically reduce salmonella in the chicken crop by changing the current mode of processing chickens. The product will be administered to chickens at feed withdrawal and will reduce the potential for salmonella contamination.

For companies looking to improve food safety, like Pacific Vet Group USA, economic benefits are available because foodborne illnesses tied to processing facilities, farms, or even restaurants have been known to put them out of business.

At D.L. Newslow & Associates in Orlando, we understand the importance of food safety and can cater food safety training programs to the specific needs of your business. We offer the industry’s best consulting and customized on-site food safety training. Give our Orlando office a call today at 407-290-2754.

A statistic released by the United Nations claims that total food production in the United States alone went from 287 million metric tons in 1965 to more than 674 million metric tons in 2010. Typically, more food means more risk of food-borne illnesses, but the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 48 million people in America got sick in 2011 from food-borne illnesses, a significant decrease from the total of 78 million cases in 1999.

What caused this extreme shift? Improved regulation and oversight from food safety professionals likely prevented almost 30 million citizens from becoming sick due to food-borne illnesses. These professionals monitor the food supply chain to ensure that they are not exposed to conditions that lead to food-borne illness epidemics.

Food safety professionals are trained to enforce rigorous standards set by national agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as state and local governments. Organizations such as the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP) can help uphold regulations by maintaining certification programs for food safety professionals, ensuring they have the knowledge to assess whether ingredients, processes, and facilities are safe.

“Food safety professionals are vital in making sure what we eat is safe every step along the way,” says NRFSP CEO Larry Lunch. “Armed with knowledge of federal, state, and local standards and regulations, certified food safety professionals help food producers and retail managers and handlers avoid spreading potentially catastrophic diseases.”

In 2011, the FDA was tasked with creating and implementing new standards and safety systems through the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act. This act has allowed the agency to shift its focus from responding to contamination to preventing it, and education and enforcement systems have been updated to keep up with food protection standards.

In conclusion, food safety professionals play a vital role in protecting consumers from nasty food-borne illnesses. Through the enforcement of strict standards created by agencies such as the FDA, citizens can feel safe knowing that they are protected against these diseases. Certification programs are essential to saving lives; this is why we at Newslow and Associates offer food safety workshops, consulting, and on-site training. If you are interested in learning how Newslow can help you business make safer food chain decisions, please give us a call today at (407)290-2754.

To become ServSafe Food Safety certified, you must first meet your local health department regulatory requirements. Some states require that you complete the ServSafe Manager Certification Training Course and pass the certification exam. Other states allow you to complete the ServSafe Manager Certification Training online; however, the certification exams are not included online and you will have to take the exam at an administration site.

Once you are ServSafe certified, your certification is valid for five years. After five years, you can get re-certified by re-taking the ServSafe Certification Exam prior to the expiration date.

At D.L. Newslow and Associates, we offer ServeSafe Food Safety Training Courses for Professional Food Manager Certification. Our services are developed based on the individual needs of our client’s business. Call 407-290-2754 to find out more about the food safety training classes that we offer.

The global food safety conference is a annual event that brings together leading food safety specialists from all over the world in order to provide them with the opportunity to network with other specialists in the industry, discuss issues with food safety experts, and listen to presentations by internationally renowned professionals in the field of food safety.

At D.L. Newslow & Associates, we recognize the importance of food safety standards. This is why we provide food safety training and certification to clients in the food industry. Our services are developed based on our individual client’s needs and their specific operation. We’ve worked with some of the largest companies in the food industry including: Mars, Coca Cola, Corn Products International, Chiquita, Fresh Express and Wixon. Give us a call today at 407-290-2754 to learn how your company can benefit from our training and certification services.

In the food industry, there is a need for production-based RCA due to quality control and manufacturing. It is absolutely necessary for your company to incorporate RCA as a tool for continuous improvement if your goal is to always strive to be better and have the highest possible standards.

In order to perform a Root Cause Analysis, begin by defining the current problem. Gather data and evidence, creating a timeline of events that lead to the crisis. Identify the causes associated with each step in the sequence towards the defined problem or event and recognize potential root causes that may have led to the event. Distinguish solutions that are effective and prevent recurrence with reasonable certainty. Also, be certain to obtain a consensus agreement among your fellow employees. Lastly, implement these root cause corrections, and ensure the effectiveness of these solutions by observing the results.

Our trained experts at D.L. Newslow & Associates understand that the process of Root Cause Analysis can be difficult to implement. That’s why we offer training and consulting on RCA. If you are finding that your business is facing problems that you simply cannot deal with on your own, please contact our trained food industry experts at (407)290-2754 today.

Everyone – from the farmers to the food servers – is responsible for the safety of their food products. Taking a systems approach involves looking at each step of the food handling and preparation process. It is a preventive and proactive maintenance plan rather than a fix-it-when-it-breaks approach. It is essential to be proactive instead of reactive with food safety in order to reduce the chance of food-borne illnesses and protect the quality of food safety products.

The government is very serious about HACCP, and this has caused Americans to become increasingly concerned with food safety as well. Incidences of food-borne illnesses are receiving more and more attention as consumers are becoming more aware of new potentially dangerous food hazards.

The operating principles of the HACCP system can be applied to any food chain activities and to any size business. The seven HACCP principles are:

1. Conduct a hazard analysis. Prepare a list of steps in the process where significant hazards occur and describe the preventive measures.
2. Identify the Critical Control Points (CCP) in the process.
3. Establish critical limits for preventive measures associated with each identified CCP.
4. Establish CCP monitoring requirements. Establish procedures for using the results of monitoring to adjust the process and maintain control.
5. Establish corrective action to be taken when monitoring indicates that there is a deviation from an established critical limit.
6. Establish procedures to verify that the HACCP system is working correctly.
7. Establish effective record-keeping procedures that document the HACCP system.

From January 30th – February 1, 2012 we are offering a HACCP Plan Development Workshop where you can learn these seven principles of HACCP and their realistic applications to your specific industry. Our workshop is approved by the International HACCP Alliance. The agenda of our HACCP Plan Development Workshop is catered specifically to the attendees’ operations. Call 407-290-2754 to sign up for this informative workshop. Hurry – there are only 19 spaces left!

Without proper regulations in the food manufacturing process, productivity loses and safety issues can occur. The goal is to make a company’s manufacturing process as safe as possible, while being as effective as possible. Productivity loses in the manufacturing plant can cost a business a fortune in lost revenue. However, medical expenses from employees or customers who encounter illness due to lack of food safety standards can be even more costly. Maintaining strict food safety standards upholds the reputation of your business in the eyes of your customers and helps prevent potential hazards from occurring.

At D.L. Newslow & Associates in Orlando, we understand the importance of food safety and can cater food safety training programs to the specific needs of your business. Our team represents over 200 years of experience in combined fields of quality, food safety and system development. Give our Orlando office a call today at 407-290-0252.

Here is a sampling of our questions, please feel free to add any additional comments:

1. As a professional, why do you feel that “food safety” has become such a prominent concern over the recent years?
2. What is your experience with the food safety standards such as ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, BRC, SQF, and other GFSI approved standards?   
3. If you have chosen a standard, why did you choose the one that you did?
4. What do you feel is (has been) the toughest element (s) to comply with?
5. What has been (is) the most beneficial?
6. How did (has) Top Management demonstrated support the efforts demonstrating commitmen and providing the necessary resources?
7. As you look back over your career in quality and food safety, if you could step back in time, what would you do differently knowing what you know today?
8. What has been your experience, both good and bad with external auditors?

Implementing & Auditing ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001:

• What is your experience in implementing an environmental and/or compliant health and safety compliant with your current management systems (i.e., food safety, quality, laboratory compliance, etc?)
• What was the biggest challenge and how did you successfully overcome it?
• How did top management approach this integration?
• It is important to understand and effectively integrate these requirements into existing management systems?

The Basis for Sustainability – It’s All Connected:

• What does “sustainability” really mean to a management system?
• Does Top Management understand the difference between ‘sustainability’ or ‘green’?
• Call it sustainability or call it something else, but we’re seeing the field of corporate responsibility morph into a valid business approach, not just the latest fad.
• Sustainability and green initiatives need a management systems framework to succeed. With this framework, they will certainly thrive and avoid being just interesting possibilities.
• Many industry sectors have serious commitments and extensive program in environmental sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility; how do you feel that the food and beverage industry has taken these issues as serious as other sectors have?

What role does “sensory testing” play in your food safety and/or quality programs?:

• What do you consider an effective sensory program?  How do you train your associates in sensory?
• Have you ever compared your products from a “sensory” prospective you’re your competitors?
• What would be the most effective manner of training for your operation (detailed or not specific)?
• What would be the most effective learning criteria from an external advanced training class?  For example: Learning basic sensory skills, enhancing current skills, evaluation of products, preparation of related Lexicons and the application of critical tools in creating or enhancing your in house sensory program.

What role do your “magnets” have in your food safety programs?

• How do you know that your “Magnets” are effective?  Are they monitored through your preventive maintenance program?  Does this process meet requirements for “verification” and “validation”?
• Is the Magnet as effective as it could be in its particular location?
• Is the Magnet is still as effective as it was at the installation date.
• Are you maintaining records confirming the initial “validation”?  How often is this repeated (annually?)?
• What is the process that is used to validate your magnets (i.e., the pull test, use of a calibrated Gauss meter)?
• Are you aware that many consider the pull test as being outdated and not the most effective method for validation?

Both equipment used for the magnet validation and the actual magnet validation documentation are endorsed by HACCP International.

Magnet validations are very important especially on last point, CCP and critical packing magnets as they establish if the magnet is within tolerance. An Endorsed magnet validation report should be provided initially by the magnet supplier then conducted every year on final and CCP magnets.

Magnet validations should be performed at least every 2 years on intakes and plant protection magnets.

Magnet validations must be carried out using currently calibrated gauss meters using properly endorsed procedures and documentation. HACCP audits now mostly require both magnets & metal detectors to be validated before approval is awarded.

Finally, the older “pull test” approximations are declining in acceptability where product and brand name security is an important concern.

Validation Reports Establish:

• If the Magnet meets current standards.
• If the Magnet is as effective as it could be in its particular location.
• If the Magnet is still as effective as it was at the installation date.

Reports can also include:

• Recommendations to upgrade equipment to Food Safe Standards. Comparative analysis of Metal Contamination at Critical Control Points.
• How Often Should Magnet Validations Be Carried Out?
• Initially on supply, then annually, finally as dictated by history.