Food safety dominates FreshTech conference
Food safety dominates FreshTech conference
PALM SPRINGS, CA -- Not surprisingly, food safety was the dominant topic of conversation at the United Fresh Produce Association's FreshTech conference, held here April 25-28.
A two-day Produce Safety Summit, which preceded the event, was billed as a separate program. But for all intents and purposes, it was part of the FreshTech conference, as there was a seamless transition from one meeting to the next. In fact, a general session of the Produce Safety Summit also served as the opening keynote session for FreshTech and featured a prominent researcher, who discussed retail positioning.
Both the summit and the conference included many food-safety discussions. And many of the exhibitors at the FreshTech trade show featured products and processes with a food safety connection.
The first day of the Produce Safety Summit focused largely on industry reaction to the September spinach crisis and other food safety concerns. Much of the second day dealt with more technical issues such as microbial treatments of fresh cantaloupes and the efficacy of produce washes. The FreshTech conference continued with both technical sessions on specific subjects such as irradiation and an overview of the fresh-cut industry, focusing both on its history and its future.
The FreshTech conference had an intended bias toward fresh-cut product, as it literally replaced the International Fresh-cut Produce Association annual show and conference.
IFPA and United merged less than a year ago into the United Fresh Produce Association, and for this year the merged organizations decided to hold two shows in two different locations with United FreshTech in Palm Springs and United Fresh Marketplace in Chicago May 5-8. Next year, the two shows will continue to have their own identity but will be held together in Las Vegas -- along with the Food Marketing Institute show -- in early May.
The general theme running through both the Food Safety Summit and FreshTech was that a new day has dawned in the evolution of the fruit and vegetable industry. It is not "business as usual" and it will never be again, unless one considers "business as usual" to be intense scrutiny of everything and everyone along the supply chain, from grower to consumer, and even extending to the media.
Andrew von Eschenbach, a commissioner with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, gave the keynote address during the Produce Safety Summit and explained how the FDA is adapting to a changing world where food safety is of paramount importance.
Dr. von Eschenbach pointed out some of the weak points of the FDA and said that the agency knows it has to become more efficient and develop more guidances in a very timely manner. He said that FDA has been understaffed, but it is committed to increasing its staffing level as well as its infrastructure, which will allow it to do a better job of dealing with microbiological contaminations.
One of the keys to a better FDA is collaboration with industry as well as other agencies, said Dr. von Eschenbach, who acknowledged that there has been talk of creating a single governmental food-safety agency, but he did not endorse the concept. He said that the various agencies currently involved in food-safety issues -- FDA, USDA, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency -- each has a unique contribution that he is afraid would be lost if they were to become homogenized under one roof.
Another highlight during the first day of the Produce Safety Summit was a talk by Charles Sweat, president of Natural Selection Foods/Earthbound Farms, who infamously was at the center of the spinach crisis storm.
Mr. Sweat relayed what his firm has done in the wake of the crisis and how it has vastly improved its food-safety program.
Natural Selection now has a "test and hold" protocol, which requires that the results of the food-safety tests be determined before a product is shipped. Mr. Sweat revealed that since this protocol went into effect, the company's constant testing has discovered 39 raw material problems that were able to be identified and rectified prior to shipment.
The buyer community was well represented during the Produce Safety Summit, as spokespeople from Costco, Kroger, McDonald's and Avendra (foodservice buying firm for Hyatt and Marriott) discussed the actions they have taken to assure that the products they handle are safe to eat. Each of these representatives detailed protocols that are in place to make sure they are dealing with companies where food safety is top of mind.
Mitch Smith of McDonald's was fairly representative of the group when he said, "Food safety is embedded in our philosophy." Using a golf metaphor, he said that having a top-notch food safety program is the basic "greens fee" that any supplier must have to even consider doing business with the global fast-food leader.
Gale Prince of Kroger, who became that retailer's food-safety expert 20 years ago, agreed that for a food safety program to be successful, it must have a buy-in at all levels of the company from the highest position to the lowest.
Ed Thompson of Avendra likened the produce industry's position today to that of the meat industry in the mid-1990s. At that point, the meat industry was in trouble as contamination after contamination brought it to its knees. But the meat industry rallied and created a uniform food safety system that has served it well. Mr. Thompson believes the produce industry has to develop one food safety standard that applies to every company at every level in the food chain.
Frank Padilla of Costco said that his firm learned its lesson in the 1990s when it had to recall thousands of pounds of ground beef because of an E. coli outbreak. He said that the company has had an enhanced testing program ever since, as well as a food safety training program for every employee who comes in contact with food. But he said that testing is still only a "risk reducer," not a risk eliminator.
During the FreshTech seminars, others spoke to the same issue in a workshop titled "Supply Chain Partnering to Build Food Safety." Representatives from Kraft Foods, Sysco and the National Restaurant Association discussed new and proven food safety initiatives that they have employed to ensure best practices.
Joelle Ramon of Kraft Foods said that all suppliers of Kraft has to go through an intensive six-step program that can take seven to 20 weeks before they can receive approved supplier status. She said that the program includes a detailed list of "Supplier Quality Expectations" and also mandates the completion of an audit to make sure the supplier meets minimum standards. She also said that Kraft has post-audit controls to make sure the supplier is continually updating and monitoring its activities.
Sysco's representative, Shane Samples, revealed that the distribution centers of each of its suppliers have unannounced audits twice per year. However, he said, the company recognizes that the audit itself, like product testing, is only a tool that measures where the company is at that particular time. The real key, he said, is that suppliers have a food safety system in place that operates all day, every day.
As such, Sysco has a supplier-approval process in which it examines the best practices of its suppliers. He admitted that in the past, Sysco had a more rigorous program in place for the suppliers of its branded product that included third-party audits. For other suppliers, a letter of guarantee was sufficient. But he said that this will no longer be the case, as the company will soon require all suppliers to be audited.
Mr. Samples also discussed Sysco's recall program. He said that the company is involved in about 60 recalls per year, so it is important that a protocol is in place. One important aspect is that every product sold must have a code that allows traceability back to the field. The company is currently collaborating with its suppliers and Primuslabs.com to create a transparent, web-based traceback system so that at any point in time Sysco, as well as its customers can access the information.
Former United staffer Donna Garren, who is now with the National Restaurant Association, explained why that association has jumped into the food-safety arena on behalf of its membership. She said that the 65,000 members, representing 935,000 eating establishments, wanted to use their buying power to participate in the food safety debate.
"We need to get those who are our weakest links out of business," she said.
A two-day Produce Safety Summit, which preceded the event, was billed as a separate program. But for all intents and purposes, it was part of the FreshTech conference, as there was a seamless transition from one meeting to the next. In fact, a general session of the Produce Safety Summit also served as the opening keynote session for FreshTech and featured a prominent researcher, who discussed retail positioning.
Both the summit and the conference included many food-safety discussions. And many of the exhibitors at the FreshTech trade show featured products and processes with a food safety connection.
The first day of the Produce Safety Summit focused largely on industry reaction to the September spinach crisis and other food safety concerns. Much of the second day dealt with more technical issues such as microbial treatments of fresh cantaloupes and the efficacy of produce washes. The FreshTech conference continued with both technical sessions on specific subjects such as irradiation and an overview of the fresh-cut industry, focusing both on its history and its future.
The FreshTech conference had an intended bias toward fresh-cut product, as it literally replaced the International Fresh-cut Produce Association annual show and conference.
IFPA and United merged less than a year ago into the United Fresh Produce Association, and for this year the merged organizations decided to hold two shows in two different locations with United FreshTech in Palm Springs and United Fresh Marketplace in Chicago May 5-8. Next year, the two shows will continue to have their own identity but will be held together in Las Vegas -- along with the Food Marketing Institute show -- in early May.
The general theme running through both the Food Safety Summit and FreshTech was that a new day has dawned in the evolution of the fruit and vegetable industry. It is not "business as usual" and it will never be again, unless one considers "business as usual" to be intense scrutiny of everything and everyone along the supply chain, from grower to consumer, and even extending to the media.
Andrew von Eschenbach, a commissioner with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, gave the keynote address during the Produce Safety Summit and explained how the FDA is adapting to a changing world where food safety is of paramount importance.
Dr. von Eschenbach pointed out some of the weak points of the FDA and said that the agency knows it has to become more efficient and develop more guidances in a very timely manner. He said that FDA has been understaffed, but it is committed to increasing its staffing level as well as its infrastructure, which will allow it to do a better job of dealing with microbiological contaminations.
One of the keys to a better FDA is collaboration with industry as well as other agencies, said Dr. von Eschenbach, who acknowledged that there has been talk of creating a single governmental food-safety agency, but he did not endorse the concept. He said that the various agencies currently involved in food-safety issues -- FDA, USDA, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency -- each has a unique contribution that he is afraid would be lost if they were to become homogenized under one roof.
Another highlight during the first day of the Produce Safety Summit was a talk by Charles Sweat, president of Natural Selection Foods/Earthbound Farms, who infamously was at the center of the spinach crisis storm.
Mr. Sweat relayed what his firm has done in the wake of the crisis and how it has vastly improved its food-safety program.
Natural Selection now has a "test and hold" protocol, which requires that the results of the food-safety tests be determined before a product is shipped. Mr. Sweat revealed that since this protocol went into effect, the company's constant testing has discovered 39 raw material problems that were able to be identified and rectified prior to shipment.
The buyer community was well represented during the Produce Safety Summit, as spokespeople from Costco, Kroger, McDonald's and Avendra (foodservice buying firm for Hyatt and Marriott) discussed the actions they have taken to assure that the products they handle are safe to eat. Each of these representatives detailed protocols that are in place to make sure they are dealing with companies where food safety is top of mind.
Mitch Smith of McDonald's was fairly representative of the group when he said, "Food safety is embedded in our philosophy." Using a golf metaphor, he said that having a top-notch food safety program is the basic "greens fee" that any supplier must have to even consider doing business with the global fast-food leader.
Gale Prince of Kroger, who became that retailer's food-safety expert 20 years ago, agreed that for a food safety program to be successful, it must have a buy-in at all levels of the company from the highest position to the lowest.
Ed Thompson of Avendra likened the produce industry's position today to that of the meat industry in the mid-1990s. At that point, the meat industry was in trouble as contamination after contamination brought it to its knees. But the meat industry rallied and created a uniform food safety system that has served it well. Mr. Thompson believes the produce industry has to develop one food safety standard that applies to every company at every level in the food chain.
Frank Padilla of Costco said that his firm learned its lesson in the 1990s when it had to recall thousands of pounds of ground beef because of an E. coli outbreak. He said that the company has had an enhanced testing program ever since, as well as a food safety training program for every employee who comes in contact with food. But he said that testing is still only a "risk reducer," not a risk eliminator.
During the FreshTech seminars, others spoke to the same issue in a workshop titled "Supply Chain Partnering to Build Food Safety." Representatives from Kraft Foods, Sysco and the National Restaurant Association discussed new and proven food safety initiatives that they have employed to ensure best practices.
Joelle Ramon of Kraft Foods said that all suppliers of Kraft has to go through an intensive six-step program that can take seven to 20 weeks before they can receive approved supplier status. She said that the program includes a detailed list of "Supplier Quality Expectations" and also mandates the completion of an audit to make sure the supplier meets minimum standards. She also said that Kraft has post-audit controls to make sure the supplier is continually updating and monitoring its activities.
Sysco's representative, Shane Samples, revealed that the distribution centers of each of its suppliers have unannounced audits twice per year. However, he said, the company recognizes that the audit itself, like product testing, is only a tool that measures where the company is at that particular time. The real key, he said, is that suppliers have a food safety system in place that operates all day, every day.
As such, Sysco has a supplier-approval process in which it examines the best practices of its suppliers. He admitted that in the past, Sysco had a more rigorous program in place for the suppliers of its branded product that included third-party audits. For other suppliers, a letter of guarantee was sufficient. But he said that this will no longer be the case, as the company will soon require all suppliers to be audited.
Mr. Samples also discussed Sysco's recall program. He said that the company is involved in about 60 recalls per year, so it is important that a protocol is in place. One important aspect is that every product sold must have a code that allows traceability back to the field. The company is currently collaborating with its suppliers and Primuslabs.com to create a transparent, web-based traceback system so that at any point in time Sysco, as well as its customers can access the information.
Former United staffer Donna Garren, who is now with the National Restaurant Association, explained why that association has jumped into the food-safety arena on behalf of its membership. She said that the 65,000 members, representing 935,000 eating establishments, wanted to use their buying power to participate in the food safety debate.
"We need to get those who are our weakest links out of business," she said.
