food safety

Food Safety Magazine (FSM) actively solicits articles for publication written by industry, government and academic professionals in the field of food safety and quality assurance/quality control.

As the magazine’s subdeck indicates, we provide ‘Science-Based Solutions for Food Safety and Quality Assurance Professionals Worldwide,’ and as such, we are committed to publishing practical articles on scientific technologies and testing/analytical methods, quality management strategies and regulatory developments that will assist our readers-food processors, foodservice operators and institutions, regulators, laboratories and researchers-to better meet today’s food safety and QA/QC challenges.

ARTICLE REQUIREMENTS

Query: If you have information to share with your colleagues in the food and beverage industry about science-based issues and solutions to today’s food safety and quality concerns, the best way to begin is by talking with the editor about your proposed topic. Authors are encouraged to submit a proposal via e-mail to the editor (barbara@foodsafetymagazine.com) before completing a manuscript to ensure the topic and format are appropriate for FSM.

To get a good idea of the types and focuses of FSM articles, consult recent back issues of the magazine or articles published on the website at www.foodsafetymagazine.com. Ultimately, FSM articles should help to answer one or more aspects set forth in the following general questions:

—How can the food producer, processor or retailer effectively select, implement and manage scientific testing and analysis methods, verification and process control technologies, and food safety management systems to achieve regulatory and/or food industry safety/quality requirements and standards?

— What do food scientists-microbiologists, chemists, R&D/product developers and so on-who play a vital role in food safety and quality assurance systems need to know about new testing methods, analytical and process control technologies, government regulations or food safety systems and management in order to achieve regulatory/standards compliance, scientific integrity, and time/labor/cost-effectiveness?

Length: Food Safety Magazine prints articles of all lengths. However, it’s best to write just as much as necessary to cover your subject. In general, feature articles should average between 1,500 and 2,500 words (or more if the topic requires greater detail). Regular columns (such as ‘Testing,’ ‘Process Control,’ ‘Sanitation,’ and should be a minimum of 1,200 words and not exceed 1,800 words. News items for ‘News Bites’ or ‘Product Showcase’ should average between 50 and 200 words.

Article Submission: Articles should be submitted via e-mail to barbara@foodsafetymagazine.com, or can be mailed to the editorial office on a Macintosh-formatted CD-ROM. A laser-quality printout of the manuscript should accompany submissions, either via the regular mail or faxed to 508.210.3139. The FSM staff prefers Microsoft Word text files, but can convert from a number of other formats. Always include your name, title, business mailing address, phone number, fax number and e-mail address with your article.

A short biography (one paragraph) about each author should be submitted with the manuscript. The biography should include current job titles and affiliations, educational background and current areas of interest, and e-mail address for reader feedback.

Graphics: FSM encourages the inclusion of charts, tables, graphs and other artwork in manuscripts submitted for publication. Electronic images should be sent as attachments to e-mail in the following formats: JPEG, TIFF and EPS (minimum 300 dpi resolution). File-embedded graphics will not arrive in usable condition. Authors should indicate the spot in the manuscript where graphics should be inserted using a note offset in square brackets (for example, ‘[insert Figure 1 here]’).

Color slides and photo prints are also accepted. High-quality, color or black-and-white photo prints and slides may be submitted with the manuscript and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Photography should demonstrate relevance or elucidate the subject at hand. Photographs of instrumentation or products that are promotional in nature will not be published. FSM reserves the right to rebuild tables and figures to conform with house style. Note: Please do not supply images that have been saved in GIF format.

EDITORIAL TOPICS

The editorial in Food Safety Magazine is divided into feature articles, regular columns and departments. Please refer to the current Editorial Calendar for feature topic areas that are planned for specific issues.

Feature Articles: These are usually assigned by the editor to experts in the industry. If you are interested in writing on a specific topic, you can submit your name as a potential writer or expert, or send us a query and outline of your article idea.

Case Studies in Food Protection: This regularly appearing feature is assigned to a professional writer who reports on a food ingredient, processing or retail company with a unique take on food safety program management and science-based strategies for improved food protection. The ‘Case Studies in Food Protection’ series explores the practical side of implementing and improving food safety systems from an industry perspective, highlighting the ‘lessons learned’ and successful aspects of real-world programs that FSM readers can apply to their operations.

If you would like to nominate a food company or retail operation with a successful food safety system as a possible case study to be featured in an upcoming edition of FSM, please contact the editor at barbara@foodsafetymagazine.com.

Regular Columns: With the exception of ‘Ask the Regulators,’ all columns appearing in FSM are written by industry experts on topics and trends of specific interest. FSM encourages submissions for the following columns:

— Testing: Detailing today’s hot topics, current developments and innovations in applied food microbiology, analytical chemistry issues, trends, test methods and instrumentation used in food science.

— Process Control: Tracking food plant operations and in-plant technology developments in food safety systems-sanitary equipment and facility design, HACCP, GMPs, SSOPs, and more.

— Sanitation: Focusing on sanitation and environmental hygiene monitoring science and technology.

Departments: FSM publishes short industry-relevant news articles (News Bites), product releases (Product Showcase) and a schedule of industry conferences, meetings and seminars (Calendar) in each issue. Separate contributor guidelines for the Product Showcase section are available on this website.

EDITORIAL POLICIES

Review and Acceptance: FSM’s editorial staff will review all articles for timeliness and appropriateness and will attempt to notify authors of the decision within four weeks of receipt. After acceptance and scheduling, manuscripts are copy-edited to conform with the publication’s house style. Before submitting completed work, authors are urged to review manuscripts for clarity of expression, details of grammar and typographical accuracy. The author is responsible for all statements made in his or her work. In most cases, authors receive an edited proof version for final review and approval prior to publication. All published authors receive copies of the issue in which their article appears.

FSM reserves the right to alter any accepted manuscript for clarity and adherence to Food Safety Magazine’s editorial style. Manuscript submission implies author agreement with this policy.

Product Endorsements: Professionals employed by companies serving the industry as instrumentation, test kit or services suppliers must take care when writing for FSM to avoid submitting articles that might be misconstrued as attempts to sell products or services. Articles considered to promote a particular product or deemed biased in any way will not be published.

Product Showcase: Because of the volume of submissions to the ‘Product Showcase’ section, press releases are reviewed for appropriateness to the food and beverage food safety and quality assurance/quality control market. Advertisers with regular schedules are frequently given preference, but duplication of releases will not be permitted. Product images are strongly encouraged. Separate Product Showcase submission guidelines are available from the editor.

Originality & Copyright: FSM accepts only previously unpublished manuscripts, aside from the occasional book, magazine or proceedings excerpt, adaptation or reprint. All published material is copyrighted by the Target Group, Inc., and article submission implies author agreement with this policy. Permission to reprint published articles in international journals or on specified websites (with credit to FSM) may be granted upon request. Authors should contact the editor regarding these requests.

With yet another food recall in the news (this time it’s pistachios), Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, now poised to take the helm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will undoubtedly face tough questions at her confirmation hearings about the failed safety record of products like peanut butter, pet food, spinach and tomatoes. The Food and Drug Administration, which is a part of HHS, has responsibility for oversight of the lion’s share of the food supply and as such, touches every American three times each day like clockwork, at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The spate of recalls due to contamination has caused a precipitous drop in consumer confidence in the FDA, and the food supply in general. President Obama recently signaled his intention to make food safety a signature issue of his administration, announcing the creation of a high-level Food Safety Working Group (including the head of HHS) to help him overhaul the system. Here are five questions Gov. Sebelius should consider as she prepares for the second day of her confirmation hearings on Thursday:

1. Former Secretary Tommy Thompson said that the safety of food imports used to "keep him awake at night," and he wondered aloud, ominously, "Why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do." The FDA regulates an increasingly huge volume of foods imported from ports all over the world. And we have experienced numerous problems with imports, such as melons and peppers tainted with salmonella and even pet food that was intentionally adulterated with melamine, albeit by unscrupulous manufacturers seeking to boost profits, not commit bioterrorism. How will she manage this threat and guarantee the safety of imported food?

2. The FDA has suffered a brain drain of many talented scientists, as well as suffering the loss of more than 600 inspectors during the Bush years. In addition, an FDA inspector might visit a peanut-processing facility one day, a pharmaceutical plant another day, a pacemaker factory the next. As a result, many inspectors don’t get a chance to develop real expertise in the food area. What will she do to address this problem, and how will the department ensure the safety of products derived from genetically engineered animals, nanotechnology and other rapidly advancing technologies?

3. At least nine people have died and nearly 700 have been sickened from salmonella-contaminated peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America. Investigators raced for months last year to track down the source of another salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,400. The infections were variously blamed on tainted tomatoes, jalapenos or serrano peppers, erasing consumer confidence in those otherwise-healthy foods and costing the industry hundreds of millions of dollars. Does Sebelius have a plan to shift the agency’s focus from one that reacts to contamination after it’s detected, to a posture that prevents it from happening in the first place?

4. Artificial trans fat and other common ingredients contribute to thousands of heart attacks and strokes each year. Food dyes make foods more appealing, yet they are linked to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in some young children. How will the FDA better police the ingredients and chemicals in Americans’ foods?

5. Food and drugs have been combined in an uneasy regulatory marriage for more than 100 years. Some say it’s time for a divorce. Food safety typically takes a back seat to drug approvals, both in terms of budget and the commissioner’s time. Will the Obama administration support the creation of a new Food Safety Administration, separate from drugs but still under HHS, and headed by a food-safety expert?

Secretary-designate Sebelius has a lot on her plate, including—quite literally—what’s on ours. How she addresses these questions will determine whether the food scares continue or whether confidence in the safety of our food is restored.

ince its inception in the early part of the 20th century, The Food and Drug Administration has been no stranger to controversy. Born during a climate of public uproar over various food scares and scandals, the FDA attempted to reestablish consumer confidence after muckraking journalists such as Upton Sinclair exposed the nightmarish practices of the meat packing industry in his seminal book The Jungle. The turbulence surrounding food industry standards eventually led to President Theodore Roosevelt signing into law the Food and Drug Act in 1906.
The international food irradiation symbol indicates that a food has been treated with radiation to kill bacteria and other microorganisms.

However, the controversy didn’t end there as the efficacy of the FDA continues to be hindered by outside agendas, bloated bureaucracy and general incompetence – as evidenced by the recent contamination of peanut products with salmonella. Listed below are some of the reasons not to trust the FDA.

Ties to Big Pharma

While the absurdly long disclaimers that often accompany commercials for drugs and pharmaceuticals might lead the average consumer into believing that the FDA has done their work in vocalizing the potential dangers of these products, that assumption would be misguided. This is because many of these drugs shouldn’t have been manufactured in the first place – let alone marketed with tens of millions of dollars in ads to susceptible seniors and insecure males.

The reason many of these drugs do make it past the FDA and into production is due in part to some controversial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. In 2006, it was revealed that two of the top positions at the FDA were being headed by representatives from Big Pharma – a move that helped pull many of the stops out of the drug approval process.

The FDA’s ties to Big Pharma have further been cited as evidence for why certain dangerous drugs ever saw the light of day. Some of these drugs include Vioxx – a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory painkiller that was tied to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes which was pulled from the market in 2004. Other drugs pulled from the market include Cylert, Palladone and Baycol – which were linked to side effects ranging from liver failure to muscle spasms and even death.

“FDA-approved prescription drugs have killed over half a million Americans since 9/11,” said Mike Adams, a consumer health advocate. “And now this Congress wants to give it even more money and power… The problem at the FDA is not a lack of funding. It’s a lack of honesty and ethics.”

Food AND Drugs?

Though we all know the FDA as the watchdog of both food and drugs, some have argued that in today’s hyper-consumerist society, this is too big of a task for one gargantuan agency.

Criticisms over the bloated size of the FDA have started to emerge recently as increases in food and drug scares continue to plague the nation. Just this year, 9 deaths and 677 illnesses have been attributed to a salmonella outbreak in many peanut products, leading to a recall of more than 1,800 products from store shelves.

A major reason for such egregious oversights is due to the inability of the FDA to properly supervise the safety and standards of both the food and drug industries at the same time. That’s why some have already begun the fight to split the agency into two separate entities, as was recently proposed in a bill earlier this year by Rep. Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut.

One problem DeLauro claims this will address is the jurisdictional issues between the FDA and the Department of Agriculture, which slows the process of investigating poisonous food outbreaks.

“This jurisdictional limbo is potentially dangerous because it delays the investigation into an outbreak that began over four months ago and any delays in these critical investigations can sicken more people,” DeLauro said. “The scope of this recent salmonella outbreak is a reminder that reforming and modernizing our food safety laws should be a top priority in the new Congress.”

Bovine Intervention

With the growth of factory farms and the ever-increased pressure to produce bigger, better and meatier animals, once simple family farmers are now turning to cutting edge science and technology to increase their output.

To do this, the FDA has approved the use of controversial products such as bovine growth hormones, antibiotics and even cloning in the quest to perfect our dinner steaks. And while studies into the harmfulness of these products remain largely inconclusive, most European nations have already taken to banning some of the controversial techniques practiced over here in the States.

In fact, the decision to resume imports of US beef to South Korea in the April of 2008 sparked days of riots and protests from citizens and politicians alike.

The FDA has even more recently approved of the use of irradiation on vegetables and meat in an attempt to combat outbreaks such as the E. coli spinach scare of 2006, and though the FDA swears to the technique’s safety, others remain more skeptical.

“It is unbelievable that the FDA’s first action on this issue is to turn to irradiation rather than focus on how to prevent contamination of these crops,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “Instead of beefing up its capacity to inspect food facilities or test food for contamination, all the FDA has to offer consumers is an impractical, ineffective and very expensive gimmick like irradiation.”

Gimmick or not, the move illustrates the FDA’s awareness of the problems facing the proper regulation of food products while also avoiding the need for tighter regulations.

FDA 2.0

So what will the FDA look like in the future? While it’s impossible to tell, it’s clear that as the world continues to globalize and it becomes more and more difficult to keep track of the ingredients that go into our food and drugs, the FDA’s role in keeping us safe from harmful products will become increasingly vital to the health of the nation. Let’s just hope that they care more about the health of the nation than the health of their wallets.

With news about swine flu outbreaks slowly building around the world, the issue of food safety comes to the forefront.  Below are some FE&S and other Reed Hospitality Group articles outlining solid food safety practices.  Also, FE&S collaborated with sister publications Restaurants & Institutions and Chain Leader to create a more complete listing of articles and online resources regarding swine flu’s potential impact on the foodservice industry.

Food Safety Fundamentals
As part of Food Safety Month, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies presented a special interactive panel discussion covering today’s most pressing food safety issues, including the fundamentals.

The 10-Minute Manager’s Guide To Food-Safety Training
There are countless reasons to make sure hourly employees, and not just managers, are well-trained in food safety and sanitation. One reason: Hourlies are as responsible–if not more so–for food production as kitchen managers.

Restaurant Food Safety: Best Face Forward
"You have to monitor your fundamentals constantly because the only thing that changes will be your attention to them. The fundamentals will never change."

Random Handwashing Is Risky Business
No standards for clean hands or handwashing frequency exist, which means the process remains random. Is there any wonder poor hand hygiene remains the most frequently cited contributing factor in foodborne outbreak investigations?

Technology Adds a Measure of Management
Date marking. Time clocks. Temperature recording. Measuring is an established practice for all important processes in foodservice. Except when it comes to measuring one of the critical interventions against foodborne illness, handwashing.
Operating a Food Safe Environment
Most everyone agrees creating a food-safe environment is fundamental to an operator’s success. But a number of factors unique to the operator’s business help determine exactly what steps comprise their fundamental approach to food safety.

Food Safety: The Extra Mile
Chick-fil-A builds kitchens, processes and standards to keep its customers safe from foodborne illness and from each other’s germs.

TraceGains will showcase these critical technology solutions
in Booth 318, at the Food Safety Summit, April 27 - 29, 2009 in Washington, D.C. The Food Safety Summit is the largest and most established food safety and defense exposition in North America. It features a full program of intensive educational seminars, workshops networking events and a large trade show
exhibition.

The mission at TraceGains (www.TraceGains.com) is to protect the brand of food and beverage clients by eliminating problems before product is shipped to the customer.   If a problem does occur this unique solution can minimize the brand damage by using patented recall trace-back and track-forward technologies. A recall alert can be initiated within minutes, reducing potentially bad news to one news cycle, and saving customers millions of dollars in long-term brand rehabilitation costs. The Recall Detective analyzes critical risk factors, going beyond material movement tracking; the Recall Minimizer provides instant multiple scenarios for reduced brand damage.

Each year, the Summit provides food processors, retailers, food service, government, military and academic professionals a forum to learn from expert speakers and trainers. It is an opportunity to exchange ideas, find solutions to current job challenges and engage in networking opportunities.

The 2009 Summit takes place April 27th - 29th at the Washington DC Convention Center. It includes two and a half days of intensive education covering traditional concerns (E. coli, product tampering, employee training, microbiological testing) and rapidly emerging concerns (bioterrorism, traceability, lab automation, global regulatory trends).

By correlating and analyzing previously disparate data sets in the value chain, only TraceGains makes it possible to connect upstream inputs, suppliers, and raw materials to downstream outcomes such product quality or customer satisfaction. Firms can coach or replace poorly performing suppliers and counteract profit-draining events within the enterprise, as well perpetuate positive practices internally and throughout the supply chain, to achieve complete profit optimization.  At TraceGains this is achieved through the Profit Optimizer.

According to Gary Nowacki, CEO of TraceGains, “Stuff happens. No matter how well HACCP, GMP, GAP or other systems work. Our solution continuously monitors all critical supply chain risk points, both within and outside the four walls of an enterprise. The system alerts busy managers to high-risk potential problems on an exception basis, so they can take action on the most critical and preventable problems before they are received for processing or shipped to customers. We are proud to be attending the Food Safety Summit.”