October is American Pharmacists Month – time to recognize pharmacists’ contributions to health care and all they do for their communities. To celebrate, we’re publishing a series of posts this month about milestones in pharmaceutical history that have immeasurably advanced drug safety and improved public health. In this post, we take a look at the “thalidomide tragedy” that launched the drug approval and monitoring...

Written by SmartSense | October 24, 2018 | Pharmacy Safety

The cold chain, or a temperature-controlled supply chain, provides the means for perishable products to make it to retail stores. Without the sophisticated network of interconnected logistics, the perishables section of the local grocery store would look vastly different. Many, if not most, cold chain failures are preventable and result from out-of-date supply chain technologies. Because of the importance of the...

Written by SmartSense | October 22, 2018 | Food Safety, Supply Chain

The FDA recently announced that Stephen Ostroff, M.D., Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, is retiring. Frank Yiannas, VP of Food Safety at Walmart, will take over his role starting in 2019. The FDA is also creating a new role for Yiannas, as Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response. This role will include the work that Ostroff had previously been overseeing, but also includes a...

Written by SmartSense | October 19, 2018 | Food Safety

October is American Pharmacists Month – a time to recognize the contributions of pharmacists to health care in their communities. In their honor, we’ll be publishing a series of posts about milestones in pharmaceutical history that have immeasurably advanced drug safety and improved public health. In our first post, we celebrate the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928, which launched the modern...

Written by SmartSense | October 17, 2018 | Pharmacy Safety

What makes the Impossible Burger impossible? For the first time, a veggie burger can truly market itself as “meaty.” That’s right – it looks, smells, sizzles, and “bleeds” like real ground beef. Although the Impossible Burger is officially vegan, Patrick O. Brown, founder and CEO of Impossible Foods, is marketing the product to omnivores and flexitarians (carnivores who are choosing to eat less meat).

Written by SmartSense | October 12, 2018 | Food Safety

Now more than ever, we have seemingly unlimited options when it comes to dining out. With consumers increasingly eating out, businesses will need to leverage excellent customer service to differentiate. You don’t have to look far to see incredible success through unique services: Spotify, Uber, Warby Parker, and Casper are just a few examples of businesses whose product offerings are not revolutionary, but whose...

Written by SmartSense | October 10, 2018 | Food Safety