With each passing year of the 21st century, the restaurant cold chain continues to grow in new directions. Compared to 20 years ago, It’s less linear (similar to a chain) and more branching (resembling a tree). Plus, there are more touchpoints and more individual players involved. One significant reason for these developments is changing consumer tastes, in both food and service.

Written by SmartSense | January 16, 2019 | Food Safety, HACCP

As we’ve said before, food safety is no easy task: it requires diligence, patience, and above all else, commitment to ensuring customer safety and product quality. All food service businesses have the same obligation to safety, whether or not they are a family run restaurant, a quick service chain with stores worldwide, or a public venue that serves thousands of guests in a few short hours.

Written by SmartSense | January 9, 2019 | Food Safety, HACCP

A single tree can produce anywhere from 10,000 – 20,000 sheets of paper. On the surface, this seems like trees are extraordinarily efficient at being a paper source, but the real problem with paper usage is more complicated. Some estimates put current recycling efforts for paper at 50%. Despite the incredible ability of our leafy friends to be the main source of our paper, we are not capable of reusing its bounty as...

Written by SmartSense | December 14, 2018 | Food Safety, Connected Facility

Foodborne illness is a serious issue – 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die every year from food-related sickness. Anything that can be done to reduce human suffering can and should be prioritized, which is why it's incredibly important for foodservice organizations of all sizes to have an effective food safety strategy in place.

Written by SmartSense | December 12, 2018 | Food Safety, HACCP

Have you ever wondered why cheese tastes stronger when it’s soft or melted? One reason has to do with your mouth: once a piece of cheddar on your cheeseburger has been heated to 150°F, the milk proteins break down, giving the cheese a creamy texture that people find more appealing than cold cheese, and that spreads the flavor more evenly and broadly across the tongue.

Written by SmartSense | December 5, 2018 | Food Safety

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a straightforward, albeit complicated, purpose: protecting and promoting public health. In order to successfully live up to this mandate, this government agency must conduct wide-ranging investigations to better understand areas for improvement. As such, the FDA has recently released a study that analyzes the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors.

Written by SmartSense | November 29, 2018 | Food Safety, HACCP