In late October 2018, food manufacturers recalled 4 million pounds of goods shipped nationwide to grocers and food distributors due to a Canadian shipper's recall of vegetables used in the affected products. Earlier in the year, a seed snack mix produced in the United States and shipped to Canada was recalled first in Canada and later in the U.S. for fear of contamination from Listeria, a harmful bacterial...

Written by SmartSense | November 27, 2018 | Food Safety, FSMA, Supply Chain

September is National Food Safety Education Month, and we wanted to highlight methods for preventing foodborne illness by monitoring commercial kitchen temperature. The CDC has reported that 48 million people per year get sick from foodborne illness, many of which are preventable. It is important for food service professionals to be aware of the primary types of food safety hazards, and the best methods of...

Written by SmartSense | September 25, 2018 | Food Safety, HACCP, FSMA

Real-time Temperature Data Is Essential

Written by SmartSense | March 7, 2018 | Food Safety, FSMA, Supply Chain

Twenty percent of the total United States’ food supply is imported. To break that down, 70% of our seafood is imported, as well as 35% of our fresh produce. That’s a lot, and it could likely include foods that are being distributed to your restaurants. So, how do we know that the imported food is safe? That’s why we have the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP).

Written by SmartSense | July 11, 2017 | Food Safety, FSMA

The FSMA Rule on Sanitary Transportation is one of seven foundational rules proposed by the FDA to create a risk-based framework for food safety. The overall objective of the rule is to prevent practices during transportation that create hazards, such as failure of refrigeration, inadequate cleaning of vehicles, and inappropriate packing materials. Ultimately, the rule was put in place to minimize the potential of a...

Written by SmartSense | July 5, 2017 | Food Safety, FSMA, Supply Chain

When the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) passed in 2011, it shifted U.S. food safety policy from a reactive afterthought to a proactive mission. That is, rather than responding to contamination after the fact, the law mandates preventing problems during manufacturing and transport before they occur. FSMA also provides the FDA with new enforcement authorities to achieve higher rates of compliance and tools to...

Written by SmartSense | June 27, 2017 | Food Safety, FSMA, Supply Chain