{"id":2042,"date":"2012-05-24T11:15:40","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T16:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/?p=2042"},"modified":"2021-01-20T16:32:46","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T22:32:46","slug":"maximizing-food-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Maximizing Food Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Foodborne pathogens are the silent interlopers in our food supply, making their presence known through a litany of deleterious symptoms after consumption. In addition to the havoc they impose on digestive systems\u2014and overall health and well-being\u2014they can take a staggering economic toll.<\/p>\n<p>Research from the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute indicates that the \u201cfive leading bugs\u2014<em>Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Toxoplasma gondii<\/em>, and norovirus\u2014result in $12.7 billion in annual economic loss, with the Top 10 pathogen-food combinations responsible for more than $8 billion.\u201d <sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/foodarticle_image.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2045\" title=\"FoodArticle_Image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/foodarticle_image.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"184\"><\/a>Food can be contaminated at nearly any step in the process, from production, processing, distribution, and preparation. While consumers bear some responsibility in preparing and cooking food safely, the food industry is responsible for producing safe food.<\/p>\n<p>Nancy Donley, board member and spokesperson for the STOP Foodborne Illness organization refers to the \u201cnew\u201d Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), passed into law in early 2011, as helping to create a culture shift within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). \u201cThis act enables the FDA to be more prevention-focused instead of reactionary. It requires food companies to have food safety plans,\u201d she said. In effect, the law gave the FDA more recall power and more inspection authority. According to the Department of Health &amp; Human Services, it is the \u201cmost sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years.\u201d<sup>2<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>By emphasizing prevention, the focal point shifts to food manufacturers and producers, their processes and safety plans. \u201cSome food manufacturers have embraced the law, stating \u2018we want regulations.\u2019 At the same time, the act has language in it that exempts small businesses,\u201d Donley said, which leaves a gap in the level of oversight consumers can expect overall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt STOP Foodborne Illness, we believe that all companies have to play by the same rules, because pathogens do not discriminate,\u201d said Donley.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Technologies to keep food safer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like any type of business, food manufacturers want processes and tools that keep their production efficient. According to Donley, \u201cthe FSMA does not require additional testing or more equipment; instead it formalizes food safety practices and makes them more consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet, time-saving technologies do boost efficiency, and in some cases, consistency. One of the more acute components of food safety is maintaining proper temperature, whether in freezing or heating. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is used in the food industry to earmark potential safety hazards to reduce threats to food safety. \u201cThe biggest problem with HACCP is recognizing the need for food safety in terms of time and temperature,\u201d stated Alan Mellinger, Business Unit Manager for Comark Instruments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe currently have tailored products such as pocket digital thermometers that measure down to 1.5 millimeters, with a sensor in the tip that offers a fast response,\u201d said Mellinger. \u201cA probe is used for thawed or cooked food and also for packaged food sitting on a pallet.\u201d Yet, temperature checks are not necessarily consistent. \u201cAt times, these checks are run at the end of the day and documented after the fact,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>To add more convenience, and perhaps instill greater consistency, data loggers or remote wireless technology is available to monitor freezers and coolers. \u201cA series of alarms is sent to mobile phones to alert food processors of any significant changes in temperature. The general trend is toward wireless technology for monitoring temperatures 24\/7,\u201d said Mellinger. \u201cThe electronic technology is becoming more cost-effective. More importantly, recent codes have stated that food thermometers need to be digital, which are more precise. The dial thermometers are not precision instruments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><sup>1<\/sup>Batz, M, Hoffmann, S. &amp; Morris, Jr., G. Ranking the Risks: The 10 Pathogen-Food Combinations with the Greatest Burden on Public Health, April 28, 2011, retrieved from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.epi.ufl.edu\/?q=RankingTheRisks\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.epi.ufl.edu\/<\/a>\u00a0March 12, 2012.<\/p>\n<p><sup>2<\/sup>https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/food\/foodsafety\/fsma\/default.htm, retrieved March 12, 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Foodborne pathogens are the silent interlopers in our food supply, making their presence known through a litany of deleterious symptoms after consumption. In addition to the havoc they impose on digestive systems\u2014and overall health and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-beverage","category-safety-tips"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Maximizing Food Safety | from Cole-Parmer Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maximizing Food Safety | from Cole-Parmer Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Foodborne pathogens are the silent interlopers in our food supply, making their presence known through a litany of deleterious symptoms after consumption. In addition to the havoc they impose on digestive systems\u2014and overall health and...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cole-Parmer Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antylia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-05-24T16:15:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-20T22:32:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/foodarticle_image.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cole-Parmer Blog Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@antylia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@antylia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cole-Parmer Blog Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maximizing Food Safety | from Cole-Parmer Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maximizing Food Safety | from Cole-Parmer Blog","og_description":"Foodborne pathogens are the silent interlopers in our food supply, making their presence known through a litany of deleterious symptoms after consumption. In addition to the havoc they impose on digestive systems\u2014and overall health and...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/","og_site_name":"Cole-Parmer Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antylia","article_published_time":"2012-05-24T16:15:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-20T22:32:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/foodarticle_image.gif","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Cole-Parmer Blog Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@antylia","twitter_site":"@antylia","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cole-Parmer Blog Team","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/"},"author":{"name":"Cole-Parmer Blog Team","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bd8d004d4d77d6b31800fa11177c6da9"},"headline":"Maximizing Food Safety","datePublished":"2012-05-24T16:15:40+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-20T22:32:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/"},"wordCount":627,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/foodarticle_image.gif","articleSection":["Food &amp; Beverage","Safety Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/","url":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/","name":"Maximizing Food Safety | from Cole-Parmer Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/foodarticle_image.gif","datePublished":"2012-05-24T16:15:40+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-20T22:32:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/foodarticle_image.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/foodarticle_image.gif","width":250,"height":184,"caption":"woman in industrial kitchen preparing large quanities of meals"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.fr\/blog\/maximizing-food-safety\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maximizing Food Safety"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/","name":"Cole-Parmer Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Antylia Scientific","url":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.coleparmer.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/AntyliaScientific_CMYK.jpg?fit=400%2C107&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.coleparmer.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/AntyliaScientific_CMYK.jpg?fit=400%2C107&ssl=1","width":400,"height":107,"caption":"Antylia Scientific"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antylia","https:\/\/x.com\/antylia","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/antylia\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41i86hGEGhQhM1KMqrDnZg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/bd8d004d4d77d6b31800fa11177c6da9","name":"Cole-Parmer Blog Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e3e6aa661d0e443fb9050a9175a092?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e3e6aa661d0e443fb9050a9175a092?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cole-Parmer Blog Team"},"url":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/author\/donna-donahue\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2042"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12803,"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042\/revisions\/12803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}