U.S. consumers used a food delivery service over a one-month period, according to a 2023 report from DoorDash (doordash.com). “Meal kit services have grown in tandem with the overall trend toward food delivery and consumption at home,” says Paul Bradley, senior director of product marketing at TraceGains, a supply chain solutions company in Broomfield, Colo. Social distancing measures initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of meal kit and food delivery services as consumers aimed to reduce their exposure to crowded places such as grocery stores and restaurants. After ..read more

Imagine that disaster strikes on the production line just weeks before a candy company’s famous treats flood grocery store shelves. Poor process controlled to crystallized sugar being added during a stage that destroyed the batch. When alarms sounded hours later, thousands of candy boxes had already been filled with grainy goods. With their signature smoothness missing, the brand’s subpar candies became an embarrassing and costly mistake. Lacking control of operational processes can hinder product excellence and negatively affect brand reputation; however, inline, accurate, repeatable process ..read more

One in five U.S. households adopted a pet during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the most recent statistics from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, highlighting the importance of safe food for dogs and cats as they become part of the family for companionship, protection, and comfort. People increasingly want a balanced diet derived from safe, high quality ingredients for both their pets and human family members, and both types of foods are regulated by FDA. But, there are some key differences that make food quality and safety for pet food challenging says Austi ..read more

Consumer Reports (CR) has called on USDA to remove certain Lunchables food kits from the National School Lunch Program due to high levels of sodium and heavy metals found in the products. USDA currently allows two Lunchables kits—Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza—to be served to nearly 30 million children through the National School Lunch Program. To meet the program’s requirements, Kraft Heinz added more whole grains to the crackers and more protein to the Lunchable kits designed for schools, compared to store-bought versions. CR recently compared the nutritional p ..read more

On April 10, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented first-ever restrictions on the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances in drinking water, a pivotal move in shielding public well-being from waterborne hazards. EPA’s cap target six PFAS compounds, including two of the oldest and most widespread PFAS—PFOA and PFOS—at 4 parts per trillion. The rule also sets limits of 10 ppt for PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA (also known as GenX), thereby establishing a benchmark for the most stringent health thresholds concerning these impurities in potable water. Under the new rule, pu ..read more

A Texas dairy worker has tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, according to the CDC. The person inflicted has a mild case and is believed to be just the second human ever to have contracted the virus. The news comes on the heels of USDA confirming detection of HPAI in seven dairy herds in Texas, two in Kansas, and one a piece in Idaho, Michigan, and New Mexico. The National Veterinary Services Laboratories is performing additional tests on presumptive positive results from Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, and Texas. “This infection does not change the H5N1 bird flu h ..read more

Food delivery is entering a new era. Improvements in online platforms, triggered in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic, have made it easier than ever for consumers to order groceries and prepare food. This new accessibility means that delivery needs have increased at a rapid pace. For companies that provide food delivery services, food safety is a top concern. Improving the efficiency and affordability of deliveries while also ensuring food safety is a complex challenge, especially as companies seek to scale their operations. To meet the challenge, a growing number of companies are relying o ..read more

Food waste is a serious and growing problem that affects all aspects of sustainability: the economic, the environmental, and the humanitarian. It’s an overarching societal issue with global reach. Nearly one-third of all food produced each year is squandered or damaged before it can be consumed. While this spoilage can happen at any node along the food supply chain, the vast majority of food loss happens when perishable items spoil as they move through the cold chain. In the U.S. alone, more than 119 billion pounds of food are discarded between harvest and the family dining room table. That e ..read more

Detecting foodborne bacteria has never been easy. Pathogenic bacteria are often sparsely distributed throughout food batches and can be present in very low numbers in randomly collected food samples. Further, the diversity of normal flora found in various food matrices creates a complex and dynamic microbial ecosystem that could interfere with the detection of target pathogens. Microbial dynamics are also influenced by food’s microstructure and chemical composition, which adds additional complexity to the detection process. Consequently, the detection of foodborne pathogens requires, first an ..read more

This week, FDA issued an import alert for human food products with detectable levels of chemical contaminants that may present a safety concern to human health. The Import Alert 99-48, Detention without Physical Examination of Foods Due to Chemical Contamination, gives the agency the ability to help prevent entry of human food products into the U.S. if they are found to be contaminated with a broad range of human-made chemicals including benzene, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), among others. PFAS are a diverse group of thousands of ..read more