A recent court decision has instructed the FDA to make a decision by March 31, 2012.

The USDA has granted A&B Ingredients approval for its CytoGuard antimicrobial as a Salmonella intervention agent in poultry products. Based on Lauric Arginate, a derivate of Lauric Acid, L-Arginine and Ethanol—all naturally occurring substances—CytoGuard LA is specifically designed for use in ready-to-eat (RTE) processed meat and poultry products.

While food safety has been viewed as a non-competitive practice in the food industry, FDA’s limited funding will inevitably cause it to partner with other groups to satisfy the mandates of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), according to David Acheson in a recent Leavitt Partners blog. How FDA partners with third parties will vary depending on geographical location.

The Cornucopia Institute, a national organic industry watchdog group, has urged the members of USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to vote to preserve the integrity of organic food and farming at its meeting in Savannah, GA. The USDA meeting was planned for the end of November.

Teaching packaging machines to communicate. Thanks to open standards, packaging machine controls communicate up and down the line and with MES and ERP systems to provide key performance data.

Energy audits and management can increase the bottom line, but to be effective, the job is never done.