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FDA announces ‘enforcement discretion’ for specific FSMA regulations

Although FDA has temporarily relaxed some specific rules, processors are not necessarily off the hook, and may want to contact their food safety consultants.

Wayne Labs

January 8, 2018

The FDA intends to exercise enforcement discretion for certain provisions in four of the FSMA rules until it can work out issues presented in feedback from several entities or stakeholders, especially farms, packing facilities and importers.

CPU security vulnerabilities pose broad-spectrum issues

Meltdown and Spectre side-channel vulnerabilities threaten most computer microprocessors and operating systems—including portable devices, and potentially industrial control systems exposed to the Internet.

Wayne Labs

January 7, 2018

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) reports several CPU hardware implementations are vulnerable to side-channel attacks, being referred to as Meltdown and Spectre (also KAISER and KPTI).

E. Coli

E. coli outbreak hits U.S., Canada

Source of outbreak not yet identified in U.S.

Casey Laughman

January 5, 2018

An E. coli outbreak has led to 17 illnesses and one death so far in the United States.

Packaging

StackTek expands into baby food

Single-serve PET containers snap together to form a ‘stack,’ creating single-serve portions, each individually sealed in BPA-free, reusable containers.

Crystal Lindell

January 5, 2018

StackTek may be best known for its applications in the wine industry, but now it’s making its way into the baby food market.

Food recalls

Leading cause of recalls in 2017 undeclared allergens, mislabeling

Food Industry Counsel LLC says 438 total recalls were reported.

Debra Schug

January 3, 2018

There were 438 recalls in total and the leading cause of these recalls was the presence of undeclared allergens and products being mislabeled.

Unclear which agency should be inspecting catfish

GAO says the FDA and USDA’s FSIS need to get together on testing imported catfish for residual drugs.

December 20, 2017

The saga dates back to 2012 when the Government Accountability Office said that the responsibility for inspecting catfish should not be reassigned from FDA to the USDA. However, that’s not what happened.

FDA’s top 5 most commonly cited food safety violations

FY 2017 top violations are almost the same as those cited in FY 2016 and 2015.

Debra Schug

December 20, 2017

Among the top five violations during 2017 were lack of pest control and sanitation monitoring.

5 packaging trends Mintel expects to see in 2018

Limiting food waste, e-commerce, and minimalism all expected to be important in the coming year.

Crystal Lindell

December 14, 2017

In the coming year, packaging will likely be more succinct, focused on reducing food waste and designed for e-commerce.

Target acquires same-day grocery delivery company Shipt

Retailer pays $550M with hopes of offering same-day delivery services at approximately half its stores by early 2018

Crystal Lindell

December 13, 2017

Target is making a major push into the online marketplace — with an emphasis on groceries. The retailer has agreed to pay $550 million cash to acquire Shipt, Inc., a leading online same-day delivery platform that’s known for its grocery delivery service.

Fig named 2018 Flavor of the Year by Firmenich

Consumers see the fruit as healthy, and as a good substitute for processed sugar and other sweeteners.

Crystal Lindell

December 13, 2017

Already used in jams and cereal, fig has increasingly been making its way into other categories including yogurt, tea, energy drinks, and even chewing gum.