Food Online's Top 10 Of November

By Sam Lewis

What articles were our readers most thankful for in November? Take a look back at last month by reviewing the 10 most-popular articles that appeared on Food Online in November.

1. The ABCs Of Building A Food Safety Plan: From HACCP To HARPC
   The FDA required hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) for juice and seafood, and the USDA for meat and poultry. The Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) proposed Preventive Controls rule for Human Food requires a written Food Safety Plan (FSP) be developed using the hazard analysis risk-based preventive control (HARPC) approach. A preventive approach to food safety is nothing new. But the HARPC approach is a new paradigm shift in thinking. This article will explain this new thinking, define, what HARPC approach is, explain how HARPC is different than HACCP, and how employing this thinking helps you arrive at developing a Food Safety Plan.
    
2. 5 Antibiotic-Free Alternatives For Food Animals
   Since the FDA banned using "medically important" antibiotics in livestock for healthy animals or food animals to speed growth, the livestock industry — and the food companies they supply livestock products to — has been challenged to create great-tasting and high-quality products at low costs. This column offers five antibiotic-free alternatives for rearing food animals.
    
3. FSMA’s Produce Safety Rule: A Practical Guide For Compliance
   For the first time, a set of guidelines has been defined for safe agricultural practices, with rules in motion for farming, harvesting, packing, and storing fruits and vegetables. This article outlines FSMA’s Produce Safety Rule, showing the specifics of each part of the rule, and will help guide you toward compliance.
    
4. Modernized cGMP: The Nuts And Bolts Of A Preventive Controls Food Safety Plan
   Many HACCP plans are not well-integrated with prerequisite programs. Because of this, the food safety system isn't robust. In the first article of a two-part series, I will show that focusing on prerequisite programs, starting with cGMPs, is the best starting point for converting a HACCP plan into a preventive controls food safety plan.
    
5. How Artificial Intelligence Can Help Food Manufacturers Feed The World
   As an industry, we face some formidable challenges in ensuring there is enough food to feed the world’s growing population. Food security is high on the international agenda with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, estimating by 2050, feeding a global population of 9 billion will require a 70 percent increase in food production. So, what technologies can food processors implement to meet this high demand?
    
6. Hand Washing In Food Facilities: The Foundation Of Reduced Microbial Contamination
   Everyone knows hand washing is a basic requirement that leads to significant reductions in food safety risk. But, this basic action is often overlooked and left out of internal audits and inspections. This article describes what proper hand washing is, how to design a hand washing station, and offers advice on establishing a culture of hand washing.
    
7. FSMA Inspections & Recordkeeping: What Are The FDA’s Required Documents?
   In this segment of Food For Thought: How To Always Be FSMA Inspection Ready, Elizabeth Fawell, food industry counsel at Hogan Lovells, and Samantha Cooper, senior manager of food safety and quality assurance at GMA, discuss FSMA’s recordkeeping requirements regarding preventive controls, allergen controls, sanitation, as well as FSVP.
    
8. Hormel’s Strategy In The Battle Against Microbial Contamination
   Your CEO probably won't notice if you start a production run an hour late. But, if you start production on time without inspecting the environment, taking corrective actions, and sanitizing the environment, your product may be forced into withdrawal or a recall — and your CEO will know you in a very intimate and negative way.
    
9. FSMA Inspections What To Expect When The FDA Knocks On Your Door
   In this segment of Food For Thought: FSMA Inspections: What To Expect When The FDA Knocks On Your Door, Elizabeth Fawell, food industry counsel at Hogan Lovells, and Samantha Cooper, senior manager of food safety and quality assurance at GMA, discuss differences between current and past FDA inspections, as well as what goes into an FSVP inspection.
    
10. Turn Your CEO Into A Food Safety Leader
    Food safety professionals and ops leaders share the same goals, but rarely speak the same language. Because of this, sometimes processes are not nearly as streamlined as they could be. Here, Charlean Gmunder, a food manufacturing senior ops leader, answers my questions about turning your company’s C-suite inhabitants into food safety advocates.