FDA Ushers in a “New Era of Smarter Food Safety”

Because I work for foodready.ai, I took a special interest in this webinar and packet released by the FDA in December of 2021. This information is part of new streamlining and accountability added to the FDA’s plans to keep our ...

FDA's new era of smarter food safety

Because I work for foodready.ai, I took a special interest in this webinar and packet released by the FDA in December of 2021. This information is part of new streamlining and accountability added to the FDA’s plans to keep our nation’s food supply safe. The FDA is emphasizing a need for food safety software implementation, monitoring, food recall plans and accountability beyond the HACCP plan, SQF audit, and GMP.

In this document there are four core elements to the FDA’s food safety blueprint and FoodyReady’s quality assurance software and HACCP plans are important tools in keeping these foundations strong.

1. Tech-Enabled Traceability

The FDA is encouraging food manufacturers, grocers, co-packers, and restaurants to adopt new and lower cost technologies like FoodReady’s food safety software and HACCP plans to make food safety easier for large companies as well as small businesses and startups

Our premiere food safety software tracks supplier inventory where ingredients come from and where they go, does quality batch management. Foodready.ai is a cutting-edge software intelligence to get your Food Safety / HACCP program ready for any Retail, GFSI, SQF, GMP, USDA, FDA, Local Health inspection or audit.

Here’s a link to a blog article I wrote about FSMA and food traceability.

2. Smarter Tools and Approaches for
Prevention and Outbreak Response

The FDA is looking to optimize tracebacks for recalls, outbreak response and to work with all different types of stakeholders using online compliance tools.

FoodReady’s cloud based food safety software means that your information is available from anywhere and you can access using your computer or through our mobile app. Our food safety app has daily food safety compliance logs, and FoodReady has a checklist creation tool to keep track of all your ingredients, where they came from, and where they are going. 

3. New Business Models and Retail Modernization

The FDA is working to address how to protect our country’s food safety while business models for food preparation and delivering food are changing and not covered under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The FDA is encouraging the use of technology that automatically monitors product risk factors such as temperature, sanitation, and traceability.

Besides our excellent checklists and compliance logs, FoodReady’s food safety app can integrate with these thermometers so you can log and monitor temperature.

You can also use our food safety app to create food preparation sanitation checklists to make it easy for employees to follow your HACCP plan and prepare for your SQF audit. You can easily see who remembered or forgot to wash their hands, wear gloves, clean surfaces and other food preparation sanitation processes.

4. Food Safety Culture

The FDA wants to encourage “food safety culture”, meaning awareness of food safety, social media about food safety, a positive and proactive community.

I couldn’t agree with this more, especially since food safety IS our culture.  Our FoodReady food safety app is the perfect ambassador for the future of food safety. 

Foodready is a food safety software and consulting company. Our software has a HACCP builder, food traceability, you can create your own checklists to manage your HACCP plan or track other items, ingredients, tasks, or events. With our Enterprise program you will have access to food safety quality assurance professionals who can help you with HACCP Consultant, GFSI Consultant, SQF, GMP, SOP, BRC, CGMP,  gap analysis, or prepare for audits like the Costco audit, the Whole Foods audit, Publix audit, Kroger audit, Safeway audit, Meier audit, HEB audit and more.

FAQs

Tech-enabled traceability offers several key benefits, including improved ability to quickly trace and recall contaminated food products, enhanced visibility across the supply chain, reduced risk of foodborne illness outbreaks, and increased consumer trust. By utilizing technology like food safety software and HACCP plans, businesses can more efficiently manage their inventory, track the movement of ingredients, and ensure the safety and quality of their products.
Fostering a strong food safety culture requires commitment from all levels of the organization, starting with leadership. Steps include providing regular training and education to employees, establishing clear food safety policies and procedures, encouraging open communication about food safety concerns, recognizing and rewarding compliance and proactive behaviors, and integrating food safety into daily operations. Utilizing technology, like food safety apps, can also support these efforts by making compliance easier and more transparent.
Data analytics plays a crucial role in the FDA’s new food safety initiatives by enabling the analysis of large volumes of data from various sources to identify trends, predict risks, and improve food safety outcomes. Through data analytics, the FDA and food industry stakeholders can enhance traceability, streamline outbreak response, and make informed decisions to prevent contamination. This approach allows for targeted interventions and more efficient resource allocation to areas of highest risk.

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Picture of Saro Loucks

Saro Loucks

Saro Loucks is the Director of Content and a Food Safety Advisor for FoodReady. Saro is certified in HACCP and a trained SQF Practitioner. When Saro is not editing, writing, or advising new customers on what food safety goals they should pursue, she enjoys spending time with her family, baking gluten-free sourdough bread, and playing Mahjong.
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