Food Safety

A Challenge the Entire Food Industry is Committed to Overcoming

FMI’s Chief Food and Product Safety Officer and Senior Vice President of Food Safety Programs, Hilary Thesmar, participated in several symposiums where she shared the retail food industry’s recent food safety ...

How My Weekly Grocery Shopping Habits Relate to U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends

My weekly trip to the grocery store, usually early on Sunday morning, often makes me wonder about my grocery shopping habits compared to the shopping trends I study and analyze from FMI's 2017 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report....

Connecting Food Safety Students with Scholarship and Grant Money

Members of the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) recently spent time at the Institute of Food Technology (IFT) Conference. This conference is a collection of some of the most creative minds in the science of food and technology arenas. Among other ...

IFT17: Empowering Scientific Communication to Feed the World

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) held the 2017 Annual Meeting and Food Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada from June 25-28, 2017. Industry experts, students and government officials from over 90 countries converged in the scorching 115°F valley to ...

Food Retailers Best Offense Could be Food Defense

In today’s world, it’s important to know how to prepare for intentional threats inside and outside of the food supply ...

AI, Cultured Coffee and 4 More Food Retailing Trends I Didn’t Know About

Specialty foods and beverages represent the sweet spot in food retailing today. Sales hit $127 billion last year, climbing 15 percent from 2014 to 2016, while total retail food sales grew 2.3 percent, according to the Specialty Food Association’s ...

Working with FDA During A Recall

There are endless reasons for product recalls, but no matter what, they are always highly stressful situations. The best way to handle recalls is to be prepared. During a recall, it is essential companies are prepared to communicate and work with ...

The Future of Food Safety

Whole genome sequencing, Listeria outbreaks, FSMA deadlines, allergen recalls: the list of emerging issues and regulatory requirements seem to go on-and-on. What does all this mean and how does this impact suppliers, brands, and food ...

Buying the Luxury of Time to Think

The luxury of reflection and leisurely consideration is disappearing as we seek to do business in a world requiring us to stay two steps ahead or risk quickly finding ourselves three paces behind. At FMI, we have redoubled our efforts at identifying ...

Sanitary Design through Communication and Collaboration

Poor sanitary design coupled with poor cleaning and sanitation practices can lead to harborage areas where pathogens can survive, increasing the risk of contamination. Developing robust equipment and facility designs in your store can reduce the ...

The New Food Safety Testing Gold Standard: Whole Genome Sequencing

While the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 (FSMA) has updated U.S. food safety regulations, an emerging technology, known as whole genome sequencing (WGS), is revolutionizing outbreak investigations to more rapidly identify and prevent ...

Food Defense Superheroes: Suppliers and Food Processors to the Rescue

Arguably, there’s no greater hero to a company in the midst of a disaster or terrorist threat than those who are prepared to handle an emergency and shield your company’s assets from danger. ...

Are you Prepared for FSVP Compliance? Compliance begins May 30

The first compliance dates for FDA’s FSMA rule on Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) for importers of food for humans or animals begin May 30, 2017. The FSVP rule requires importers who are covered by the rule to have risk-based programs ...

Nurturing a $127 Billion Business Opportunity in Specialty Food

A 2017 report by the Specialty Food Association (SFA) indicates that the specialty food category represents $127 billion, up 15 percent since 2014. Specialty foods are outpacing their non-specialty counterparts in nearly every category. And ...

Add Value to Your Brand with the SQF Food Retail Code

Shoppers maintain a high degree of trust and confidence in their grocery store to keep food safe. According FMI’s 2016 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends, nearly 9 in 10 shoppers having confidence in the safety of food at the grocery store. With trust ...