IPGDx Blog

Food Industry Under Pressure To Cut Salt

Packaged and restaurant foods should reduce their salt content by 25 percent over the next five years, says a national campaign led by New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley..

Nearly 80 percent of all salt consumed is added to foods before they are sold.

The American Meat Institute, which has published a fact sheet on the health and safety benefits of salt say it has “been active in the draft target process, participating in numerous webinars and meetings during the past several months, specifically addressing the proposed meat food category definitions, sodium reduction targets, the need for sodium functionality in meat products and food safety concerns.”

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Tags: American Meat Institute, Food safety, meat, salt

School Group Highlights Food Safety Record

School nutrition programs maintain an “excellent” food safety record, according to the School Nutrition Association (SNA), which represents those who provide breakfast and lunch to school children across the country.

“School meals programs abide by some of the toughest food safety standards in the industry, and our superior food safety record reflects that fact” said SNA president Dora Rivas, who also serves as the executive director of Food and Child Nutrition Services for the Dallas Independent School District in Texas.

According to SNA, “Schools have implemented food safety programs based on national HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) principles to identify and eliminate school food safety hazards at every step–from purchasing and receiving, to storing, preparing, and holding.”

“School nutrition professionals diligently monitor and maintain their food safety procedures and training, and we welcome the assistance of state and local health departments in ensuring the meals we serve to school children are safe and wholesome,” said Rivas.

Source: Food Safety News

Tags: Food safety, food safety programs, school lunch, School Nutrition Association

Food safety top food story of 2009: Survey

The issue of food safety was the biggest food story of the year, according to an annual year-end survey commissioned by Hunter Public Relations.

An estimated 76 million Americans are sickened as a result of food borne illness each year, more than 300,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Tags: Food safety

Help Desk Open for Small Meat Processors

Yesterday the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced the opening of its new help desk for small meat, poultry, and processed egg producers to help them comply with agency requirements.

“USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is committed to providing assistance to businesses of all sizes that provide American consumers with access to a safe and healthy food supply,” said Deputy Under Secretary (and acting Under Secretary) for Food Safety, Jerold Mande. “The small plant help-desk will help the development of small, local producers by offering a one-stop shop for questions about how to make sure their meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe, wholesome and properly labeled.”

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Tags: Food safety, Meat processors, meat safety, poultry safety, USDA

Recalls, food worries spark booming business in food safety

Recalls of ground beef, peanut butter, and other foods have done more than raise public awareness and concern about food safety. They also are quietly fueling a boom in the market for food testing equipment and fostering new food safety regulations. That’s the topic of the two-part cover story in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, (C&EN) ACS’ weekly newsmagazine.

Read the whole article on Physorg

Tags: Food safety, food safety recall, Food safety regulations