FROM THE
EDITOR
Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?
You are sitting at your favorite restaurant. The waiter takes your
order, and before long, a delicious meal is before you. Do you ever
wonder where the fish was caught? Where the cow grazed? Where
the vegetables were grown? What about the spices in that curry—were
they imported? How was the meal prepared? How did the food get
to the restaurant? Was it handled safely along the way?
Most people don’t ask these types of questions; they dive right in, enjoy the meal and,
only if there is an issue later, are they forced to
remember exactly what they ate, where and
when they ate it…making trace-back reliant on
an individual’s recollection of events, perhaps
events that happened several weeks earlier.
Such challenges are why we’ve recently
highlighted food product traceability (see our
April-May 2009 issue and recent articles in our
Signature Series, archived at www.foodsafetymagazine.com), zeroing
in on fresh produce, not only because of the huge tomato/pepper recall of one year ago but also because of the unique challenges involved in tracking produce (commingling, carton reuse, etc.).
However, traceability issues plague all segments of the food industry;
there are no food products that can escape contamination or recall
issues and, therefore, efficiently tracking products is one of several
critical issues that affect overall food protection and food safety.
I was reminded of this while parked outside my local convenience
store, where I curiously waited for a milk delivery driver from a local
dairy to get the cases of milk—then sitting on the sidewalk outside the
store in the sun (almost 80 °F)—into the store’s refrigerated case. I
waited for more than 15 minutes to see when the milk would make
its way inside, and with each check of my watch, wondered why the
temperature controls, so necessary for this dairy product, were largely
being ignored. Was that milk safe? What might be the impact on the
unsuspecting customer who would buy that milk out of the cold, refrigerated case later that day?
Given this example, it is no surprise that product traceability, particularly in the case of a recall, greatly depends on the resources available to track each link in the distribution chain, where transportation
controls are most vital. This issue’s feature article, Foodservice Distribution: Maintaining the Cold Chain, written by Jorge A. Hernandez of
U.S. Foodservice, discusses the food distribution chain, its problems
and vulnerabilities, the areas of highest risk to food safety and best
practices for safe food distribution. As distributors are the liaisons between processors and foodservice/retail workers, their diligence is just
as critical to maintaining the safety and quality of the food product
as the process control plans implemented by the processors and the
careful handling and preparation by the foodservice/retail operators.
Best Regards,
Barbara VanRenterghem, Ph.D.
Editor
CEO, The Target Group Inc. Don Meeker
Publisher Stacy Atchison
For Rent Bobby Meeker
Editorial Director Barbara VanRenterghem, Ph.D.
Art Director/Production Craig Van Wechel
Circulation Manager Andrea Karges
Sales Assistant Allison Demmert-Poland
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