The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted the food supply. This article seeks to explain the transcendent lessons of this national emergency, with the hope that being aware of them will help national decision-makers better prepare for next time. Our food systems, like the larger supply chain, will be challenged in the future with new kinds of disruptions, making it essential that mistakes are not repeated and that proactive, correct solutions are discovered and preparations made now.

The Food Safety Matters team is joined by Bob Ferguson of Strategic Consulting to review the top food safety stories and impacts of 2021.

Supply chain is critical to any food safety program. Having full control and traceability of raw materials and end products is no longer an option, but rather a requirement. In the past two years, the pandemic has exposed new weaknesses and made visible the business risks posed by an unstable supply chain.

This episode features our discussion with Phil Kafarakis, president of the Specialty Food Association, about how politics, public health, and regulatory stringency can all impact food safety as well as a Food Safety Insights column update from Bob Ferguson of Strategic Consulting.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has identified three areas for research: emerging food safety risks, food chain vulnerability assessments, and fresh produce traceability.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, stories of plant closures and backups in the meat supply chain have dominated the news, making COVID-19 prevention the primary goal for meat processors.

Food Safety Strategies recently was able to talk to Ken Moir, VP of packaging, NiceLabel, about how the food supply chain has been functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seemingly overnight, the world has been consumed by the coronavirus (COVID-19). Since showing up on the world stage in November 2019 within the Wuhan area of China, the virus has quickly morphed into a global health threat, while disrupting sensitive supply channels.