I recently had the honor of speaking at the 2012 Safe Quality Food International Conference in Cincinnati on the topic of the crucial role of third-party audits in moving forward with FSMA and food safety. In the talk, I spent time looking at what is working well with third-party audit
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Serious Questions About Third-Party Audits
On Jan. 10, 2012, a Congressional House report was issued on the government’s investigation into the cantaloupe Listeria outbreak. The report provided some very interesting findings and lessons not only for and about Jensen Farms but for and about the industry as a whole.
Conducted by the Congressional Committee
Food Safety Auditors on Patrol
With over a million food operations in the U.S. of all types, the arena of food safety is vast and protecting it is a tough assignment.
Countless tons of foods travel through interstate commerce and internationally daily. The complicated route that most foods take from farm to plate is remarkable
Democrats Urge FDA to Reform Third-Party Auditing System
Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee are flagging problems with third-party inspections, which many growers and retailers rely on for food safety oversight, and urging federal officials to reform the audit system.
Lawmakers sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg Tuesday citing the “significant problems”
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Improving the Effectiveness of Third-Party Food Safety Audits
The controversy continues over the value of third-party audits in food safety at the fresh produce level, as pointed out by Professor Doug Powell at Kansas State University in his BITES blog.
Jim Prevor, produce industry analyst, says changes are needed, while the law firm Marler-Clark is suing a
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Third-Party Auditing Getting New Attention In Canada
An industry-government dialogue on “Canadian food safety auditor competencies” has been kicked off the Canadian Supply Chain Food Safety Coalition. Details on the first workshop scheduled for January 2012 will be released shortly.
In announcing the project, the Canadian Supply Chain Food Safety Coalition said there are two primary objectives:
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The Role of the Third-Party Food Safety Auditor
As the result of the release of the FDA environmental assessment at Jensen Farms, the roles of all food safety persons involved at Jensen Farms-Frontera have rightfully come under fire. Once again the nature of industry-led food safety regulation itself (food safety auditing) is in question.
That all involved
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Letter From The Editor: Third-Party Audits
After almost every one of these food safety train wrecks, we learn that there was a “third-party” audit of the offending facility just before a bunch of people were poisoned and killed.
For the current Listeria outbreak, it was the well known Primus Labs that dispatched one of its subcontractors