food safety

P. Vincent Hegarty: MYCOTOXINS / AFLATOXINS are both NATURAL and TOXIC

Leave a Comment / Contaminated Food, food producers, food safety, Food supply, Foodborne Illness, mycotoxins / aflatoxins, Uncategorized / By

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by certain molds (fungi) that are found naturally all over the world. They can contaminate food crops and pose a serious health threat to humans and livestock. Food crops can become contaminated both before and after harvesting. Pre-harvest contamination with aflatoxins is mainly limited to corn (maize), cottonseed, peanuts, …

P. Vincent Hegarty: MYCOTOXINS / AFLATOXINS are both NATURAL and TOXIC Read More »

training at Sekem

Improving food safety and relevant HACCP plans

Leave a Comment / Agriculture Aid Programs, food chain, Food facilities, food producers, food safety, Food system, HACCP, Sector HACCP / By

In March 2021, Land O’Lakes International Development asked me to help with a remote project on improving food safety and relevant HACCP plans. As many companies and organizations around the world are having to acclimate to the new work environment and an inability to travel, the Farmer-to-Farmer team at Land O’Lakes Venture37 has been working …

Improving food safety and relevant HACCP plans Read More »

Food Value Chain, Cassava

Using International Standards for Food Safety Along the Food Chain

Leave a Comment / Agriculture Aid Programs, Contaminated Food, food chain, food consumers, Food facilities, Food Ingredients, Food Inspections, food producers, food safety, Food Safety Regulatory Agencies, Food supply, Food system, Foodborne Illness, Global Food Chain, Global food risks, HACCP, Imported Foods, least cost formulation, Sector HACCP / By

Good Agriculture Practices (GAP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), and Codex Alimentarius Standards Provide Prevention to Increase Food Safety in all levels of Food Production Global expansion of commercial purchases of food commodities and ingredients makes food safety an international concern. Developing countries have the products, but many counties do not have the …

Using International Standards for Food Safety Along the Food Chain Read More »

Compliance Labeling Training

Compliance Labeling for Imports

2 Comments / Food Inspections, food safety, Food Safety Regulatory Agencies, FSMA compliance labeling, imported foods, packaging, mislabeling, misbranding, import refusals,, Global Food Chain, Global food risks, Imported Foods, Uncategorized / By

The US imports about 15% of its food supply. According to the USDA “over 95 percent of coffee/cocoa/spices and fish/shellfish products consumed in the United States are imported, as are about half of fresh fruits and fruit juices and almost a third of wine and sugar.” The EU imported 93 million tons of food in …

Compliance Labeling for Imports Read More »

The safety of Coffee

The World of coffee and food safety

Leave a Comment / coffee, mycotoxins, aflatoxin, ochratoxin, International Coffee Organization ,Guatemala, Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), cold brew coffee, Rwanda, arabica coffee,, food chain, food consumers, Food facilities, Food Ingredients, Food Inspections, food producers, food safety, Food Safety Regulatory Agencies, Food supply, Foodborne Illness, Global Food Chain, Global food risks, HACCP, Imported Foods / By

I have enjoyed my time working with coffee farmers around the world. Learning to cup coffee with a Starbucks team in Rwanda was eye opening. Coffee cupping, or coffee tasting, is the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. It is a professional practice but can be done informally by anyone or …

The World of coffee and food safety Read More »

Food Safety, head shot of authors

SWALLOWING TRUST and GLOBAL FOOD SAFETY

66 Comments / Contaminated Food, food chain, food consumers, Food facilities, Food Ingredients, Food Inspections, food producers, food safety, Food Safety Regulatory Agencies, Food supply, Food system, Foodborne Illness, Global Food Chain, Global food risks, Imported Foods, least cost formulation, Swallowing Food, Trust / By

Surely you don’t expect me to swallow that? In some parts of the world this is a polite way of saying a statement or data is considered untrustworthy and you do not accept it. Unfortunately, we cannot say that about the safety of some of the food we swallow. Among the many reasons is we …

SWALLOWING TRUST and GLOBAL FOOD SAFETY Read More »