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.jpg) Lisa Lupo
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The goal of QA magazine has always been to bring our readers practical, relevant information in a friendly, readable context that can be applied on the plant floor. In 2012, we are taking this to ever higher levels by:
- introducing a new regular column bringing you best practices and recommendations directly “From the Plant Floor” (page 58). This new feature will appear in each issue of QA, focused on different aspects and challenges of food quality and food safety from those who live it every day. Our contributing writers are the director of quality for California Natural Products, Bruce Ferree, and the director of food safety for Sam Kane Beef, Brian Honigbaum, who will contribute articles in alternating issues. In addition to providing their expertise in this hands-on format, Ferree and Honigbaum are the newest members of the QA Advisory Board. (Read more about Ferree and Honigbaum in the News article, “QA Gains Two New Advisors … From the Plant Floor,” page 6.)
- adding a Science section to our regularly featured plant, food safety, food quality, sanitation, and pest management sections. In this issue, we discuss the science of allergen threshold levels. (Read the article on page 46.)
- incorporating a slight redesign on our contents and contributing writer pages to better accommodate and highlight our expanded Advisory Board and our exclusive industry expert columns.
- featuring a new set of well-known, highly respected brands in our Cover Profiles. In this issue: Although alcohol distillers have few food safety issues, becoming a household name, like Jack Daniel’s, is only possible through a daily focus on quality. While the product may be very different from that of the “typical” food and beverage processor, the quality practices hold relevance for an industry that tends to be anything but typical. (Read the article on page 14.)
- continuing to bring you the latest in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and other regulatory developments from former FDA Assistant Commissioner of Foods David Acheson. For this issue, we are taking a digital approach, issuing the column online for the most current possible update on FDA’s meeting of its one-year-from-enactment deadlines—which were yet to be published, as of this writing. (See News article, “Legislative Update,” page 6.)
Although there is some delay in FSMA enactment, the act’s basic tenets of prevention vs. reaction continue to be moved forward. That is, FDA will be looking to ensure that preventive strategies are included in all the plant’s food safety practices and programs. As such, we have made prevention a central theme of this issue of QA, providing information, tips, and further resources on prevention in a number of areas, including cleaning and sanitation, with a focus on “Auditing for Prevention” (page 42); pest management, providing “10 Proactive Steps for Prevention” (page 51); and allergens, with a discussion of testing for the “moving target” of allergen threshold values; common processing challenges and routes of contamination or mislabeling; global actions and challenges; and online resources for further information (page 46).
We hope that the continued improvements of QA and the preventive focus of this issue provide you, our reader, with valuable information that you can use in your daily job. We look forward to continuing to serve the industry and welcome any comments or suggestions you may have.
The author can be reached at llupo@gie.net.
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