Americans – and people all around the world – rely on American food processors to provide meat, beverages, snacks, products and individual ingredients that are free of foodborne borne contamination illnesses, parasites and other bacteria, such as salmonella and E. coli.
Creating healthy food is no easy task. Even the slightest pollution can trigger diseases. Each year, about 48 million Americans become ill after eating contaminated food, 128,000 people are hospitalized, and 3,000 die. Infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems are most affected by foodborne illnesses.
Managing a safe food supply chain requires diligent and forward-thinking entrepreneurs and operations managers, and acceptance by all employees.
Best practices include:
- Maintaining strict hygiene standards
- Regular maintenance of food handling systems, processing machinery and sorting equipment
- Ensuring staff are adequately trained in personal hygiene, food preparation, cleaning, waste disposal procedures and pest control guidelines.
- Designing the most efficient production line that complies with food safety regulations and allows for cleaning, maintenance and monitoring.
- Follow proper handling, packaging, storage, and transportation procedures.
In the food processing industry, maintaining food safety is everyone’s responsibility. See the attached resource for more information.
This infographic was created by Key Technology, a provider of industrial gummy candy conveyor
