FES Brings Solutions that Help Address US Food Safety & Food Defense of Foreign Food Products

American inspections of foreign food facilities have fallen to historic lows. Budget cuts under the Trump administration reduced the number of inspections for facilities that produce everything from crawfish to cookies for the U.S. market. This decline weakens both U.S. and global food safety and increases the risk of outbreaks.

Foreign products have been increasingly linked to outbreaks of foodborne illness. In recent years, FDA investigators have uncovered disturbing lapses in facilities producing food bound for American supermarkets. 

FES’s uses its deep expertise in working with food companies to develop their capabilities to create state-of-the-art, science-based technologies and practices that strengthen the safety and defense of America’s and global food industry. With our research partners, we are pairing applied research with industry engagement, to generate innovative solutions to protect consumers and ensure these solutions are accessible to seafood companies of all sizes. 

This is being achieved through the development of digital tools and virtual training platforms that translate complex scientific advances into practical, user-friendly applications, enabling companies to adopt and sustain best practices in food safety. FES also includes the development of specific need-based, science-based technologies and practices for food safety and defense, ensuring accessibility and adoption by overseas food companies of digital tools and training and work to strengthen collaboration among industry, academic, and regulatory stakeholders.

In Senegal, FES has built a digital training platform for small to medium food companies to access affordable training in pre-HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) so companies can self-establish an in house training program for employees to prepare for HACCP audits.  

In the US, FES is preparing to embark on helping US food companies develop specific need-based, science-based technologies and practices for food safety and defense. FES is also establishing other tools to prepare US and overseas small to medium food companies, a suite of tools to prepare them to import food products or to esport food products to the US markets. 

In the US and across the globe, communities face complex challenges in food safety, access, and sustainability. Food Enterprise Solutions (FES) brings business strategies to the table—supporting safe, nutritious, and sustainable food systems. 

Written By: Roberta Lauretti-Bernhard 

Source: ProPublica