Webinar On "Environmental Contamination of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Foods and the Role of Environment"

One of the three most critical food safety issues facing the food industry today is environmental contamination of ready-to-eat foods (RTEs). Ready-to-eat foods have no kill step applied between the sale of the product and consumption by consumers. Demand for such product is drastically increasing as consumers look for increasing levels of convenience.

Over the past several years, FDA recall investigations have repeatedly shown that most farms are impacted by a myriad of environmental bacterial contaminants, man applied chemicals and impossible to remove physical hazards. The FDA has failed to report these findings due to the inability of science and technology to quickly test for and verify such contaminants prior to shipment to market.

In other words, there is no lower tier solution available to protect the downstream supply chain or the consuming public.

1. Definitions (RTEs, etc.)
2. Liability
3. A study of farm level biological and chemical contaminants
4. Recalls
5. Research Findings
6. Risk levels for various RTEs
7. Some Available Resources

• Procurement Officers
• U.S. food processors, distributors, retailers and restaurant chains
• Restaurant and retail inventory control and buyers
• Foreign food producers, importers and exporters
• Food safety and quality specialists

Dr. John Ryan is a certified Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PQCI) specializing in food safety process control and food safety plan validation. He holds a Ph.D. in research and statistical methods and has extensive international manufacturing quality and operations experience in large and small manufacturing operations. He is a retired Hawaii State Department of Agriculture Quality Assurance Division administrator. He currently operates two business divisions focused on preventive control validation at http://www.RyanSystems.com and food safety during transportation operations at http://www.SanitaryColdChain.com. His latest book entitled “ Validating Preventive Food Safety and Quality Controls: An Organizational Approach to System Design and Implementation” is now available from Barnes & Noble or Amazon.