Undeclared Allergen Recall Prevention
The “Big 8” Undeclared allergens are still the most common reason for a recall in food products. The “Big 8” allergens regulated by the USDA-FSIS and FDA are: Milk/Dairy Soy Egg Wheat Peanuts Tree nuts Fish (Fin-fish) Shellfish For calendar year 2017, 53 of the 131 recalls documented by the USDA-FSIS were due to undeclared…
Back to the Basics: pH in Meat and Poultry Products
The Basics of pH in Meat and Poultry Processing Many of us have heard that monitoring and/or controlling the pH of meat and poultry products is important, but sometimes that is where the conversation ends. Understanding the importance of pH in meat and poultry can provide us with a better picture of how to improve…
Four Things You Need to Know About Food Starch
Food Starch: What is it, what is it used for, and more Q: What is starch? A: A starch is the part of the plant where its energy is stored in the form of carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are made up of long chains of glucose molecules. Since glucose is one of the main energy sources…
Natural Labeling
With today’s trends, it’s on everyone’s mind… naturally. Many consumers are asking for products that are considered natural. The challenge for processors is to make sure these products comply with the labeling regulations of USDA and FDA. The FDA has not issued any specific regulations regarding products labeled as “natural”. However, it has issued the…
What puts the “clean” in clean label?
A lot of food manufacturers are being asked by their customers for clean label options. Some are even asking to completely transition to clean label versions of their existing products. Many times, this request is met with some confusion as to what the term “clean label” really means. The answer is: It means different things…