Corvium Inc., a food risk intelligence provider, and Cherney Microbiological Services, an accredited food testing laboratory and proficiency program provider, have partnered to enable diagnostic results to be automatically delivered through Control-Pro, Corvium's environmental monitoring platform. The platform helps global brands and independent food suppliers improve food safety and regulatory compliance performance through proactive environmental monitoring, while reducing the fatigue associated with audit preparation, the company said. In an industry where organizations want to meet and exceed government and industry standards, passing audits are not enough to minimize risk and there is a need to continually collect and compare data to flag any pathogens and other microbiological issues that may pose a threat.

Through this partnership, customers are enabled to investigate their testing data from Cherney in Corvium's analytics platform, allowing food companies to perform root-cause analysis and trending to determine and compare how their facilities are executing their food safety policies. Customers are then able to quickly remediate any issues that may be discovered.

The partnership also will help Cherney customers aggregate their data to identify trends occurring within their food safety programs, the company said, adding that this intelligence allows customers to gain a greater understanding of what these lab test results represent on a larger scale rather than just looking at the results per daily, weekly, or monthly spreadsheets.

As customers execute their sampling program, Corvium's Control-Pro software automates the creation of testing schedules and provides a visualization layer for seeing the actual test points, their status, and alerts on an interactive floor plan display. As schedules are completed and samples are sent to Cherney's labs for testing, Corvium automatically transmits a data file containing all information pertaining to each sample. Cherney's diagnostic results are then fed digitally and directly back to Control-Pro, enabling customers to instantly see where issues may exist, and automatically launches corrective actions targeted to the test points in question, the company explained.

"At Cherney, we have a passion for food safety and helping our customers understand what is occurring within their food production environments," said Cherney COO Steve Kuchenberg. "As our customers look for ways to utilize their data, partnering with Corvium allows us to deliver results using the Control platform. This not only helps customers remediate any issues more quickly, but also to leverage their own data to make informed environmental and business decisions."

"We have enjoyed our relationship with Cherney Microbiological Services for several years as we have supported our mutual customers' food safety programs," said Corvium CSO David Hatch. "This partnership will further enhance the speed and accuracy of our customers' testing programs, as well as reduce the time-consuming work involved with preparing for audits and reacting to inspections. We look forward to extending our relationship with Cherney and ultimately enabling customers to gain greater actionability from their diagnostic data."

For more information about the companies, visit Corvium or Cherney.

HorizonScan, a food hazard database provider, has shared its findings for Q1 2019, noting a decrease in food integrity issues in key categories including meat and poultry, but a sharp up-tick in issues related to herbs and spices.

“One of the primary components of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is that companies must conduct a risk assessment of their ingredients and suppliers to detect known or reasonably foreseeable hazards,” says Ron Stakland, HorizonScan global product manager. “However, the globalization of ingredient sourcing has made it more challenging than ever to assess the chemical, biological and physical risks in the supply chain.” The good news, he added, is that there has been a significant decline in food hazard issues reported in Q1 of 2019 for meat and meat products, poultry and nuts and seeds.

This is a significant change from Q4 of 2018 in which hazard reports for meat and meat products were up by 30.3% due to a nearly 32% increase in reports of Salmonella and Listeria in sausages and an almost 20% increase in hazards reported for preparations. Additionally:

• Poultry hazards were down 25.2% in Q1 of 2019 following previous increases stemming from salmonella contamination in chicken meat from Brazil. Seafood issues also continued to decline another 4.2%, following an 11.7% decline during the fourth quarter of 2018.
• Milk and dairy product hazards declined 2.7% following a Q4 2018 quarterly increase of 7.8%.
• Another category that previously reported significant issues related to aflatoxins (mold) in nuts (including almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, brazil and cashew nuts) reported hazards continued to go down 14.2% during the last quarter.
• However, hazards for herbs and spices went up significantly, 57.1%. While reporting for this category was previously down 21% in Q4, the category still remained up for the 2018 calendar year by 11.1%.
  

Industry awareness is a critical issue.  “Growing consumer and regulatory demand for food transparency and sustainability has spurred both mandated and voluntary global industry standards for greater visibility into the supply chain,” Stakland said. For manufacturers, the stakes have never been higher. Under FSMA regulations, failure to implement an effective supply chain risk management program could subject food companies and their officers to significant liability and even criminal charges.

“Fines are just one part of the picture,” he said. “It’s estimated that the average cost of a product recall is $10 million, which can easily multiply, depending on the size and scope of the recall. Add to that the potential damages a supplier, manufacturer or retailer can incur as a result of fines, consumer-facing litigation and negative publicity.”

The HorizonScan food safety management system monitors safety and integrity alerts worldwide, collecting data daily from over 115 food safety agencies and other reliable sources to deliver timely alerts on emerging food safety issues affecting nearly 600 commodities from more than 180 countries. It also contains data on over 22,000 unique suppliers who have been the subject of one or more hazard reports in the past 15 years. FoodChain ID provides integrated food safety and food quality solutions that address the challenges and opportunities in the rapidly evolving food industry. For more information, visit https://www.globalhorizonscan.com/.

Representatives from the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Board (EEB) attended a facility tour of Watson, Inc. in June at which Vice President Gavin Watson presented various sustainability efforts and energy efficiency initiatives implemented at the West Haven/Orange facility, which produces ingredient systems and products for the food and supplement industries.

Watson explained that they were able to save about $182,000 in annual energy costs by working with United Illuminating (UI) to make energy updates to their facilities, including upgrading compressor systems and lighting.

EEB tour participants saw the production process of many products and how the facility has taken sustainability beyond the scope of Connecticut’s efficiency programs. EEB is a group of advisors who use their expertise with energy issues to evaluate and advise the state’s utility companies in developing and implementing comprehensive, cost-effective energy conservation plans that help Connecticut consumers reduce energy use in their homes and businesses.

Attendees of the tour included representatives from United Illuminating, Optimal Energy, the CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, Eversource, Acadia Center, CT Resource Conservation and Development, Energy Futures Group and CT Green Bank.