TAG EVP, Regulatory Affairs and TAG Canada Managing Director Cameron Prince discusses the trends and events that impacted the Canadian food industry in 2024 – from both within and across its borders – and how he expects those to carry over into and through 2025 to make for a challenging, changing year.

In follow up to his look back at the greatest impacts on the food industry in 2024, Dr. David Acheson speculates on where 2025 will take the industry, expecting it to be a year of change and anything but business as usual!

TAG President and CEO Dr. David Acheson gives his annual retrospective on the past year in the food industry. Discover what stands out as having had the greatest impacts on food safety in 2024, and what it did, and will, all mean for the industry. Then stay tuned in January for his predictions for 2025!

When a facility has a food safety issue, it is critical to find the root cause to solve the problem and keep it from recurring, but conducting an analysis can be a challenge. In this Episode of TAG Talks Food Safety with host Lisa Lupo, TAG Senior Manager of Food Safety Angela Ferelli Gruber explains the when, what, why and how of root cause analyses, and a simpler, “elegant” way to get to the bottom of an issue.

Food Safety Culture has been an industry concept for nearly two decades. Yet there is still a great deal of confusion over exactly what constitutes a food safety culture and how to set your GPS to success. In this episode or TAG Talks Food Safety, host Lisa Lupo talks with two TAG Executive Vice Presidents – Ben Miller and Cameron Prince – on why Food Safety Culture is so difficult to define, how to characterize it for your business, and how to set a route that enables you to achieve Food Safety Culture maturity in your facilities.

For more on food safety culture, visit www.achesongroup.com/food-safety-culture

If you are an FDA-regulated food business, you’ve likely heard more acronyms related to the Traceability Rule than you can even name! ... FSMA 204 … CTEs … KDEs … FTLs … But if you haven’t yet heard of – or gotten involved with – PFT, you’re missing out!
In this episode of TAG Talks Food Safety, Host Lisa Lupo discusses the non-profit, public-private Partnership for Food Traceability – PFT with two of its founders: Ben Miller, executive vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs for The Acheson Group, and Eric Marshall, Principal of Leavitt Partners.

For more information, or to join, visit PFTraceability.org.

Seafood companies are receiving FDA warning letters for noncompliance with Seafood HACCP regulations. Would your facility pass a magnified inspection?

In this episode of TAG Talks Food Safey, host Lisa Lupo discusses with TAG Food Safety Director Ranjeet Klair the importance of HACCP in seafooda facilities and provides advice on ensuring compliance both for food safety… and to ward off those nasty 483s, warning letters, or further FDA enforcement.

For more on this topic, click to the previously aired “Seafood HACCP: The What, Who, and Why” with Lisa and Ranjeet.

And … be sure you don’t miss any episodes! Like, follow, or subscribe to TAG Talks Food Safety on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast platform!!

#TAGTalks #SeafoodHACCP #usfda

Being “GFSI certified” is journey that begins with an initial food facility audit to a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standard to receive certification, then requires regular and unannounced audits to maintain that certification. The road can be long and arduous – but it doesn’t have to be! Take a journey through the world of GFSI with TAG Talks Food Safety Host Lisa Lupo and Guest Expert Kate McInnes, TAG’s Manager of Food Safety and GFSI authority.

If you missed part I, link to it now at: Thinking About Taking a GFSI Certification Journey? What you need to know!

And be sure to subscribe, like, or follow to ensure you don’t miss an episode!

FDA recently published the final rule on pre-harvest agricultural water. At more than 70 pages in the Federal Register, it’s a long rule! But the key point to remember is it focuses on the execution and results of a risk assessment to drive your compliance and corrective action. In this episode of TAG Talks Food Safety, Host Lisa Lupo discusses the rule and its impacts with TAG Manager of Food Safety and Agriculture Expert Dr. Angela Ferelli Gruber.

FDA recently published the final rule on pre-harvest agricultural water. At more than 70 pages in the Federal Register, it’s a long rule! But the key point to remember is it focuses on the execution and results of a risk assessment to drive your compliance and corrective action. In this episode of TAG Talks Food Safety, Host Lisa Lupo discusses the rule and its impacts with TAG Manager of Food Safety and Agriculture Expert Dr. Angela Ferelli Gruber.

With highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) having been found in dairy cows in recent months, the topic has become a media focus causing concern among both farm and city dwellers. To help separate the myths from the truth and discuss the current real situation, TAG Talks Food Safety Host Lisa Lupo talks with Dr. Ben Miller, the EVP of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs for TAG.
For continuing updates on the status, studies, and spread of HPAI, visit https://achesonfoodsafetyconsulting.com/?s=avian.
And - If you have any thoughts on topics you’d like us to cover in TAG Talks Food Safety, please let us know in the comments!
… Continue readingTAG Talks Avian Flu: The Realities of HPAI

Looking for food safety training for your farm workers that will keep them engaged while learning? TAG’s Dr. Angela Ferelli Gruber and UMD Dr. Shauna Henley join TAG Talks host Lisa Lupo to discuss the newly developed interactive farm risk assessment program ProduceTRAINer, available now at produceTRAINer.org.

Have more questions? Contact Shauna Henley at shenley@umd.edu for information on this program or email info@achesongroup.com for information on a wide range of other food safety training.

At the recent Summit on Food Safety in Canada, TAG spoke with attendees from across the food industry, discussing their businesses, practices and needs, and found these to be both global and unique-to-Canada. Host Lisa Lupo and TAG Director of Food Safety rehash their visit to relay the most recent food industry trends and food safety best practices.

The Intentional Adulteration – IA – Rule of FSMA has been in place since 2016, but FDA is taking a new look at food facilities this fall, moving from “Quick Checks” to Comprehensive Inspections – to include Food Defense Plan compliance and implementation. On this episode of TAG Talks Food Safety, Host Lisa Lupo speaks with TAG Director of Food Safety and Lead IA Instructor Christopher Snabes to address some key industry questions about the expanded inspections and how to prepare for FDA arriving at your facility door!

If your first thought when someone mentions eating insects is “ICK!”, you’re not alone! Yet billions of people around the world see edible insects as standard fare or even a delicacy. In this episode of TAG Talks Food Safety, I, your host Lisa Lupo, discuss the practice of eating insects and food safety aspects of production with TAG Senior Manager of Food Safety and Entomophagy Expert Kate McInnes.

Have you eaten an insect?
If you produce edible insects, how do you combat the Ick?

There is a great deal of talk about cultured, or cultivated, meat these days, what is real and what is hype? TAG Talk Host Lisa Lupo discusses that with TAG Senior Manager of Food Safety Lily Yang, who has been working with manufacturers for safe, compliant production. For other trending topics, view · AI & the Food Industry: What “Intelligence” Might AI Convey? · Why Don't Animal Welfare Rules Follow Public Opinion? · Controlled Environment Agriculture: How to Mitigate Risk & Enhance Quality

TAG and Leavitt Partners have joined together to initiate a Food Traceability Public-Private Governing Body, to align industry in the implementation of the new FSMA 204 - Traceability Rule. TAG Talks Host Lisa Lupo welcomes TAG’s EVP of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Dr. Ben Miller and Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel Eric Edmunds, JD, to discuss this new venture – and how stakeholders can become involved.

The much-awaited FSMA PC Rule Appendix 1 draft guidance provides clearer steps for identifying “known or reasonably foreseeable hazards” in your products – but includes new requirements. In this episode of TAG Talks, Host Lisa Lupo welcomes TAG Senior Advisor Ruth Petran to discuss the changes, the impacts, and best practices for implementation.

In today’s world of Zoom and Teams, conferences and trade shows provide opportunities for Live Facetime with the industry. In this episode of TAG Talks, Host Lisa Lupo and Director of Food Safety Sam Davidson discuss how to get real benefits from trade shows – and where to find TAG in 2024.

FDA’s Comprehensive Intentional Adulteration (IA) inspections begin this year with increased focus and requirements. TAG Food Defense Expert and Director of Food Safety Christopher Snabes provides insights into the differences between Food Defense Quick Checks and Comprehensive Inspections and what food facilities can expect when FDA arrives at your door. Join Christopher and Host Lisa Lupo in this TAG Talks episode on how to ensure you are ready.