When conducting descriptive sensory assessments of food and beverages, the panel coordinator must monitor the performance of the panel to ensure the accuracy of the data and, in some cases, schedule retraining on specific sensory descriptors. To review the performance of the panel and panelists has three objectives: Assessment of the overall panel performance and…
To protect the consumer, the FDA monitors domestic and foreign food businesses and the safety of the products they offer for sale on the US market. The data gathered from FDA inspections ensure a robust level of food safety protection. FDA is involved in various activities such as inspection, recall, sampling, seizure of food products…
SQFI Program is globally recognized as a food safety certification program that covers the food supply chain from primary production to foodservice. For SQF Code Edition 9.0, there have been significant changes to GMP module sections and elements, more focus on prevention of cross-contamination, requirements for maintaining air hygiene in high-risk zones such as RTE…
Let’s get started and review the elements of a preventive control plan. A PCP is a plan that details the analysis of the product information/ hazard assessment and manufacture/ foreign manufacturer’s food safety systems to determine the control measures and verification activities that must be followed to produce food products that meet the Safe Food…
Edition 9 Updates Certification audits against SQF Edition 9 officially started on May 24, 2021. Over 100 sites thus far have renewed their certification. For 35% of the sites, the audit was unannounced. As a reminder, the top SQF changes that food manufacturers must be ready for this year are: No desk audit for initial…
In this sensory blog, we are featuring two cases studies to showcase the technical capabilities of Tastelweb©. The sensory applications under study comprise of a red wine and dark chocolate chips. Triangle Test The triangle test is a discriminative method that enables the comparison of two samples to determine if an overall sensory difference exists…
As food manufacturers are actively implementing the SQF code Edition 9, here is a review of the most important changes and how to prepare for them. Most of the key changes concern the certification process and the system element requirements which are common to all certified facilities. As the resident SQF practitioner(s) for your business,…
When I was first asked to write a blog about the basics of how to prepare for importing food products into Canada, I was having a matcha mochi (a green tea ice cream wrapped by paper-thin glutinous rice sheet). Matcha mochi is a product of Japan, and I was enjoying it in an Indian restaurant…
In the food and beverage industry, the sensory properties of food are critical in establishing market success. From wine to sodas, chocolate, or coffee, sensory evaluation has been used to assess product qualities such as bitterness, sweetness, aroma or texture. Sensory information plays an important part in the new product development cycle. Combined with consumer…
Amid COVID-19, we have seen the global pandemic’s impact on our food supply. Empty shelves, excess /shortage of supplies all happened at the same time. The food prices index has risen significantly since the global pandemic1. The report “Household Organic Food Waste ‑ COVID‑19” by Dr. Charlebois et al. indicates that an average Canadian household…
