ReleaseWire

In conjunction with some food safety audit survey findings, TraceGains looked at how fortelling those results were in the food industry. Last year, TraceGains welcomed food safety expert, Debby Newslow, President, D.L. Newslow & Associates, Inc. to discuss how food manufacturers can create an ‘Approved Supplier Program’ as a prerequisite for a successful HACCP program.

In 2013, packaged food is expected to continue to see healthy growth thanks to premium products and health and wellness products being focused on by manufacturers. Overall sales were negatively impacted by slowing macroeconomic growth in China in 2012. However, packaged food is expected to continue to see strong growth in 2013, with sales being boosted by healthier products with reduced sugar, fortification and organic ingredients, while products offering high levels of convenience will also...

Perfetti Van Melle is best known for its brands Mentos and Chupa Chups in mature markets but some of its strongest growth is taking place in India where its Center and Alpenliebe brands have benefited from a growing appetite for sugar confectionery and gum. The company despite its relatively modest size in confectionery overall is determined to grow as well in the US market where it recently launched a new mint under the Mentos brand umbrella.

The entire food production industry is facing proposed labeling changes that can affect packaging design, ingredient choices, sourcing decisions, as well as confuse consumers.

Lindt is a leading premium producer in chocolate confectionery. It remains, despite recent expansion in the US market, overly reliant on Western European sales. The company has recently established subsidiaries in China and Russia suggesting it intends to expand further into these markets.

Heinz was acquired in 2013 by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway in a US$28 billion deal. The company will receive significantly greater resources to expand its presence in emerging markets where it has for some time seen its fortunes lie. Its most recent acquisitions have been in Brazil and China and emerging market growth has for a number of years offset lacklustre performance in Western Europe and North America.

Food suppliers continue to receive demands for dry goods in bulk. Businesses and residences want to store enough food for emergencies such as storms and hurricanes. Halsted Bag has an array of storage solutions to make storing emergency food supplies more efficient.

Today, people are leading a busy daily life and this is the reason why the processed food has become a part of the human lifestyle. With the emerging food processing industry, the need for improved quality food packaging materials also comes to the fore. Now, in order to fuel the growth of the food processing industry, China based Dongxing Aluminium is now introducing aluminium foil strips, aluminium foil shielding tape and other food packaging foils. The idea is to produce food packaging materials that can preserve the food for a longer period of time.

The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, “Private contractors provide the government with billions of dollars in food services each year. School lunch programs, food and meals for our armed forces, typically use private contractors, as do numerous other federal agencies. Because there is so little oversight, we believe the possibility for fraud or overbilling is extremely high. Whistleblowers stand to make a lot of money for exposing this fraud." For more information potential whistleblowers can call the Corporate Whistleblower Center anytime at 866-714-6466. http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com

Wohl Associates, a trusted leader in the used food processing and packaging machinery industry, is now selling used capping machines from top manufacturers.

Wohl Associates, Inc., a trusted leader in the used food processing and packaging machinery industry, is now selling used pasta manufacturing machines from top manufacturers.

Jennie Helwig, Quality Scientist at MOM Brands was announced as a winner of the TraceGains’ food manufacturers and processors food audit contest. Food audits are serious business, but they are not without their mishaps. TraceGains recognized the top audit submissions with a Kindle Fire HDX 7” tablet. Helwig spent almost five years as a Food Safety Inspector for the State of Wisconsin. She audited large dairy plants, food processors, warehouses, grocery stores, and dairy farms. Helwig visited a rural dairy farm for what she expected to be a routine inspection. The only violation was that there was some standing water on the milk-house floor that needed to be fixed right away. However, before she could finish explaining the one violation to the farmer, one of the children, about 8 years old, broke away from the group and headed for the inspector. The food safety inspector was standing in front of the door, so she shuffled to the side, expecting the child to leave. Helwig was horrified, “Instead of leaving, the child planted both of his hands on each of my breasts and squeezed about four times. I was so taken aback; I couldn't defend myself, step away, or say anything. The farmer grabbed the kid’s arm and pulled him back from me. Needless to say, the audit ended on an interesting note.” All Quality Assurance professionals regardless of vertical or sector specificity are invited to respond to this important industry survey at http://bit.ly/2014FSQASurvey. All participants will receive an advance copy of the survey results, when providing an email address; the survey is strictly confidential and anonymous. TraceGains’ mission is to promote quality and safety within the food supply chain by offering a cloud-based, automated solution to mitigate risk, improve quality, and empower 365 Audit Ready companies. Food Safety News provides much-needed coverage of topics important to the core audience of government agency personnel and food industry leaders. TraceGains (www.tracegains.com) provides food and beverage manufacturers and distributors with a web-based, full-service supplier, compliance, and regulatory document management solution that automates and streamlines processes to convert static documents into actionable data. With a network of more than 5,000 supplier members and more than 250 deployment sites, TraceGains offers an ever-expanding database of suppliers, purchased items, and documents that companies can leverage to improve product quality, accelerate product development, and meet regulatory and audit pressures. TraceGains not only digitizes all incoming documents, making them easily searchable, but also extracts critical data and analyzes them against customer-specific business and compliance rules, alerting stakeholders to any non-compliance. TraceGains’ automated solution assures companies that documentation is up to date, organized, and searchable, making companies 365 Audit Ready. TraceGains’ customers boast a four to six month return on their investment. Follow TraceGains on Twitter at @tracegains.

Wohl Associates, a trusted leader in the used food processing and packaging machinery industry, is now selling used industrial cookers in their already diverse inventory.

Fast Casual.com, insights for innovative restaurants, reported that apart from their appeal to Jewish consumers, Kosher foods are embraced by a diverse community world-wide. Studies have shown part of that broad appeal is due to the fact that a large segment of Jewish and non-Jewish consumers alike, buy Kosher certified foods based on their belief that they are manufactured to superior standards of food-safety. Today Kosher certified products are one of the fastest growing segments of the food industry, with annual sales exceeding $200 billion in North America. This hard-won public confidence has inspired a prominent Rabbi in Vancouver, Canada, to launch an innovative Kosher food certification program named 'Kosher Check.' This new Kosher standard will incorporate, for the first time in history, enhanced food-safety protocol as a principal requirement. According to Rabbi Avraham Feigelstock, Kosher Check has been designed specifically to inform consumers that the products it certifies not only meet strict Kosher standards, but also, that the manufacturers of such foods have warranted that their operational activities conform to enhanced food-safety protocols. The Rabbi said the existing Kosher certification program, BC Kosher, has been using client contracts for many years that require commitments by Kosher certified manufacturers that they comply with all applicable government food-safety regulations. "Under Kosher Check," he said, "Approval will be predicated on food manufacturers giving clear assurances they are operating to additional, elevated standards for food-safety - over and above those food regulations mandated by government authorities." Among the food-safety programs considered benchmarks for Kosher Check are those regarded 'best-practice' by quality assurance authorities and food professionals, world-wide. They include the HACCP program (Hazard Awareness Critical Control Points) as well as GFSI (Global Food Standard Initiative), FSSC 22000 (Foundation for Food Safety Certification) and BRC (British Retail Council), among others. "Certainly, Kosher Check is intended to be value-added for consumers," said Rabbi Feigelstock, "Since it will provide them extra assurance concerning food-safety," He said benefits will accrue to others, "Like product brand owners and grocery retailers, since both can expect to profit from incremental sales as Kosher Check achieves greater awareness among consumers." Kosher Check is powered by Icicle to manage all their Kosher products, ingredients, and processes. Using the same interfaces, they can opt-in to manage their HACCP-compliant food safety programs as well, saving time and effort when managing both types of certification. According to Steve Burton, developer of Icicle, “It is with great pleasure that Burton Software, makers of Icicle, entered into a strategic partnership which unites Icicle's technology with Kosher food safety under a single umbrella that's easy to manage. Similar strategic partnerships with Halal, gluten-free, and allergen-free, food manufacturers will be announced shortly.” (http://www.burtonsoftware.com/Partner/KosherCheck) About Burton Software and Cloud-based Icicle HACCP Solution: Steven Burton is the founder of Burton Software Inc., (www.BurtonSoftware.com) which offers the first affordable cloud-based solution to improve the safety of the world's food supply. Icicle, the flagship technology enables companies involved in the production, processing, and distribution of food products to develop and verify food safety plans. Icicle is the HACCP solution that improves the quality and safety of products by developing tools that manage food safety plans, document procedures, and carry out inspections. Icicle provides the technology necessary to collect the required data and then automatically generates food safety plans. Changes to individual ingredients, materials, processes or packaging are automatically propagated throughout the system, insuring that plans are kept current across product lines and plants. Follow Burton Software on Twitter@icicleBsafe.

A new wine brand has been launched that combines an old tradition and mystical symbolism. Called Kukeri Wines, its first release is a Mt. Veeder (Napa Valley) 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. The brand’s concept, which has directed its striking label design, is to highlight ancient tradition using the original artwork.

TraceGains, a full service supplier, compliance, and regulatory document management solution, will be addressing the new FDA rules in a timely webinar titled, “Preparing for FSMA's Animal Food/Feed Rule,” is on Friday, December 13, 2013 from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT. Link to register: www3.gotomeeting.com/register/737742854. Space is limited; immediate registration is encouraged. The proposed requirements dictate a substantial upgrade of the current regulatory standard. Marc Sanchez will co-present the webinar with TraceGains.

Partsmaster, a premier provider of problem solving maintenance and repair products to companies and industries, is pleased to announce the launch of their Inventor Central website. This new site enables inventors to safely and securely share innovative ideas directly with Partsmaster’s product development team.

National Registry of Food Safety Professionals has developed a new independent examination for HACCP Managers that measures the level of food safety comprehension of workers in the retail and manufacturing industry. The Certified Food Safety HACCP Manager exam is intended for workers in facilities such as food manufacturing, processing plants, food packing, and warehouses storing food for human consumption.

Chocolate Pizza Company Inc.® was recently selected as a finalist in the Best of the East competition sponsored by Cincy Magazine in the category of Best Dessert. The selection was determined by online voting from the magazine’s readership and the general public and recognized Chocolate Pizza Company as one of the region’s top 3 confectioners in the highly competitive dessert category. It also earned Chocolate Pizza Company an invitation to the Best of the East Celebration on July 18th. Cincy Magazine is a prominent business publication serving Cincinnati and the southwest Ohio, northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana markets.

Following the scandal that shook a large percentage of the United Kingdom and even Europe, butchers have been faced with a growing number of customers as consumers are choosing to place their trust in them. This is great news for any local butcher, who may have been facing closure if their sales didn’t make a rapid turnaround.

Oriya (oh-Rye-uh) Organics introduced its newest vegan protein powder today, SuperGreen Medley. As a national distributor of some of the top vegan protein powders, Oriya Organics only uses unprocessed whole foods. The newest SuperGreen Medley is made of whole, unprocessed foods, with no synthetic ingredients, no fillers, and no sweeteners.

Biodegradable plastic additives have been available in the market since the mid to late 90's. BioSphere, a relevantly new organization has developed a new liquid additive that has 13% solid contents and 100% active ingredients to be used in most major polymers. The product was initially developed for companies in Japan, but due to the demand of liquid formulations BioSphere has released their liquid biodegradable plastic additive to all customers worldwide. BioSphere President Mr. Rob Huegli states " Our newest addition to our product portfolio will allow all types of plastic manufacturers to utilize our groundbreaking technology that is priced competitively for the market. Our liquid biodegradable additive is available from $7-12 USD per KG". The liquid biodegradable additive is tailored for the plastic and paper industries.

Beverage World's mission is to serve the global beverage market through in-depth intelligence, analysis and insights, coverage of innovation and news for beverage marketers, producers, distributors and retailers around the world. Beverage World is run by a veteran team of editorial, sales and marketing professionals with nearly 70 collective years of experience in beverage magazine publishing, digital media and conference management.

ALLFLEX Packaging Products provide custom packaging and sales kits that incorporate marketing strategies to optimize a company’s branding opportunity. The packaging company of PA helps those who are looking to increase sales through donation boxes and point of purchase displays.

Survivalist foods is offering a lot of incentives during the launch of its new website, survivalistfoods.com. Through the month of September, Survivalist Foods is offering FREE shipping to Canada on orders that contain 2880 servings or more of Wise food storage. Also during this month, customers in the USA will receive two free gifts along with free shipping on orders over $200. For the survivalist who has been thinking about starting a year supply of food or gathering emergency food and/or kits, September is the month to get started!