Guaranteeing food hygiene and safety is crucial to preventing foodborne illnesses and upholding product quality. Neglecting hygiene standards can lead to financial losses, damage to reputation, and legal repercussions. 

Everyone entering a food processing facility needs to know and adhere to a set of rules that address food safety, basic sanitation, and safety. Plant rules for staff and visitors comprise elements of good hygiene culture and exist to minimize the potential for cross-contamination of foods, equipment, or utensils. Some of these elements have other roles, such as personal safety.

In this Food Safety Insights column, we continue to explore processors' near-term priorities for food safety programs, as well as the regulations and issues they are watching that will have the most impact on their programs in the future. Food safety culture, microbiological control (including environmental monitoring), and sanitation and hygiene are three of processors' indicated top priorities for the near term.

Many people are unaware of the threat that foodborne illnesses pose in their own homes, with gaps seen between best practice and actual behavior. However, we can reduce risks in our home kitchens by providing people with solid science, education, and communication about home food safety.

UKHospitality, in partnership with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS), has launched an updated version of its industry-recognized hygiene standards guide for caterers.

A recent study has provided insight into the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus on the hands of foodservice employees, as well as the pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of S. aureus isolates.

Food safety and hygiene training is a crucial component in the success of a food establishment. Food handlers are the first line of defense against food safety threats within a facility; consequently, they should be equipped with the right tools and knowledge required to combat food safety and hygiene issues within their control.

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed a research study that evaluated Food Code recommendations for reducing the risk of norovirus in foodservice establishments.

A recent study of hatcheries has demonstrated the efficacy of tailored advice on preventive controls for Salmonella, as well as provided insight into the prevalence of the pathogen in commercial British hatcheries.

This article explores the food safety challenges of the labor-heavy catering sector, including the pervasive lack of food safety culture and management commitment; the need for creative solutions in process monitoring for large facilities; how to build an effective training program for a catering facility; and how to handle customer complaints, including the importance of root cause analysis.