COVER STORY
BY EDITORIAL STAFF
EMERGING
TRENDS IN THE GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
T
wo major romaine lettuce recalls this year alone, among dozens of other food-related outbreaks. Increasing consumer demands, from faster shipping and improved transparency to greater fresh food selections and e-commerce options. The threat of a global trade OF CONSUMERS SAY war and seemingTHAT COOKING A ly never-ending MEAL IN THEIR OWN tariff hikes. TightKITCHENS IS THE BEST ening trucking WAY TO ENSURE IT IS capacity and a SAFE TO EAT. labor shortage. Getting nervous yet? Two thousand eighteen brought all of these challenges and more for players
77%
throughout the global food supply chain. There is good news, though. Innovations and technological advancements are working every day to solve these complexities. Below, the Food Logistics’ editors touch on a few solutions and trends for the year ahead.
Innovation Boosts Food Safety Food safety is paramount to our industry. While the Food Safety Modernization Act is instrumental
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in standardizing and improving processes in the food supply chain that support improved food safety, technology innovations and breakthroughs are helping the industry achieve its goals at a faster pace. SafeTraces is a technology company that is using non-living, foodsafe DNA barcodes to “tag” food so that it can be traced through the supply chain. The technology got its start at Lawrence Livermore National Labs in California. From there, SafeTraces’ team of entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers transitioned the technology from the lab to the industrial sector with a focus on improving food safety. The DNA barcodes are made of seaweed and give food producers, processors and consumers visibility into food origin and safety.
PEOPLE FALL ILL EVERY YEAR
FROM EATING CONTAMINATED FOOD World Health Organization
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FOOD LOGISTICS | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
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