Dairy Processing - April 2021 - 57

" The impact of the COVID-19
pandemic cannot be understated
with regard to the food industry, "
wrote Hilary Thesmar, PhD, RD,
CFS, chief food and product safety
officer and senior vice president,
Food Safety for FMI, in a blog
post on the organization's website.
" While there is no evidence that
COVID-19 can be transmitted
via food, there is a need for food
safety professionals to apply
their knowledge of controlling
microorganisms to help control
viral transmission during
this pandemic. "
Cleaning and sanitation took on
a new level of importance as well
as employee health programs, both of which have long been
in existence to help reduce foodborne illness transmission,
according to Thesmar.
Ecolab's Food and Beverage division was initially
focused on ensuring their antimicrobials, which were already
approved for Emerging Pathogens, was on the appropriate list
to ensure effectiveness to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
They also worked with the EPA to follow all the protocols to
provide data on additional products to be put on the EPA's
register for products that are effective against SARS-CoV-2,
known as List-N. 
" To help the industry adapt to the changes that were
brought about in the last year we found that frequent
communication was the key, " Mr. Stokes said. " Our early
efforts were focused on educating a broad audience about
how COVID-19 would or would not change their existing
practices in the manufacturing plants. "

©Ivan Traimak - stock.adobe.com

GOING FORWARD
The challenges that have arisen during the pandemic
accelerated the need for action in pathogen control, especially
at the highest levels. In July 2020, the FDA announced its
" New Era of Smarter Food Safety. "  
" The world around us is changing rapidly; many believe we
will see more changes in the food system over the next 10 years
than we have in decades, " the agency said. " To keep pace with
this evolution, FDA is taking a new approach to food safety,
leveraging technology and other tools to create a safer and
more digital, traceable food system. "
The FDA will work over the next decade on goals to
enhance traceability, improve predictive analytics, respond
more rapidly to outbreaks, address new business models,

reduce contamination of food and foster the development
of stronger food safety cultures. It outlines a partnership
between government, industry and public health advocates to
create a more modern approach to food safety.
" Our ultimate goal is to bend the curve of foodborne
illness in this country by reducing the number of illnesses, "
the agency said.
New and emerging technologies have played a key role over
the last year in keeping operations running smoothly during a
turbulent time. 
Ecolab began providing remote support to local teams
when the pandemic started, when their subject matter experts
were not able to hop on a plane to be where they were needed
in-person due to COVID-19 restrictions.
" We used mixed reality technologies, like the Microsoft
HoloLens 2 and Remote Assist application to continue to
bring that expertise to the local team, " Mr. Stokes said. " The
development of this technology has allowed us to respond
even faster to urgent events. We have used these technologies
to hunt for microbial harborage sites, identify CIP sanitation
failures, troubleshoot membrane cleaning efficiency and
optimize lubrication systems. "
Digitizing and embracing new technology for more
optimized monitoring of the supply chain is an important step
and necessary step in the manufacturing process for the dairy
industry. However, it comes with risk. 
" The newer technologies produce a lot of information that
not only improves a production facility's ability to control
pathogens, but also improves traceability of the supply chain, "
Mr. Clark said. " Simplifying anything leads to complacency. No
matter what emerging technology or trend is integrated into a
food safety program it is no match for complacency. "
DAIRYPROCESSING.COM | APR 2021 57
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Dairy Processing - April 2021

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