Insights
Food safety, reported from inside the plant. By an operator running an SQF-certified facility and a food safety director with 7,500 audits behind him.
Issue 19 · Sep 22, 2026
Food Safety Summit 2026: Seven Sessions, One Blind Spot
Food Safety Summit 2026 wrapped May 14 in Rosemont. The content was strong, the speakers credible, the case studies real. Every playbook on stage assumed you were Cargill, Nestlé, or McDonald's. The smaller operator was missing from the conversation. Notes on what worked, what did not, and where the gap was loudest.
Steven Moussawer · May 19, 2026 · 10 min read
The Brief · Weekly
Sep 22
FDA closed a 14-case E. coli O157:H7 investigation this summer. Its note says the product was already beyond shelf life by the time FDA identified romaine lettuce as the likely source, and its public table names no grower or processor. Eight more investigations are open right now with the food listed as Not Yet Identified, covering 569 confirmed cases. An outbreak can close while you read the same table as everyone else. The signals that reach you first are inside your own plant.
What the FDA table says this week
The read that gets you hurt
Four signals that reach you before a phone call does
What "beyond shelf life" means for your retains
The horizon check
Five Kinds of Hand Hygiene Violation. Your Program Has One.
A health inspector's form has no single line called handwashing. The FDA model inspection report spreads that ground acr...
Steven Moussawer · Oct 06, 2026 · 9 min read
The COA Said It Passed. The Lab Used the Wrong Method.
A certificate of analysis makes two claims: a result, and the method that produced it. Nutricia North America recalled t...
Steven Moussawer · Oct 01, 2026 · 9 min read
Someone Signed That the Drains Were Cleaned. Nobody Could Say Who.
A shared tablet login proves the work happened. It doesn't prove who did it. FDA's preventive controls rule requires the...
Steven Moussawer · Sep 29, 2026 · 10 min read
Edition 10 Wants Every Corrective Action Traced. Most Programs Can't.
SQF Edition 10 makes corrective action a core clause and writes out the chain it expects: correction, root cause method,...
Steven Moussawer · Sep 24, 2026 · 9 min read
By the Time FDA Names the Food, Your Lot Is Gone
FDA closed a 14-case E. coli O157:H7 investigation this summer. Its note says the product was already beyond shelf life...
Steven Moussawer · Sep 22, 2026 · 6 min read
The Lot Code Was on the Case. You Threw the Case Away.
Open a master case and the only lot code the product ever had goes in the baler with the cardboard. Send that ingredient...
Steven Moussawer · Sep 17, 2026 · 10 min read
The working documents.
Guide · 12 min
Environmental Monitoring Under SQF Edition 10: What Auditors Will Expect
SQF Edition 10 turned environmental monitoring into a mandatory core clause with double the point deductions for non-conformances. Facilities producing ready-to-eat foods need a documented risk assessment, a zone-based sampling plan, and corrective action protocols that go beyond clean-and-reswab. With audits under the new edition starting as early as January 2027, the gap analysis window is closing.
Updated Sep 2026
Guide · 9 min
How to Build a Food Safety Culture Plan That Actually Passes an Audit
Food safety culture went from a talking point to an auditable requirement in 2026. If your facility needs a documented plan with measurable objectives and you are not sure where to start, this covers the four pillars auditors evaluate, with real examples and a 90-day implementation timeline.
Updated Aug 2026
Guide · 11 min
What Auditors Want to See Behind Your Food Safety Culture Score
Most food safety culture surveys in use across the industry have not been validated to standards that academic reviewers consider adequate. A peer-reviewed systematic review published April 6, 2026 in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety examined 31 studies and found that no instrument has passed all of the recommended validation checks. SQF Edition 10 auditors are starting to look past the score and ask how the methodology was built.
Updated Aug 2026
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FDA Would Require GRAS Notices. Ask Suppliers Who Decided.
FDA proposed making GRAS notification mandatory on August 10, with seven exceptions and comments closing December 9, 202...
Steven Moussawer · Sep 15, 2026 · 8 min read
Edition 10 Audits Start January 2. Some Records You Can't Backfill.
Edition 10 audits arrive as early as January 2, 2027. Part of what the code asks for is time-series evidence: culture tr...
Steven Moussawer · Aug 06, 2026 · 6 min read
The SQF Agents & Brokers Code, Explained for Buyers
The SQF Agents & Brokers Code, published July 6 2026, certifies the traders, brokers, and importers who move your ingred...
Steven Moussawer · Jul 22, 2026 · 7 min read
Your Recall Can't Hinge on a Single Test Result
FDA reported a positive cyclospora result on Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce, the company recalled, and a day later FDA cal...
Steven Moussawer · Jul 20, 2026 · 5 min read
Your Supplier's Other Customer Had an Outbreak. Nobody Told You.
Nara Organics and ByHeart never shared a label, a plant, or a brand. They shared a milk supplier. Seven months after ByH...
Steven Moussawer · Jun 29, 2026 · 5 min read
The Soup Was Labeled Vegetarian. The Recall Was for Shrimp.
Kettle Cuisine recalled Whole Foods minestrone labeled Vegetarian because the cups contained shrimp. FDA called it Class...
Steven Moussawer · Jun 25, 2026 · 4 min read
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