Lou Cooperhouse, director of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center, highlighted food safety and quality as a top issue for fruit and vegetable producers in this article for Produce Processing, saying: “Enhancing food safety and quality assurance programs is foremost for two reasons: because government has raised the bar and customers have raised the bar of what they are looking for.”

As you focus on your food safety plans for the year, consider implementing a food traceability plan that helps consumers understand the origins of your products’ ingredients. In the event of a recall or pathogen scare, traceability can help assure your customers that your product has not been affected. To learn more about how to develop a traceability plan, access this free, 30-minute webinar from IFT.