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Definition Crowdsourcing is defined as taking a job that is traditionally performed in an organization by employees and outsourcing it to a crowd of undefined network of people (non-employees) in the form of an open call. The crowdsourcing participants can be from anywhere, with all backgrounds, as long as they have Internet connection. The use of crowdsourcing is increasing rapidly and had been used in idea generation, wikies, open source software citizen reporters or journalism, citizen science, disaster management. Crowdsourcing utilization in food projects has increased rapidly where companies have for example encouraged consumers to vote for new flavors, colors, names,...

As reported earlier, environmental swabs collected during the FDA inspection (July-September 2016) of Valley Milk, confirmed the presence of Salmonella meleagridis on food contact surfaces (used after product pasteurization) of dry nonfat milk powder and buttermilk powder packaged in 40 and 50 pound bags. The powder milk and buttermilk from Valley Milk were not sold directly to consumers, but rather used as ingredients in a number of food products.  Numerous companies used Valley Milk powdered milk and buttermilk and consequently their products were recalled causing a ripple effect. FDA advised the companies that purchased Valley Milk products that they need to take action...

In the past, the standard for recalls has been confirmation of a contaminant on actual finished product. In elevating their standards, with the requirement of environmental monitoring programs, including pathogen environmental monitoring programs (PEMPs), the FDA is expanding their criteria for recalls to include presence of contaminants in the general environment. More products are being recalled due to the finding of especially Listeria in the environment. In some cases this has caused a wave of recalls due to a contract manufacturer or a supplier that found Listeria in their environment, contact areas and products.  This is part of the shift...

Why Monitor the Environment? The requirement for environmental monitoring is mentioned under CFR 21 section 117.165 “Current Good Manufacturing Practice, hazard analysis, and risk based preventative controls for human foods”.   It requires a facility to conduct validation and verification activities, as appropriate to the nature of the preventive controls, to ensure a clean facility. The validation efforts are based upon a safety plan that is related to hazard analysis. However, because of differences between facilities, the FDA does not define specific factors associated with developing an environmental monitoring program. Instead it is stated that they are required to “be adequate for their...