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Food safety considerations around robots, shared production facilities and technology's impact on employee thinking were among subjects recently explored by food-safety professionals recently meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz.
A checklist for fine-tuning data used to protect people and brands, and strategies for a safer supply, also were shared during the 16th Annual Nation's Restaurant News Food Safety Symposium sponsored by Ecolab.
Here are the five biggest issues facing food-safety experts today, as discussed at the symposium.
Robots and food safety
A robot, such as the recently discontinued Sally The Salad Maker, can “reduce the risk of foodborne illness, as ingredients are kept sanitary and separate” and be a natural ft “in hospitals and corporate services accounts that have a third [graveyard] shift” when cafeterias or other prepared foods venues are closed, said Carlos Menes, senior director of food safety and product quality assurance for contractor Sodexo.
Despite Sodexo's determination of a solid return on investment in Sally, Menes said during the panel “Emerging Trends in Foodservice and Their Impact on Food Safety,” the company recently stopped using the device after its maker, Chowbotics, was shut down by new owner DoorDash.
Menes talked about several other robots used or in test by Sodexo. They range from the Servi and Kiwibot delivery devices on university campuses and in senior living facilities to smoothie kiosk Jamba by Blendid, LBX Food Robotics' Bake Xpress make-to-order pizza and baked goods vending stations, and the SavorEat 3D food printer making and cooking plant-based vegan burgers on demand in a pilot trial at the University of Denver.
To ensure the safety of foods handled by robots, Menes said Sodexo does such things as require NSF certification, maintain set cleaning and ingredient-rotation schedules, and rely on device safeguards, such as the technology within Bake Xpress that monitors hot section and refrigeration temperatures and disables public access if either falls out of...