Prevention of biofilms is a key activity of NBIC (National Biofilms Innovation Centre) and CFA’s Dr Ken Johnston, who is a member of NBIC’s Innovation Board, recently participated in its research and innovation event. A clear take-home message from Peter Littleton, Technical Director of Christeyns was ‘Prevention is better than control’. Breaking up biofilms requires a two-pronged approach – namely an oxidative chemical to release the biofilm from the surface, and a sanitiser to kill the cells released. Strong physical methods are likely to spread contamination and bacteria will be detected for several days. Other highlights included innovations to reveal […]

CFA’s work to support established best practice in setting shelf life with respect to Listeria monocytogenes continues with the publication by the ECFF of their endorsed version of Shelf life for Ready to Eat Food in Relation to L. monocytogenes. The document was originally developed by CFA in 2010 with a coalition of organisations, including numerous food trade associations and the BRC, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Health Protection Agency (now UKHSA), and the Food Standards Agency. Its publication is in preparation for a change to Listeria legislation criterion 1.2b coming into effect next year in the EU […]

A new CFA initiative recently saw a group of its member companies discussing the benchmarking of road traffic accident data for their fleet operations and sharing learning about improving the safety of HGV and van movements. As a first step, accident data will be submitted to CFA for collation and sharing, which in the future may be compared to that from the wider logistics sector. Companies not currently collecting safety data on their fleet operations also took part in the group and learned about approaches to data collection from their peers. Discussions are underway regarding a way forward for the […]