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 […]

A unique workshop focussed on improving laboratory methods with the aim of them being able to confirm whether or not STEC is present in a food within its shelf life was held in November. Instigated by CFA in response to STEC outbreaks (CFA News 62), the workshop was attended by 80 food producers including growers, government agencies and researchers, and followed CFA’s call for a review of the suitability of STEC test methods and the interpretation of non-confirmed findings. A briefing document drafted by CFA with SRUC, shared widely in industry, the trade and agencies, was taken forward by CFA […]