Open dating plays a vital role in the distribution of the food products from the farm or place of manufacturing to the consumer's home. One principle is that the shelf life is a function of the distribution conditions and can be looked at as the percentage of consumers a manufacturer is willing to displease. Thus, one purpose of an open date is to give consumers enough time to purchase a food product and store it at home for a reasonable period of time before the product reaches the end of shelf-life in terms of some degree of quality change that is still acceptable. If products are not stored or rotated properly in distribution, then older products or those of lesser quality and perhaps compromised safety because of abuse during distribution chain and causing loss of confidence in the food category. Presently, the lack of uniformity among manufacturers and across state borders has made the practice of open dating confusing and misleading for consumers, retailers and the government. This book addresses these issues, and provides scientific and legal background to both evaluate and influence federally-regulated open-dating legislation in this country

Abstract: Open shelf-life dating means the use of comprehensible terms such as day, month, and year as an indication of when food was packaged or by when it should beused or sold. A survey revealed that 96 percent of consumers were concerned about food freshness; however, their awareness and comprehension of open dates varied considerably. The benefits of open dating concern food quality, nutrition, food safety, inventory, and education. The types of open dates are: date of pack or manufacture, pull date or sell-by date, best-if-used-by date, expiration or use-by date, or combination of the first four. Food shelf-life is dependent on time and environmental factors. The three alternative open dating systems are: voluntary, mandatory, and voluntary/mandatory. Enforcement and liability would depend on the system used, but Federal and state inspection systems would routinely survey the market. Various congressional options for open dating as well as technical information and the status of open dating in foreign countries are discussed.

Foodborne illness is a big problem. Wash those chicken breasts, and you’re likely to spread Salmonella to your countertops, kitchen towels, and other foods nearby. Even salad greens can become biohazards when toxic strains of E. coli inhabit the water used to irrigate crops. All told, contaminated food causes 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year in the United States. With Outbreak, Timothy D. Lytton provides an up-to-date history and analysis of the US food safety system. He pays particular attention to important but frequently overlooked elements of the system, including private audits and liability insurance. Lytton chronicles efforts dating back to the 1800s to combat widespread contamination by pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella that have become frighteningly familiar to consumers. Over time, deadly foodborne illness outbreaks caused by infected milk, poison hamburgers, and tainted spinach have spurred steady scientific and technological advances in food safety. Nevertheless, problems persist. Inadequate agency budgets restrict the reach of government regulation. Pressure from consumers to keep prices down constrains industry investments in safety. The limits of scientific knowledge leave experts unable to assess policies’ effectiveness and whether measures designed to reduce contamination have actually improved public health. Outbreak offers practical reforms that will strengthen the food safety system’s capacity to learn from its mistakes and identify cost-effective food safety efforts capable of producing measurable public health benefits.

The Bad Bug Book 2nd Edition, released in 2012, provides current information about the major known agents that cause foodborne illness.Each chapter in this book is about a pathogen—a bacterium, virus, or parasite—or a natural toxin that can contaminate food and cause illness. The book contains scientific and technical information about the major pathogens that cause these kinds of illnesses.A separate “consumer box” in each chapter provides non-technical information, in everyday language. The boxes describe plainly what can make you sick and, more important, how to prevent it.The information provided in this handbook is abbreviated and general in nature, and is intended for practical use. It is not intended to be a comprehensive scientific or clinical reference.The Bad Bug Book is published by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Food Packaging: Principles and Practice, Third Edition presents a comprehensive and accessible discussion of food packaging principles and their applications. Integrating concepts from chemistry, microbiology, and engineering, it continues in the tradition of its bestselling predecessors and has been completely revised to include new, updated, and expanded content and provide a detailed overview of contemporary food packaging technologies. Features Covers the packaging requirements of all major food groups Includes new chapters on food packaging closures and sealing systems, as well as optical, mechanical, and barrier properties of thermoplastic polymers Provides the latest information on new and active packaging technologies Offers guidance on the design and analysis of shelf life experiments and the shelf life estimation of foods Discusses the latest details on food contact materials including those of public interest such as BPA and phthalates in foods Devotes extensive space to the discussion of edible, biobased and biodegradable food packaging materials An in-depth exploration of the field, Food Packaging: Principles and Practice includes all-new worked examples and reflects the latest research and future hot topics. Comprehensively researched with more than 1000 references and generously illustrated, this book will serve students and industry professionals, regardless of their level or background, as an outstanding learning and reference work for their professional preparation and practice.