Close Only Counts In Horseshoes And Hand Grenades: Emerging Food Safety Technologies
Technological advancements have exploded in recent history. From the internet to non-invasive surgical techniques to credit card size cell phones, we have progressed further in the last fifty years than the rest of history combined. With the exception of purchasing state of the art electronics that are often obsolete by the time they are opened, such advancements have been exciting and made our lives much easier.
Despite great leaps, however, the threat of contracting a food-borne illness does, and may always, exist. Because harmful bacteria can be introduced at any point from farm to fork (or, as I say, from "crop to court"), the fight against existing and emerging organisms remains extraordinarily complex. In turn, the best scientific minds in the world are working feverishly (pun intended), even as you read this, to develop new methods aimed at protecting our food supply from these resilient food-borne pathogens.
Although it seems today that the prevalent and favored practice is indiscriminately to attack and criticize the food industry, it must be recognized that food safety professionals and the companies they work for have in recent years made substantial strides. From irradiation (still waiting for consumer acceptance) to high-pressure pasteurization to the creative use of nanotechnology, new interventions are continually being developed to improve the safety of our food.
These and other developments merely highlight the technological advances in food safety within the last few years and months. The food safety technology business is rapidly growing and, to the extent we can figure out this internet thing, we will continue to keep you abreast of the latest innovations.
