Blog Articles

One of the traditions Americans celebrate during the holiday season is sharing bountiful meals with families and friends, yet some in our society will go hungry despite an enormous amount of food waste in our country.

The centerpiece of many holiday get-togethers is the food shared by family and friends.

Over the years what has been laid out on these merry holiday tables has changed with the prevailing food trends from the Depression Era stable Jell-O salad in the 1930s to innovative use of Spam in the World War II era to the “far out” fondue pots of melted cheese in the 1970s to recent opposites of bacon-in-every-dish to kale salads.

Turkey, the traditional star of the Thanksgiving meal, may be expensive and tough to find in 2022 as the bird flu and other issues are affecting the supply chain.

The September 2022 Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index numbers show that food prices are continuing to rise month-over-month more than three times faster than the general U.S. economy inflation rate.

As the nights become brisker and Halloween spirits sneak into sight, thoughts in the food industry turn toward candy, turkeys, and keeping America’s festive holiday tables fully stocked.

This is also the time of the year when food business experts break out their crystal balls and conjure up what will be the food trends to watch in 2023.

Inventory management is important in every sector of the economy, but when it comes to the food industry, the proper inventory software in place can help manage supply chain logistics, ensure the timely delivery of perishables, and most importantly, safeguard consumers with beginning-to-end traceability.

Fast food restaurant chain Wendy’s has taken the precautionary measure to remove romaine lettuce being used in burgers and sandwiches across six states after an E. coli outbreak.

“Investigators are continuing to collect different types of data to identify the food source of this multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections,” reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a September 1, 2022, update. “A specific food has not yet been confirmed as the source of this outbreak, but many sick people reported eating burgers and sandwiches with romaine lettuce at Wendy’s restaurants before getting sick.”

The food and beverage industry is very competitive so normally it’s great to make the top of any list … except when it comes to the worst food recalls of all time.

That is one list to avoid, but the listeria outbreak at Sara Lee just over two decades ago, unfortunately holds the top spot in the “Eat This, Not That!” rundown published this year of “The 7 Worst Food Recalls of All Time”.

The role of food packaging, and subsequently repacking by wholesale food distributors, helps keep this vital supply chain safe and efficient.

“Think about it, without a regulated system of food packing processes, materials and systems, we would be no further ahead than if we were still in the dark ages,” says dry blending and custom packing company Dure Foods.

If you are a Texan, then you know that Blue Bell ice cream is high on the Lone Star State’s pantheon of beloved brands, sandwiched somewhere between Buc-ee’s and Whataburger.

You might also recall that Blue Bell was at the center of a high profile multi state listeriosis outbreak, a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with one of the 20+ species of the listeria bacteria.