Keeping Food Processing Safe During COVID-19

Pandemic causes food companies to cut back on product offerings to simplify supply chains and meet consumer demand. Labor crisis remains top challenge for industry, as COVID-19 accelerates challenge to make food manufacturing jobs attractive to workers.

Sep 24th, 2020

ProFood World Editor in Chief Joyce Fassl discusses the tools and best practices food and beverage processors can use to cope with the pandemic.

ProFood World Editor in Chief Joyce Fassl discusses the tools and best practices food and beverage processors can use to cope with the pandemic.

As someone who has covered the food and beverage industry for over 30 years, editor-in-chief of ProFood World magazine Joyce Fassl was our obvious first stop to help us sort through the COVID-19 clutter and news, and tell us what’s really going on with food processing during the pandemic. Are they safe? Are they all shutting down because of virus spread? What are the plants doing to keep our workers and our food supply safe?

PACK EXPO Connects Trend Chat

Serialization and the cold chain for new COVID-19 vaccines and treatments—and how food is starting to feel a lot more like pharma regarding regulatory hurdles. PACK EXPO Connects Trend Chat Wednesday, November 11 • 2:30 PM - 3:00 PM CT. More info here.

The Great Global Reset

As consumers shift consumption habits amidst the pandemic, many manufacturers in ProFood World’s Global 250 Food and Beverage Manufacturers list take this moment as a window of opportunity to boost growth of their iconic legacy brands and retail channel.

Many processors are also offering their employees hazard pay and other benefits to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Processors Enhance Safety Protocols to Keep Workers Safe During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Temperature checking, partitions, handwashing stations, and webinars are among the measures taken to ensure safety.

The YIELDAS Front Half Deboning System features unique vision technology that delivers high-yield performance. Photo courtesy of Cantrell Gainco.

Meatpackers Accelerate Automation after Virus, but Lag Behind Overseas Counterparts

Automation would increase food security and improve plant safety, but is the technology affordable during this turbulent economic era?

ProFood World Editor in Chief Joyce Fassl discusses the tools and best practices food and beverage processors can use to cope with the pandemic.

Keeping Food Processing Safe During COVID-19

Pandemic causes food companies to cut back on product offerings to simplify supply chains and meet consumer demand. Labor crisis remains top challenge for industry, as COVID-19 accelerates challenge to make food manufacturing jobs attractive to workers.

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Artificial Intelligence Advances Food Safety

Landing AI is helping food producers overcome not only the limitations of their human workforce but of traditional machine vision as well, using machine learning to better evaluate issues around food safety.

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Workers Wanted? Contact the Robot Employment Agency

Start-up MusashiAI introduces intelligent autonomous robots for quality inspection and forklift driving—allowing the redistribution of human labor to more value-added jobs.

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Stumped about Sustainability during COVID-19?

This two-part series of UnPACKed with PMMI podcasts provides a look at the overarching effect of a global pandemic on packaging sustainability.

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The Pandemic is Shaping the Future Supply Chain

Some of the greatest innovations happen during times of disruption.

Worker wearing the Realwear HMT-1 with augmented reality glasses. Source: Cisco.

Cisco Aids Dairy Farmers of America’s Digital Transformation

To optimize operations and workforce continuity in support of the nation's food supply during the pandemic and beyond, Cisco and system integration firms are installing communication technologies to accelerate the advance of milk product production.

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FDA and OSHA Publish Checklist to Assist Food Industry During COVID-19

Human and animal food operations should use the checklist when assessing operations when re-starting operations after a shut down or when reassessing operations because of changes due to COVID-19.

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OSHA, North American Meat Institute Form Alliance to Keep Workers Safe

During the two-year alliance, participants will develop information on recognizing coronavirus transmission risks and the best practices for preventing its transmission.

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Recalculating for a Better New Normal by Year End

While PPE supplies seem to be under control, current pandemic-related challenges include the ongoing labor crunch, greater demand to produce goods for grocery stores, difficulty in forecasting future production needs—and, now, a can shortage.

Rendering of the Korozon System prototype for HVAC Systems

Industrial Air Purification System for Pathogen Disinfection

Ship & Shore Environmental's Korozon System is innovated to bring peace of mind back to the public amidst the rise of COVID-19 cases.

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Pandemic Causes Shift to New Plant Tools

From pandemic preparedness certification to augmented reality tools, food and beverage manufacturers are embracing new tools. Plus see how Nestlé uses smart glasses to work on complex projects at its facilities during the coronavirus crisis.

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Can Shortages Hit Food and Beverage Industries

Supply chain issues with aluminum, steel, and tin cans are ramping up as COVID-19 changes buying patterns, resulting in a trickle-down effect on product offerings and time-to-market.

COVID-19 Response Boosts Employee Engagement

Bill Schreiber, CEO of Batavia, NY-based O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative, Inc., talks about how his firm’s response to COVID-19 has led to greater employee engagement.

Nestlé and its suppliers are using augmented reality tools, such as smart glasses, to work on complex projects at its facilities across the globe during the coronavirus crisis.

Nestlé Accelerates Use of Augmented Reality Amidst COVID-19

AR provides the remote assistance Nestlé needs to install new production lines, upgrade existing lines, and carry out maintenance safely and efficiently during the pandemic.

Coke Plans to Dump More “Zombie” Brands

In an effort to cut costs, Coca-Cola is cutting underperforming brands, products, flavors and packaging that are not delivering on returns.

Honeywell’s Jason Urso releases a range of remote capabilities during the Honeywell VTech event.

Remote Technologies From Honeywell Enable Continued Operations

Encouraged by the COVID-19 pandemic to push remote capabilities out to a wider swath of industries, Honeywell Process Solutions has released products and services geared toward remote operations, safety, commissioning, lifecycle services, and more.

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CDC Update: COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing

Latest CDC research reports 91 COVID-19 related deaths and more than 17,000 cases across U.S. meat and poultry facilities.

More in COVID-19

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Reports Say Tyson, Other Processors to Replace Meat Cutters with Robots

The ongoing food and beverage manufacturing industry labor crisis combined with the pandemic is behind the need for more automation, including robotics.

Plants should modify processing lines so that workers are at least six feet apart in all directions and do not face each other. Image courtesy of CDC.

New CDC Interim Guidance for Meat and Poultry Workers

Plants should modify processing lines so that workers are at least six feet apart in all directions and do not face each other. A qualified workplace coordinator should be identified who will be responsible for COVID-19 assessment and control planning.

Flowers Foods Brands

Flowers Foods Temporarily Closes Bakery Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

Producer of Nature's Own, Wonder, Tastykake, Dave’s Killer Bread, and other bakery foods shuts down production at facility because of increase in the number of cases at the site.

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Recycling Takes Another Hit During Pandemic, Part II

The Coronavirus pandemic is creating a growing waste crisis even as we see images of the earth’s environment clearing from less pollution. A few months into the crisis, and the numbers are staggering.

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Virtual FAT Guidelines from OpX

The OpX Leadership Network releases best practices and leadership guidelines for executing virtual factory acceptance tests (vFATs), to address the changing operational landscape brought on by COVID-19.

Global Meat Industry Hammered by COVID-19

Meat processing and packaging plants continue to be world-wide coronavirus hot spots.

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Hershey's Unwraps their COVID-19 strategy with employees and suppliers

Hershey’s Josh Becker sat down with PMMI’s Sean Riley to talk about a customer’s perspective on how Hershey is handling visits from suppliers, training and service issues.

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Despite COVID-19 global packaging market expected to grow.

Euromonitor International analysts anticipated growth in 2020 for most key goods categories that use packaging, despite the impact of COVID-19, at Webinar organized by EXPO PACK México and Mundo PMMI.

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Hershey's Expectations for Suppliers during COVID-19

Hershey's Josh Becker explains how the chocolate giant has adapted and what it expects from visitors to its facilities.

During the COVID-19 crisis, Just Made recently experienced a 50% to 60% increase in the sales of its cold-pressed juices, which undergo HPP.

Sales Spike for HPP Products During COVID-19 Pandemic

Consumers in quarantine are snapping up HPP food and beverages because they offer extended shelf life and food safety as they wait out the crisis.

Virtual Townhall entitled “What Does Back to Work Look Like for Field Service Technicians?

Field Service Technician Travel During COVID-19

What does back to work look like for field service technicians who are heading back out into the field?

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OEM COVID-19 #14 - Update on PACK EXPO International and Healthcare Packaging EXPO

PMMI's Laura Thompson shares the latest and greatest on planning for November's event, including variables like virtual and hybrid options.