Processing News Roundup May 2026: FDA Food Safety Priorities, Top Trends at interpack, Royal Avebe Electrifies

Hi, I’m Casey Flanagan with ProFood World, and here are five topics you won’t want to miss from the month of May.

First, we looked at the FDA’s current food safety priorities for 2026. The agency’s Human Foods Program is emphasizing pathogen prevention, traceability, and environmental monitoring, so manufacturers should be prepared to demonstrate that their food safety controls are effective and working as intended.

Next, we covered how DrinkPAK is scaling high-speed beverage production with integrated automation from Siemens. At its Fort Worth facility, DrinkPAK is using process control, energy management, and automated material handling to support production speeds of up to 3,000 cans per minute.

We also shared a video discussion from interpack 2026 in Düsseldorf, where I talked with Packaging World's Matt Reynolds and ProFood World's Derrick Teal about some of the trends we saw on the show floor. This installment covers space-saving machinery, cool-running magnetic drives, and algorithm-based check weighing, and it’s and it's one of four end-of-day chats we've posted from the show.

Another story looked at how processors are adapting as state ingredient bans create uncertainty around additives and synthetic dyes. It covers how automation, machine learning, and digital tools are helping manufacturers to keep up with changing regulations.

And finally, we covered how Royal Avebe is electrifying operations without needing a grid expansion. The company partnered with Schneider Electric at its Foxhol facility in the Netherlands, using digital energy management and real-time load control to improve efficiency while staying within its existing grid limits.

You can find each of these stories linked here or on ProFoodWorld.com. To stay up to date on the latest processing news and insights, don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Thanks for watching.