​The FDA has released the long awaited strategic blueprint for the New Era of Smarter Food Safety Initiative, an initiative designed to promote industry collaboration and adoption of technology and other modern tools to create a digital, traceable and smarter food system by 2021. The FDA strategic initiative was launched in 2019 and focuses on four major pillars:

• Tech-Enabled Traceability and Foodborne Outbreak Response
• Smarter Tools and Approaches for Prevention
• Adapting to New Business Models and Retail Food Safety Modernization
• Food Safety Culture

 
The new blueprint elaborates on the four core elements that will be driving the initiative, in addition to stating the values and principles the FDA aims to advance through their work. Building on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which focuses on preventing food-borne illnesses rather than purely responding by tracing back from foodborne outbreaks.  In the months since the launch of this new initiative, there has been a public meeting, as well as an opportunity for public comment on the FDA’s design and approach.
 
AIM North America supports these efforts to create a safer, digital, and traceable food supply chain. The use of asset tracking technologies such as barcodes, RFID, RTLS, and IoT, enable traceability systems to identify contaminated foods, trace them to their origin, and to implement a strategic recall both addressing the issue and minimizing the supply chain impact.  Enabling the digital food supply chain will both boost the confidence of the consumer while reducing supply chain costs.
 
“Implementation of asset tracking technologies can harmonize the food supply chain visibility from farm to table,” stated Mary Lou Bosco, COO AIM North America. “The retail industry has been utilizing these technologies for decades to reduce waste, provide accurate inventory management, and maximize efficiencies.”
 
AIM North America also submitted comments to the FDA General Principles for Food Standards Modernization which would establish a set of general principles for food standards for FDA to use when considering whether to establish, revise, or eliminate a food standard. Read AIM NA’s submitted comments here.
 
For more information on how you can get involved, fill out our form or email AIM NA. 

AIM North America submitted comments to the FDA General Principles for Food Standards Modernization which would establish a set of general principals for food standards for FDA to use when considering whether to establish, revise, or eliminate a food standard. Read AIM NA’s submitted comments here. 

For more information on how you can get involved, fill out our form or email AIM NA. 

AIM North America has introduced a new model of work groups and those specific vertical-based chairmen have been announced in the process.
 
July 9, 2020 – Pittsburgh, PA - AIM North America has made the decision to regroup their Subject Matter Experts to head up more niche vertical industry work groups. The object of these factions will be to advance and grow the use of AIDC technologies and standards within the following areas: Food Supply Chain, Cannabis, Pharmaceutical, and UDI in Healthcare. Within all of these verticals, there will be FDA regulation components to better plan and develop relationships and partnerships. The following SMEs have been recognized as chairs for their appropriate channel:
 
Patricia Blessing is the Vice President of Business Development at the CAVU Group, based out of Dayton, Ohio. Ms. Blessing works closely with customers in the Life Sciences, Healthcare, Medical Devices, and Diagnostics realms to solve today’s rapidly changing thermal management and monitoring needs, using advanced sensor technologies, including thermo-chromatic inks, RFID, PCM-based electronics, loggers, specialty packaging, and more. Her primary focus is the enablement of business process improvement to protect high-value assets in the supply chain. She currently sits on the AIM’s Board and chairs the AIM NA UDI Work Group.

• UDI Work Group – The AIM NA UDI Workgroup continues to be proactive in providing guidance, support, and resources to assure that UDI is understood by both the manufacturing and user community. ‘Track and Trace’ has profound implications for the patient and as a supplier to the medical device industry, the standards are critical in AIM’s industry.

 
Elizabeth Sinclair is the Director of Marketing for BarTender® software. She works with end users and partners to enable consumer confidence, supply chain efficiencies, and regulatory compliance through the deployment of AIDC in industries including aerospace, food, pharma, medical devices, and chemical manufacturing.

• Cannabis Work Group – The Cannabis industry is establishing protocols and processes in response to a rapidly shifting global regulatory and consumer landscape. The new workgroup will leverage the experience gained working with established regulated industries in meeting seed-to-sale traceability and labeling requirements for growers, processors and retailers in Cannabis and CBD processing.

 
 Lori Bitar joins us from Massachusetts where she operates as a Market Development Manager at FLEXcon. Lori’s work essentially focuses on the growth of PSA materials used in the medical device and pharmaceutical markets, both in domestic and global environments. She also has acquired an extended background in Plastics, Polymer and Adhesives as well.

• Pharma Work Group – The Pharmaceutical industry touches upon all of us to some extent. Lori’s infectious quest for acquiring deeper insight and channel-related news into the emerging technological advances impacting the healthcare field will be brought into fruition throughout the duration of this group’s existence. She challenges users to learn more about AIDC and how it can advance the lives of those around us.

 
Jeanne Duckett leads traceability initiatives for Avery Dennison Printer Systems from source to consumer, touching on Blockchain, Edge and Fog Processing, trigger development including 2D Systems, RFID, NFC, and Bluetooth. Jeanne is an industry recognized expert in all things traceability, holding multiple patents in imaging, RFID Handling, and Food Systems Design. She is a lifetime member of the AIDC 100 and she has provided expert testimony to the FDA, AIM Inc., and GS1 inter-industry organizations, while still sitting upon the AIM NA Board of Directors. Jeanne is a frequent speaker at industry-related events including Pack Expo, GS1, RFID Journal Live, Summer Institute on AIDC, and various restaurant shows. Most recently she spearheaded the widely recognized Era of Smarter Food Safety webinar series, linking the technology world with food safety specialists.

• Food Supply Chain Work Group – Smarter Food Safety is more than just technology-based; leadership and creativity are introduced as well. Smarter Food Safety is people-led, FSMA-based, and technology-enabled. The goal is to bring ubiquitous food transparency to every part of the food chain, from producer to consumer. Providing insights into product’s fit for purpose reasons, individual health needs, and provenance, so you’ll never need to wonder if a product is organic or not. 

 
“I’m grateful to these four individuals for stepping up to lead these important Work Groups,” said AIM North America Board Chair Debangana Mukherjee. “The timing couldn’t be better. We’re at a unique moment for the automatic data capture industry where the demand for digitization of supply chains is accelerating. These Work Groups will help shape that connected future.”