Table Talk: Food Safety and Tech News – May 2026
Welcome to the Table!
As we move further into the spring season, food systems across the country continue to operate at an increasingly dynamic pace. Processing volumes expand, new products enter the market, and facilities adapt to changing environmental conditions and regulatory expectations.
In this evolving landscape, food safety is no longer defined solely by compliance. The focus is shifting toward consistency, control, and scientific defensibility, ensuring that systems not only exist, but perform reliably under real production conditions.
At UMaine Extension, our mission remains the same: to make the science behind safe, high-quality food accessible, practical, and actionable across the entire food system.
In this issue of “Table Talk: Food Safety and Tech,” we focus on advanced HACCP validation, an area receiving increasing attention across both industry and regulatory communities. Recent discussions at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston reinforced a key message: food safety decisions must be supported by evidence, not assumptions.
From validation of critical control points to understanding variability in processing conditions, this issue highlights how processors can strengthen their HACCP systems and move toward more defensible, data-driven approaches.
Whether you work with seafood, meat, poultry, produce, or value-added foods, this issue brings together practical insights and scientific perspectives to support confident decision-making in an increasingly complex food system.
Sincerely,
Gulsun Akdemir Evrendilek, Editor, Table Talk: Food Safety and Tech News
Table of Contents
- 2026 Industry Events and Trainings
- This Month’s “Table Talk.”
- Food Safety Updates, Little Bit of Science
2026 Industry Events and Trainings
Plan Your Calendar: Food Safety, Seafood, Agriculture, and Extension Programs
Maine and Regional Events
Seafood HACCP Training: June 2, Portland, Maine
We are pleased to share that our Seafood HACCP Training will be offered during the first week of June.
This training fulfills FDA requirements under 21 CFR Part 123 and is designed for seafood processors, dealers, and importers responsible for developing and managing HACCP systems.
Participants will gain practical, hands-on experience in hazard analysis, critical control point identification, and development of HACCP plans aligned with federal regulatory expectations.
Only 20 spots are available. Minimum of 10 to hold the class. Participants must have completed Segment I online through Cornell no more than 9 months before attending this Segment II course at UMaine.
Participants will not be admitted into the course without a physical copy of the Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guide, 4th Edition (June 2022), which can be purchased through the University of Florida bookstore.
Each attendee must have a physical copy of the guide. Viewing the guide on a computer is not allowed for class purposes. Refunds/certificates will not be given for not having a physical guide.
To register visit the UMaine Extension Food Safety page.
Preventive Controls for Human Food course: June 10, Providence, Rhode Island
URI is hosting an in-person, Part 2 of the Preventive Controls for Human Food course in Providence, Rhode Islandon June 10, 2026.
The blended course consists of two parts. Part 1 is online (asynchronous, no lead instructor present) and is offered by FSPCA. Part 2 is Instructor-led, delivered by Human Food V2.0 Lead Instructors trained by FSPCA. Both parts must be completed to obtain an FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food V2.0 participant certificate of training for completing the course.
The course helps meet the training requirements set by the Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-based Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation (referred to as the Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation).
For information about the course and format, visit the Food Safety Preventive Control Alliance Page. If you have questions, please reach out to nicolerichard@uri.edu
Seafood Expo North America / Seafood Processing North America: Highlights
March 15–17, 2026, Boston, Massachusetts
The 2026 Seafood Expo North America, held in Boston, brought together a global network of seafood professionals, processors, suppliers, and regulators, reinforcing its position as one of the most influential seafood industry events in North America.
Key Metrics
- ~20,000+ seafood professionals in attendance
- 1,200+–1,300+ exhibiting companies from approximately 50 countries
- Exhibition space exceeding 240,000 sq. ft.
- Representation across the full supply chain, including processors, importers, exporters, retailers, and equipment providers
Key Takeaways from the 2026 Expo
Several strong themes emerged across technical sessions, exhibits, and industry discussions:
- Increased focus on validation and scientific defensibility in food safety systems
- Growing attention to traceability and digital recordkeeping systems
- Expansion of value-added seafood products and processing technologies
- Continued emphasis on sustainability and supply chain transparency
- Rising interest in rapid detection methods and real-time monitoring tools
The expo reinforced a clear industry direction that food safety systems are moving beyond compliance toward data-driven, verifiable performance. Here are some award-winning new products*:
(Click individual image to enlarge in a lightbox window.)
*Information in this website is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned in this website. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.
National Food Safety, Industry, and Science Conferences
Food Safety Summit
- May 11-14, 2026, Rosemont, Illinois
- Focus: Preventive controls, sanitation validation, environmental monitoring, digital recordkeeping, and traceability readiness.
Aquatic Foods Conference (AFC)
- May 12–14, 2026, Long Island, New York
- Focus: Seafood technology, automation, product development, safety validation, and future innovations.
IFT FIRST Annual Event and Expo
- July 11–15, 2026, Chicago, Illinois
- Focus: Food science innovation, processing technologies, alternative proteins, automation, and AI integration in food systems.
IAFP Annual Meeting (International Association for Food Protection)
- July 26–29, 2026, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Focus: Microbiology, validation science, environmental monitoring, and emerging pathogen research.
World Congress on Electroporation and Pulsed Electric Fields
- September 27 – October 1, 2026, Daytona Beach, Florida
- Focus: Pulsed electric fields (PEF) in food processing and preservation, non-thermal technologies for microbial inactivation, cell membrane permeabilization mechanisms, applications in extraction, pasteurization, and sustainability, cross-disciplinary innovation (food, medicine, biotechnology).
17th Conference on Food Engineering (COFE), Society of Food Engineering (SoFE)
- November 8–11, 2026, Waikoloa, Hawaii
- Focus: Advances in food process engineering, thermal and non-thermal technologies, microbial lethality validation, modeling, scale-up, and innovative processing solutions.
Regulatory and Professional Development
AFDO Food Program Manager Workshop
- May 2026 (webinars) / June 2026 (in-person)
- Focus: Leadership, HR, budgeting, and emergency response.
Import Safety Update
Shrimp, Spices from Indonesia Require New FDA Import Certificate (Article, NNR Global Logistics)
- Effective October 31, 2025
- Focus: New import certification following Cesium-137 contamination findings.
This Month’s “Table Talk”
Program Updates
As workforce development and regulatory expectations continue to shape the food industry, Extension programming remains focused on practical, science-based training that strengthens both HACCP systems and sanitation performance.
This season, our programs continue to expand across sectors, with an increasing emphasis on building not only compliance but also the scientific basis behind food safety decision-making.
Online Food Sanitation Basics: Now Open for Registration
We are pleased to announce that our Online Food Sanitation Basics course is now open for registration.
Food safety starts with strong sanitation. This self-paced course is designed to help participants protect people, products, and processing environments through practical, science-based approaches to sanitation and prerequisite programs.
The course provides a strong foundation in:
- Introduction to Food Safety
- Basic Microbiology
- Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)
- Cleaning and Sanitation Principles
- Safe Use of Cleaners and Sanitizers
- Pest Management
Participants will also gain insight into real-world sanitation systems through Virtual Field Trips inside two commercial kitchens, observing cleaning practices, pest prevention strategies, and compliance systems in action.
What You Will Learn
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Understand Food Safety Fundamentals: Recognize key hazards, including microorganisms, and understand how sanitation controls food safety risks.
- Apply Effective Sanitation Practices: Implement proper cleaning, sanitizing, and GMP procedures to maintain safe processing environments.
- Use Chemicals Safely: Handle and apply cleaning chemicals and sanitizers in a way that protects both product safety and worker health.
- Interpret Regulatory Requirements: Understand sanitation expectations under USDA and FDA regulations and how to prepare for inspections.
- Control Pests and Biofilms: Apply integrated pest management (IPM) strategies and recognize conditions that contribute to biofilm formation.
- Maintain Sanitation Records: Develop and manage sanitation documentation, including schedules and records that demonstrate compliance.
With growing demand for skilled professionals in the food processing industry, this course equips participants with the knowledge and practical understanding needed to support safe, compliant operations.
Upon successful completion, participants earn the UMaine Food Processing Sanitation Micro-Credential Level 1, a valuable credential that demonstrates workforce-ready skills to employers.
The course is fully self-paced, making it an accessible option for processors, food entrepreneurs, and workforce development programs. It also serves as a critical entry point for individuals seeking to build or strengthen prerequisite programs that support effective HACCP systems.
To register, visit the Micro-credentials Food Processing Sanitation page.
Meat and Poultry HACCP Training: Successfully Launched
We are pleased to share that our Meat and Poultry HACCP Training has been successfully launched this spring, with our first session completed in Bangor, Maine.
This training supports processors in meeting USDA-FSIS requirements under 9 CFR Part 417, which requires every official meat and poultry establishment to develop and implement a written HACCP plan. In addition, 9 CFR 417.7 mandates that a trained individual be responsible for the development and reassessment of the HACCP system.
This 2½-day course, delivered through the accredited curriculum of the International HACCP Alliance, fulfills this regulatory training requirement and provides participants with an official certificate upon successful completion.
Recent Training Details
- Dates: March 30–31, 2026 (8:30 AM–5:00 PM) and April 1, 2026 (8:30 AM–12:00 PM)
- Location: University of Maine Cooperative Extension – Penobscot County, 307 Maine Ave., Bangor, ME
- Accreditation: International HACCP Alliance Accredited Course
What Participants Learned
This comprehensive training covers the seven HACCP principles with a specific focus on hazards unique to meat and poultry processing, including:
- Biological hazards (e.g., Salmonella, STEC, Listeria monocytogenes)
- Chemical hazards (residues, allergens, sanitation chemicals)
- Physical hazards (metal fragments, bone, foreign materials)
Participants gained hands-on experience in applying:
- Conducting hazard analysis
- Identifying critical control points (CCPs)
- Establishing critical limits
- Developing HACCP plans aligned with federal inspection requirements
Who Should Attend Future Sessions
- USDA-inspected meat and poultry processors
- Small and very small establishments
- HACCP coordinators
- Plant managers
- QA/QC personnel
- Custom-exempt processors
- Food processors seeking HACCP certification and applied knowledge
Training Insight
Across the first training, a consistent and important theme emerged:
- Identifying hazards is not the primary challenge; demonstrating that they are effectively controlled is.
As a result, current and future training places increased emphasis on:
- Scientific justification of critical limits
- Clear distinction between validation and verification
- Understanding variability in real processing environments
- Building defensible HACCP systems that withstand regulatory review
This training comes at a critical time, as demand for local and regional meat processing continues to grow and regulatory scrutiny remains strong nationwide.
Photo Gallery: Attendees at this Spring’s Meat and Poultry HACCP Training
(Click individual image to enlarge in a lightbox window.)
2026 Food Safety Webinar Series: Ongoing
Our UMaine Extension Food Safety Webinar Series continues as a monthly, expert-led program focused on practical food safety, regulatory compliance, and product innovation across the food system.
Sessions are held virtually and bring together industry experts, regulators, and practitioners to address current challenges and emerging topics in food safety.
The series covers a wide range of applied topics, including:
- Electronic recordkeeping and digital compliance systems
- Workforce training and food safety education
- Chemical application and safety
- Food adulteration and food fraud prevention
- Seafood pathogen detection
- Audit readiness and compliance strategies
- Product development and innovation
- Environmental and air quality control programs
- Alternative protein technologies
Designed for food producers, processors, seafood businesses, QA/QC personnel, regulators, educators, and technical specialists, the series provides practical, real-world insights that can be directly applied in operations, training programs, and regulatory settings.
Participants gain access to actionable strategies, case studies, and tools to support decision-making in an increasingly complex food safety landscape.
2026 Webinar Topics Include:
- June 5: Food Adulteration and Food Fraud Prevention
- July 10: Colorimetric Vibrio Detection
- August 7: Audit Readiness for Small Businesses
- October 9: Product Development and Green Crab Innovation
- November 6: Environmental Air Treatment Programs
- December 4: Alternative Protein Development
Participants can register for upcoming webinars and access recorded sessions at the UMaine Food Safety Webinar series website.
Regulatory Spotlight: From Compliance to Defensibility
As regulatory expectations continue to evolve, a clear shift is emerging across both FDA and USDA-FSIS oversight: compliance alone is no longer sufficient. Increasingly, regulators are focusing on whether food safety systems are scientifically justified, consistently implemented, and capable of performing under real-world conditions.
During inspections, audits, and enforcement actions, three key questions are now central:
- Is the hazard correctly identified?
- Is the control measure scientifically supported?
- Can the system demonstrate consistent performance over time?
This shift places greater emphasis on validation and documentation quality, rather than the mere presence of a HACCP plan.
Validation vs. Verification — A Critical Distinction
A recurring challenge observed across facilities is the confusion between validation and verification:
- Validation demonstrates that a control measure is capable of effectively controlling a hazard (e.g., achieving a required log reduction).
- Verification confirms that the system is operating as intended (e.g., monitoring records, calibration, review activities).
Regulators increasingly expect facilities to clearly distinguish between these concepts and provide scientific evidence supporting critical limits and process parameters.
What This Means for Processors
Facilities should begin asking:
- Do our critical limits have a clear scientific basis?
- Can we explain why a parameter controls a hazard, not just what it is?
- Are validation records available, organized, and defensible during an inspection?
- Does our system perform consistently under production variability?
Moving Toward Defensible Systems
A defensible food safety system is one that:
- Is grounded in scientific evidence
- Accounts for variability in raw materials and processing conditions
- Is supported by clear, accessible documentation
- Can withstand regulatory review without ambiguity
This shift does not necessarily require new systems, but it does require stronger alignment between science, documentation, and execution.
A HACCP plan is no longer judged by its presence, but by its ability to demonstrate control under real production conditions.
Food Safety Updates: Science in Practice
When Critical Limits Fail in Real Production
One of the most common assumptions in HACCP systems is that once a critical limit is established and validated, it will consistently control the hazard under all production conditions.
In reality, processing environments are dynamic. Variability in raw materials, equipment performance, and operational conditions can all influence whether a critical limit truly performs as intended.
Where Variability Comes From
Even well-designed systems are subject to variation:
- Raw material differences (size, composition, initial microbial load)
- Equipment performance fluctuations (temperature distribution, airflow, calibration drift)
- Process conditions (loading patterns, batch size, humidity, time variation)
- Human factors (operator practices, timing inconsistencies)
A process validated under controlled conditions may not fully reflect these real-world variations.
The Risk of “Fixed” Thinking
Many HACCP plans rely on fixed critical limits without considering the range of conditions that occur during production.
For example, A cooking step validated under ideal conditions may achieve the required microbial reduction, but slight deviations in product thickness or equipment performance can reduce lethality below the intended level.
Without accounting for variability, a system may appear compliant while failing to consistently control the hazard.
Moving Toward Robust Critical Limits
To improve reliability, processors should consider:
- Establishing limits based on worst-case scenarios, not average conditions
- Understanding process variability, not just target values
- Evaluating whether limits remain effective across different products and load conditions
- Periodically reassessing validation as processes, equipment, or formulations change
Why This Matters
HACCP is not designed to work under ideal conditions; it must function under real production environments.
A critical limit is only effective if it consistently controls the hazard, not just under validation conditions, but across the full range of operational variability.
Building robust, defensible systems requires moving beyond fixed values toward a deeper, process-level understanding of variability.
When “Clean” Isn’t Safe: Understanding Environmental Monitoring
In many food processing environments, cleanliness is often judged by visual appearance. Equipment may look clean, surfaces may pass routine sanitation checks, and operations may proceed with confidence.
However, visual cleanliness does not always reflect microbiological safety.
The Hidden Risk in Processing Environments
Pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. are capable of surviving in processing environments, particularly in areas that are difficult to clean or frequently exposed to moisture.
These organisms can persist in:
- Drains, floors, and hard-to-reach equipment areas
- Condensation points and overhead structures
- Cracks, joints, and worn surfaces
- Post-lethality environments where contamination risk is highest
In these cases, contamination may not originate from raw materials, but from the environment itself.
Why Environmental Monitoring Matters
Environmental Monitoring Programs (EMPs) are designed to detect the presence of microorganisms in the processing environment before they contaminate the product.
Unlike product testing, which identifies problems after they occur, environmental monitoring provides an early warning system.
A well-designed EMP helps facilities:
- Identify harborage sites
- Evaluate sanitation effectiveness
- Detect trends over time
- Prevent contamination events before they reach the finished product
The Gap Between Cleaning and Control
A surface may be:
- Visually clean
- Recently sanitized
- Free of debris
- …and still harbor microorganisms.
This gap exists because:
- Biofilms protect microorganisms from sanitizers
- Inadequate contact time reduces sanitizer effectiveness
- Recontamination occurs through equipment, employees, or air flow
Moving Toward Proactive Control
To strengthen environmental control, facilities should consider:
- Establishing routine environmental sampling plans
- Targeting high-risk zones (especially post-lethality areas)
- Trending results over time, not just reacting to positives
- Investigating root causes, not just cleaning again
- Integrating EMP findings into HACCP and sanitation programs
Allergen Cross-Contact: The Most Preventable Recall Risk
Food allergens remain one of the leading causes of food recalls, yet they are also among the most preventable hazards when properly managed.
Unlike microbial hazards, allergens are not reduced or eliminated through processing. Their control depends entirely on preventing cross-contact.
Where Cross-Contact Occurs
Allergen cross-contact can occur at multiple points in production:
- Shared equipment without adequate cleaning
- Improper sequencing of allergen and non-allergen products
- Incomplete label control during packaging
- Airborne particulates in certain dry processing environments
- Employee practices and traffic flow
Even small amounts of allergenic material can trigger severe reactions in sensitive individuals.
Why This Risk Is Often Underestimated
Facilities may assume that cleaning procedures are sufficient without verifying their effectiveness.
However:
- Residual proteins may remain after cleaning
- Visual inspection does not confirm allergen removal
- Inconsistent practices increase risk across shifts
Strengthening Allergen Control
Effective allergen management requires:
- Clear identification of allergenic ingredients
- Dedicated or properly validated cleaning procedures
- Production scheduling to minimize cross-contact risk
- Label verification and control systems
- Employee training focused on allergen awareness
Why This Matters
Allergen-related recalls are often preventable and can have significant consequences, including consumer harm, regulatory action, and brand damage.
Controlling allergens is not about detection; it is about preventing unintended presence at every stage of production.
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For more information or questions, contact Gulsun Akdemir Evrendilek, Ph.D., at gulsun.akdemir@maine.edu or 207.581.1378.
University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Table Talk: Food Safety and Tech News was created to be your essential, science-based resource. We will deliver practical, timely information to help you maintain the highest quality and safety standards, covering the entire Maine food system—from field to fork and tide to table. The following UMaine Extension staff members take great care editing content, designing the web and email platforms, and maintaining email lists: Theresa Tilton and Michelle Snowden.
Information in this publication is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.
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