What can you do within your own company to reduce the likelihood that your products will be contaminated with foreign materials and force a recall?

Wishful thinking — we all experience it. But, when it comes to food safety, there is no place for it.

On June 19, the food industry lost a food-safety icon. Dave Theno, 66, unexpectedly died after being struck by a large wave while snorkeling with his grandson in Hawaii.

So far this year, there have already been 33 recalls of FSIS-regulated products because they were misbranded or contained undeclared allergens.

It is critical to remember that, even if you are doing a stellar job appropriately controlling food safety risk within your own facility, if your trim supplier is having problems, those problems will always become your own.

While the FSIS-regulated food industry has directed most of its limited food-safety resources over the last decade toward keeping harmful pathogens out of its food products, the existence of undeclared allergens has become a major issue.

Over the last decade, the food industry’s focused attention on pathogen control has left its flanks woefully unguarded against the introduction of undeclared allergens in finished products.

The approach taken by the departing administration relied for eight years on comprehensive regulations to create a safer food supply. The new administration, led by President Donald Trump, on the other hand, believes complex regulation actually impedes progress.