In my first poll ever, and one of the first posts in the LinkedIn Food Safety Tech Transformation group (Food Safety Tech Transformation | Groups | LinkedIn), I asked when the New Era for Smarter Food Safety would become the Old Era. I could only leave it open for 2 weeks: the first 2 weeks this group existed, and it only got 6 votes. So I asked the ~50 or so attendees of a related webinar on the future of food safety. (featuring Frank Yiannas, Tejas Bhatt and Claire Zoellner. ) Here are the results, and my opinion on them:
On the LI poll, 5/6 said it would be 5yrs+ until we reach the New Era; 1 said it would be a few years.
On the webinar these two options were also the top vote getters: 41% felt we were a few years away, and 38% said 5+ years. A minority (7%) said we’ll never reach it because it’s aspirational, while the remaining 14% said we’re already here.
When FDA published the New Era blueprint in 2020 it referenced fairly specific items, so one could conceivably check the boxes and note progress. In fact, FDA continues to list the activities that are in support of the New Era.
But here’s my question: WHY will it take several years to accomplish what the New Era set out? Does the New Era contain a vision of the future like the old Horizons ride at Disney World (providing 9 year old me with a glimpse of what to expect in the 21st century—little of which has actually happened?)? No. I can’t find anything in the Blueprint that is impossible. There is nothing in the Blueprint that needs to wait for the future. Even the Smart Kitchen Equipment (referenced in 3.2 Modernize Traditional Retail Food Safety Approaches) exists today. This is not to say that everything in the New Era is cost effective today. Or that it can be easily implemented (e.g., a few items pertain to confidentiality concerns). But all can theoretically be done today.
A colleague peering into the food industry recently commented that the industry is tracking about 5 years behind the technological capabilities that exist today. That gave me pause. The tools are available. When, if ever, will the food industry adopt them? Based on the poll, about 80% say it will be several years.
Can we predict the future based on the past (I mean, isn’t that what predictive analytics is really about?)? If we rewind 5 years, what’s changed? In my opinion, a lot. Five years ago we were in the throws of COVID, so perhaps its unfair to use this as a gauge, since the pandemic arguably caused abrupt change of incredible magnitude. But it shows that with the right motivation or incentive, rapid change is possible. How many of us had several virtual meetings a day before COVID? How concerned were we with developing virtual backgrounds, getting our lighting just right, and getting our lunch delivered via a 3rd party app given our tight meeting schedules? Voice to text was rather clunky. Now we have automated simultaneous translation on our virtual meetings with AI bots taking notes. Things change.
Just as the New Era didn’t replace FSMA, but built on top of it, I think it would be prudent for the food industry to start looking at what’s beyond the New Era, even if we’re still a few years away from realizing it fully.
Just for fun, I plan on repeating this question about timing of the New Era every few months, and will report back. My hypothesis is that it will approach more quickly than we think.
Learn more about this and other forward leaning food safety topics at: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13083420/