Audits of commissaries, central kitchens and other off-site facilities that provide prepared foods and other value-added products to retail grocery stores are typically not as in-depth as audits of typical grocery suppliers, says Tyler Williams, vice president of operations for St. Louis-based ASI LLC.
The devastating 2018 E. coli outbreaks linked to California-grown romaine lettuce drove home the point yet again: food safety is job No. 1 for growers, processors and marketers of bagged salads.
The most important service provided by the nation’s supermarkets is the delivery of safe food to its customers. When there’s a recall — and, given the nature of the business, they can’t be avoided — that bond of trust between grocer and consumer is threatened.