Using Innovative Technology to Solve Historic Food Safety Challenges

By Jacki Ross

For decades, the entire food industry has complied with cross-border U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and health and safety requirements to protect all customers, regardless of where they purchase their food. That means that North American food production facilities and restaurants must adhere to the same food safety standards.

While that’s clearly a good thing, globalization and market demand have transformed food production facilities into innovative tech-driven, super-factories while restaurants have largely not kept pace. For years, many restaurants believed that point-of-sale systems and free WiFi represented the height of tech savvy-ness. The use of advanced technology and automation has generally lowered the cost of food, dramatically increasing user demand for non-home cooked meals. In fact, studies suggest that people are eating out at restaurants more than they eat at home. Yet food production’s rapid technological advancements have not translated to the restaurant industry in the same way.