U.S – The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, a consumer-industry initiative to improve food safety culture across the supply chain, has welcomed four new food safety partners to its initiative namely Consumer Brands Association (CBA), Chipotle Mexican Grill, JBS USA and PepsiCo, Inc.
The Consumer Brands Association, formerly the Grocery Manufacturers Association, is the national trade association for consumer-packaged goods in the United States. The CBA represents companies which manufacture food, beverages, household, and personal care products.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., often known simply as Chipotle, is an American chain of fast casual restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France, specializing in tacos and Mission burritos that are made to order right in front of the customer.
JBS USA is a leading global provider of diversified, high-quality food products, including a portfolio of well-recognized brands and innovative, value-added premium products. In the U.S. they are a leading processor of beef, pork, poultry and prepared foods.
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation with products available in more than 200 countries.
Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness aims to bring leading food companies and consumers personally impacted by food safety failures together to affect positive change.
Launched in 2018 with 10 companies, the alliance now consists of 18 industry partners, including Amazon, Cargill, Conagra Brands, Costco Wholesale, Empirical Foods, The Hershey Co., Kellogg Co., California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA), Nestlé, Maple Leaf Foods, Mars Inc., Walmart, Wegmans and Yum! Brands.
Collaboration to prevent foodborne illnesses
Annually, an estimated 48 million (one in six) Americans experience a foodborne illness. Of these, 128,000 people are hospitalized and 3,000 die.
“Safety must be a central value of our food system. We know a lot of companies are already doing the right thing. We need to continue sharing knowledge and working together to advance food safety culture and modernize food safety policies,” said Vanessa Coffman, Director of the Alliance.
Coffman expressed that the alliance is eager to continue growing its thought leadership and initiatives.
“In the coming months, we will share these collaborative efforts including a free online food safety culture toolkit for small- and medium-sized companies and quarterly FDA-co-hosted webinars,” she said.
The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness is a program of Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP), a national, non-profit public health organization dedicated to the prevention of illness and death from foodborne pathogens.
Founded in 1993 by those impacted by a deadly strain of E. coli, STOP continues to support and represent illness survivors, advance public understanding of foodborne illness and support public policies and industry practices that strengthen prevention.
STOP and the Alliance engage farmers, food companies and food associations to enhance food safety culture measures that go beyond minimum regulations.
“We make it possible for those who might be competitors in the marketplace to collaborate toward the common goal of preventing foodborne illness. The momentum of the Alliance is impressive. We are proud of the work that we have initiated in partnership with industry on behalf of consumers,” said Mitzi Baum, CEO, STOP.
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