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*	 Handwashing,
*	 Assembly of raw or ready-to-eat products using
protective gloves,
*	 Reporting an illness to a manager or person in charge,
*	 Reporting employee illnesses to local health
departments,
*	 Prevention of cross-contamination and cross contact
within a facility,
*	 Cleaning and sanitation procedures for each department
and piece of equipment in a facility (i.e., deli slicer,
produce bins, bathrooms, etc.),
*	 Calibration and sanitization of food thermometers,
*	 Refrigerated or frozen storage of raw poultry, raw meat,
and ready-to-eat foods,
*	 Avoiding temperature abuse during preparation, coldholding, and hot-holding activities,
*	 Reviewing traffic and product flows (purchase, delivery,
receiving and storage, preparation, display, and sale) to
ensure food safety,
*	 Responding to a diarrheal or vomitus event within a facility,
*	 Separating raw, ready-to-eat, and chemical supply items
in a shopper's grocery bag, and
*	 Conducting a mock recall.
Text AI: informational and operational consistency
Retailers are investing in new information technology
and database management systems to collect, store, and
share food safety information. Consistency of food safety
information and practices between physical and digital
platforms allows retailers to meet shoppers' ever-increasing
personalized needs and participate in multistate recall
and outbreak response. Text AI services can improve
omnichannel consistency by powering internal or industrywide databases in various ways:
*	 Preventing recalled products being sold to consumers in
online and brick-and-mortar marketplaces
*	 Predicting food recalls based on online reviews of the
product
*	 Reducing allergen misbranding and ensuring correct
labeling of bakery products
*	 Categorizing and/or responding to consumer
complaints
*	 Translating food safety information and food labels
from international suppliers
*	 Facilitating visual quality assurance inspections, and
*	 Digitizing traceability of fresh produce using key data
elements and critical tracking events from pallet labels
to bills of lading or advance shipment notices.
Interactive AI: personal food safety assistants
Customers are increasingly using voice assistant devices
and chatbots to help them with their grocery or food service
shopping needs, as well as in their home kitchens to access
information and set reminders (19). Similarly, retailers can

improve their in-store food safety operations by leveraging
interactive AI tools as personal food safety assistants to reach
their employees, suppliers, and consumers in various ways:
*	 Determining items included in a food recall
*	 Identifying products that contain major allergens
*	 Suggesting appropriate corrective actions for food safety
deviations in retail food preparation and storage areas
*	 Conducting audits of suppliers or soliciting food safety
information regarding a lot (or lots) of product
*	 Promoting safe food handling for consumers (in multiple
languages) when following or building a recipe, and
*	 Interacting with consumers reporting symptoms of
foodborne illness to improve the detection of outbreaks
and public health efforts.
Analytical AI: predictive analytics
Analytical AI tools can function to create and assemble
data sets or to provide insights from existing data sources
for retail food safety issues. Whether retailers use these tools
for ensuring the safety of their products or cooperating with
outbreak response, retailers need actionable data throughout
the entire supply chain to make risk-based decisions.
Predictive analytics may enhance retail food safety and
decision-making when used in these ways:
*	 To design environmental monitoring programs based on
the likelihood of environmental contamination within
retail delicatessens and fresh preparation areas (22, 24),
*	 To minimize the size and scope of foodborne outbreaks
with "machine-learned epidemiology" capabilities (e.g.,
ML algorithms that use public and private data sources
to facilitate the identification of contaminated food
sources (10, 20)), and
*	 To execute more strategic procurement with improved
supplier risk assessment and supply chain reliability,
transparency, and responsiveness (e.g., to prevent highrisk imports from entering U.S. commerce markets; and
to forecast heightened risk of certain commodities, such
as leafy greens, based on environmental and industry
conditions).
Functional AI: robotics and IoT
Functional AI tools, such as robotics and IoT, connect data
analytics with hardware to turn data into actions, particularly
repetitive, labor-intensive, and/or error-prone tasks. At
retail, robotics and IoT solutions are being explored to do the
following:
*	 Monitor the retail environment for unsanitary surfaces,
incorrect or damaged items on shelves, and potentially
temperature-abused foods
*	 Reduce the risk of norovirus transmission and Listeria
monocytogenes harborage by automating routine
cleaning and sanitizing environmental areas suspected
of contamination

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Food Protection Trends - July/August 2020

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