Qfresh to Attend IFPA Policy and Regulatory Forum in DC April 25-26
QfreshLAB Notes
QFresh Lab to attend The Washington Conference in Washington, DC – June 10th – June 12th, 2024
The Washington Conference is the annual event that unites the fresh produce industry to address our most pressing public policy matters. Members of all segments of the fresh produce supply chain will come together June 10-12 to make their voices heard on key policy and regulatory issues that impact the fresh produce industry such as food safety, nutrition & consumption, workforce, farm bill, trade and more. Demand change and action!
https://www.freshproduce.com/events/the-washington-conference/
QFresh to attend next Farm Foundation® Forum – April 30th, 2024
Join Us for the Next Farm Foundation® Forum: Unwrapping Packaging Regulations Impacting Agricultural Trade and Sustainability featuring Cory Connors ♻️📦, Tamara Muruetagoiena, Jason Grant, Kevin Kelly, and Jeffrey Brandenburg.
This Forum will discuss packaging rules and regulations impacting US growers and companies, specifically looking at packaging in the fruit and vegetable supply chains. As countries and companies look to limit their packaging footprint, this Farm Foundation Forum will explore how proposed regulations might not only impact supply chains and global food and ag trade but also how these impact producers on the ground.
Learn more and register here:
QFresh to Attend Fresh Cut Quality and Safety Training in Chicago, IL – April 23rd – April 24th, 2024
The Produce Quality Training is a two-day workshop that details the science and engineering of fresh-cut produce quality programs, what components should be considered, and its impact on product shelf-life. The workshop is coordinated by IFPA and designed and led by industry and academic subject matter experts: Jeffrey S. Brandenburg, President and CEO, The Q Fresh Lab and the JSB Group Dr. Jeff Brecht, Research Foundation Professor, University of Florida Dr. Trevor Suslow, Consultant, T & K Suslow Consulting LLC Join us for a training that provides an overview of the latest technologies and research around the optimization of quality and safety in fresh cut produce.
Learn more and register here:
https://www.freshproduce.com/resources/food-safety/fresh-cut-quality-and-safety-training/
United Fresh Webinar
Jeff Brandenburg will be speaking on produce perishability and tools to optimize. The webinar is April 20th@2pm EDT. Details and sign-up link below:
United Fresh Produce Association
Given the perishability of many produce items, opportunities to extend shelf life are highly desirable. Join us April 20 for our webinar, Optimizing Produce Quality & Shelf Life: Approaches and Experiences, to explore the factors that affect shelf life, and the tools available to optimize product. Also, you’ll learn the approaches that produce companies took to solve specific perishability issues. https://hubs.li/H0KHKhF0
Webinar speakers:
• Rachel Atkinson- Leach ✔ Category Management Leader, Director of Category and Brand Management, RPE, Inc
• Jeffrey Brandenburg, President, The JSB Group, LLC
• Michael Muzyk, President, Baldor Specialty Foods, Inc., & Chairman of United Fresh’s Board of Directors
Thank you to Ecolab for their support in sponsoring the webinar!
New services of the QFresh Lab
We have recently purchased a tabletop lidding machine, the T100 from MULTIVAC.
This equipment expands our capabilities and allows us to perform lidded clamshell shelf-life tests on your produce with a perforation pattern designed to optimize shelf-life. This machinery also allows for us to utilize active modified atmosphere, where we can gas flush the clamshell at time of pack to extend shelf-life of sensitive items.
We are excited about these new capabilities and the opportunity to improve quality for our customers.
QfreshLAB Notes
From the desk of the QfreshLAB Team—
The importance of quantifying respiration rate (RR):
The QfreshLAB can measure and quantify the respiration of your products at different temperatures and under differing levels of abuse and stress. This allows us to map respiration rate changes under differing conditions. If fresh produce modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), design is attempted and respiration has not been quantified, then shelf life will not be optimized!
After quantifying respiration rate with several different scenarios, we can design a package to optimize shelf-life. The image below shows a comparison of respiration rate and shelf-life between different types of popular produce found in the market.
The higher the respiration rate, in combination with extended shelf, life the greater the need for optimally designed MAP.
