For a brief period this summer, no fresh produce seemed safe. Lettuce, jalapenos, and blueberries were among a steady stream of recalls and food safety alerts that kept consumers on high alert.
Willette M. Crawford, a food science consultant who has spent two decades researching predictive food safety, said AI has become a useful tool for enabling faster, more targeted approaches to outbreaks. She previously helped write regulations for the Food Safety Modernization Act, which shifted the FDA from reactive management of food contamination to a more proactive, preventive approach.
“From a consumer perspective, people see all these recalls and…
