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freyrnigeria · 28 days ago

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The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was enacted into law by the United States government in 2011 and is enforced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is the most extensive revision of food safety laws since the middle of the 1930s. The primary goal of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is to focus on proactive preventative controls rather than reactive measures taken after contamination has occurred. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) aims to improve food safety throughout the food supply chain for the benefit of public health. The general FSMA requirements and their effect on the food industry will be the subject of this blog.

Preventive Controls for Food for People and Animals It is also based on preventative controls. All registered food facilities are required by law to keep thorough, scientific controls over food safety hazards. Food producers are required to:

Write plans for food safety and put them into action, like a Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) plan. Identify biological, chemical, or physical contaminants as potential threats to food safety. Take preventative measures. Keep an eye on how well these controls work. Make restorative moves when preventive controls are not effective. Food organizations should likewise archive and keep up with records exhibiting consistence with these prerequisites. All types of food are protected from foodborne illness and other safety hazards by the preventive measures outlined in the Preventive Controls Rule, which are applicable to both human food (21 CFR Part 117) and animal food (21 CFR Part 507).

Under FSMA regulations, food companies are also required to document and maintain records demonstrating compliance with these requirements. Records must be kept for at least two years. The preventive estimates illustrated in the law apply not exclusively to human food yet additionally stretch out to creature food, shielding a wide range of food from security perils.

Safe Principles for Developing, Reaping, Pressing and Holding Produce The Produce Security Rule (21 CFR Section 112) under FSMA lays out safe practices for the developing, reaping, pressing, and holding of foods grown from the ground planned for human utilization, explicitly those ate crude. The following key areas are emphasized to ensure that best practices are followed:

Rural Water: All irrigation and washing water for fruits and vegetables must be safe and clean. Natural Soil Corrections: To reduce the risk of contamination, management procedures for compost and manure are required. Laborer Cleanliness: To avoid contamination, workers must adhere to hygiene practices like washing their hands properly and wearing protective gear. Materials and Tools: Cleaning and upkeep of produce handling tools and equipment is essential. These guidelines are intended to lessen the gamble of defilement and foodborne sicknesses at the homestead level, explicitly tending to the interesting dangers related with new produce.

The FSMA established a Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) in light of globalization to ensure that imported foods meet U.S. safety standards. Food importers must ensure that their foreign suppliers produce food that complies with the same safety requirements as domestic producers. The two principal components of FSVP include:

Danger examination of imported food sources Assessment and endorsement of providers. Audits and tests, among other forms of verification, are routinely carried out. This program guarantees security for imported food varieties since merchants are obligated for confirmation of the organizations from which they acquire their providers to guarantee that these organizations adjust to the FDA sanitation principles.

Accredited Third-Party Certification To support the expanding import of food, the FSMA has established an accredited third-party certification system. Foreign food facilities can have auditors from accredited third parties verify compliance with U.S. food safety standards through this system. The import procedure is streamlined by this accreditation, ensuring that food entering the United States satisfies FSMA's stringent safety requirements.

The outsider accreditation is especially useful for providers planning to take part in the FDA's Deliberate Qualified Merchant Program (VQIP), which considers sped up section of items from ensured unfamiliar providers. Although certification is not required, it helps importers demonstrate high food safety and compliance standards.

Protection Against Intentional Adulteration The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) also requires food establishments to assess and address any potential dangers of intentional adulteration, including terrorism. The rule concentrates on:

identifying significant food production process weaknesses. protecting against intentional adulteration by putting mitigation strategies into action. Introduce observing and restorative activity plans when there are purposeful impurities. By addressing potential risks of intentional contamination, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) ensures that food manufacturers can safeguard the food supply from both accidental and intentional contaminants.

Clean Transportation of Food FSMA has rules that straightforwardly indicate sterile transportation of food varieties. The guidelines are essentially pointed toward keeping away from food from getting polluted during transportation. The following are some key areas in this regard:

Refrigeration of transient items. It will not be allowed for raw and cooked foods to cross-contaminate each other. Train transport employees to keep the vehicles clean and service them before use. For food to be safe and healthy when it reaches the grocery store shelves, it needs to be guaranteed at every point, from the farms to several points in the supply chain.

Food Guard and Assurance Plans FSMA forces a prerequisite of food protection plans. Once more, this is security for the human food and creature feed supply from purposeful corruption and other sort of dangers. The following must be done by food establishments:

Perform vulnerability assessments to determine which supply chain points are most at risk. Create methods for reducing threats. Put in place procedures for monitoring and verifying food defense.

This makes sure that the food supply in the United States is safe from terrorism and sabotage that could hurt public health and national security.

Traceability and Recordkeeping The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has enhanced food producers' traceability and recordkeeping. Now, companies must have: in order to identify and resolve food safety incidents more quickly.

Records of definite cycle data concerning their creation, including fixing obtaining and conveyance chains. Facilitate efficient traceability in order to expedite the recall of contaminated products. By quickly locating the sources of contamination and further lowering the costs of food recalls, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) reduces the likelihood of foodborne diseases reaching pandemic proportions.

End The Sanitation Modernization Act (FSMA) addresses a critical change in food handling guidelines, progressing from a responsive to a proactive methodology. This extensive regulation incorporates the whole food store network, from ranches and handling offices to merchants.

For organizations in the food business, consistence with FSMA is fundamental, with explicit cutoff times laid out for meeting different prerequisites. Underscoring the seriousness of adhering to these regulations, noncompliance can result in substantial fines. Freyr's administrative specialists help organizations in understanding and executing the perplexing preventive controls and recordkeeping necessities that can be overpowering for some associations.

Importers benefit greatly from third-party certification, which demonstrates a commitment to high food safety standards and is voluntary. Compliance ensures ethical responsibility for protecting public health in addition to legal obligations.

Freyr's expertise can simplify the process for businesses navigating these regulatory obstacles. Freyr contributes to smooth FSMA compliance by developing food safety plans and implementing supplier verification programs, safeguarding both the business and its customers.

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aebetako · 1 month ago

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The United States Listeria Outbreak from Boar's Head Raises Questions About Food Safety Regulation

In recent developments, newly released documents from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have brought to light the deplorable conditions within the Boar's Head factory in Jarratt, Virginia—a facility now at the heart of a major Listeria outbreak. The revelations have sparked widespread criticism of the USDA's effectiveness in overseeing food safety, particularly given the factory's numerous violations over the past year. #Listeria Outbreak #Boar's Head #Food Safety Regulation #The United States

The Washington Post reported that the factory, which has since been temporarily closed, exhibited alarming environmental conditions prior to the outbreak. Meat contaminated with insects, dirty machinery, leaking water pipes, mold growth, and pools of blood on the floor were among the issues documented by USDA inspectors. Despite recording 69 instances of non-compliance with federal food safety regulations over the past year, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) failed to take any enforcement actions against the facility. #Listeria Outbreak #Boar's Head #Food Safety Regulation #The United States

Former U.S. food safety officials and experts have questioned the adequacy of current inspection methods and the timeliness of regulatory responses. Gerald Mandell, a former safety official, pointed out that most inspections rely heavily on visual and olfactory assessments rather than real-time bacterial testing. Barbara Kowalcyk, a public health expert from George Washington University, asked rhetorically, "Why didn't management act sooner? Why didn't regulators act sooner?" #Listeria Outbreak #Boar's Head #Food Safety Regulation #The United States

The outbreak, which began in July 2024, resulted in the recall of approximately 7 million pounds of products distributed across the United States and exported to countries such as the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that the outbreak has led to at least nine deaths and 57 hospitalizations across multiple states, marking it as the largest Listeria outbreak since 2011.

This incident exposes several shortcomings within the American regulatory framework concerning food safety: #Listeria Outbreak #Boar's Head #Food Safety Regulation #The United States

Firstly, there is an evident gap in the regulatory oversight of food production facilities. Despite repeated warnings and recorded violations, the Boar's Head factory continued to operate without significant intervention. This suggests a need for more proactive measures and stricter enforcement policies.

Secondly, the reliance on outdated inspection methodologies raises concerns about the adequacy of current practices. The absence of modern detection technologies means that potential hazards may go unnoticed until they reach crisis levels. #Listeria Outbreak #Boar's Head #Food Safety Regulation #The United States

Lastly, there appears to be a disconnect between the severity of infractions and the corresponding regulatory response. While numerous violations were logged, the absence of timely corrective actions points to a broader issue of regulatory inertia.

The Boar's Head incident serves as a stark reminder of the critical role played by robust regulatory frameworks in safeguarding public health. It underscores the necessity for continuous improvement in inspection techniques and a more stringent approach to enforcing compliance with established food safety standards. As the investigation continues, it is hoped that these lessons will be heeded, leading to systemic reforms aimed at preventing such outbreaks in the future. #Listeria Outbreak #Boar's Head #Food Safety Regulation #The United States

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industrynewsupdates · 3 months ago

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Uncovering Opportunities in Cold Chain Logistics Procurement Intelligence

The cold chain logistics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.9% from 2024 to 2030. The worldwide increase in demand for perishable items which are required to be stored and transported at an appropriate temperature to maintain their freshness and quality has led to the increase in demand for these services. Good cold chain logistics networks, which involve effective collaboration between suppliers, transportation providers, and customs officials to ensure timely delivery and compliance with international standards, are crucial in meeting the demand for fresh items across borders. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 is responsible for the majority of cold chain logistics operations. This law has increased the Food and Drug Administration's control over product handling and transportation from the manufacturer to the store to the customer. The law requires shippers, loaders, motor or rail vehicle carriers, and receivers of these perishable items to employ sanitary practices to assure the food's safety.

Technologies such as RFID tags and blockchain are used in this category. DHL tracks the movement of temperature-sensitive goods across the supply chain using RFID tags. It can be used to ensure the integrity of shipments. This is because RFID tags can be used to verify the authenticity of goods and to detect any tampering. These tags can resist the extreme conditions of the cold chain since they are more robust than barcodes. They can be used to track products in real-time, assisting in preventing loss or misplacing and ensuring that they arrive at their destination on schedule. FedEx uses blockchain to monitor the supply-chain movement of goods that are sensitive to temperature. This makes it easier to make sure that the goods are undamaged and continue to be at the right temperature. It alsoprovides transparency into the cold chain process, which means that all stakeholders in the supply chain can see the data and track the movement of the products.

This category is a highly fragmented industry, with a large number of small and medium-sized businesses that operate in this sector. The industry is characterized by a diverse range of companies including logistics providers, temperature-controlled packaging manufacturers, and refrigeration equipment suppliers. It is difficult to develop and maintain temperature-sensitive transportation that requires specialized equipment, facilities, and expertise. The risk of foodborne illness and product deterioration can be prevented by the cold chain process. This is because there are greater chances for things to be tampered with or affected by temperature changes.

Order your copy of the Cold Chain Logistics Procurement Intelligence Report, 2024 - 2030, published by Grand View Research, to get more details regarding day one, quick wins, portfolio analysis, key negotiation strategies of key suppliers, and low-cost/best-cost sourcing analysis

Businesses generally use cost-plus pricing method that involves adding a markup to the cost of providing the service, which is typically based on the cost of transporting goods, as well as any additional expenses incurred by the logistics provider. The logistics provider frequently decides on the markup based on their intended profit margin and takes into account the industry's competitive environment. The equipment cost, which includes refrigeration units and temperature monitoring devices needed to preserve the integrity of temperature-sensitive commodities during transit, makes up the majority of the cost components in this category. Cost of labor, which includes paying employees to handle and transport commodities. The average labor cost range between USD 25 - USD 30 per hour. A typical refrigerated truck costs roughly around USD 170,000 and the price rises as the size and dimensions increase.

Due to the wide variety of items that need to be transported and stored at a controlled temperature, the United States is a significant market for cold chain logistics. This includes pharmaceuticals, fresh food, and medical supplies. They have a proven track record of innovation in the field of cold chain logistics, having created innovations like temperature-controlled cars and IoT. The recent rapid economic expansion in China has increased the demand for products in this category. The middle class in the nation is expanding quickly, and customers are reaching for more and more high-quality, fresh foods. The growth of this industry is being supported by the Chinese government. In order to encourage the use of cold chain logistics, the government has invested in the development of cold storage facilities and implemented legislation. The best sourcing practice in this category is to work with suppliers who have the expertise and resources to handle cold chain products and a good track record of maintaining the required temperature ranges throughout the supply chain. It is also important to have a contingency plan in place to mitigate any disruptions and ensure the quality and safety of the products being transported.

Cold Chain Logistics Procurement Intelligence Report Scope

• Cold Chain Logistics Market Growth Rate: CAGR of 18.9% from 2024 to 2030

• Pricing growth Outlook: 9 - 10% (Annual)

• Pricing Models: Cost plus pricing model and value-based pricing model

• Supplier Selection Scope: Cost and pricing, Past engagements, Productivity, Geographical presence

• Supplier selection criteria: Customer service, price, delivery time, flexibility, reliability, experience, technical specifications, operational capabilities, regulatory standards and mandates, category innovations, and others.

• Report Coverage: Revenue forecast, supplier ranking, supplier matrix, emerging technology, pricing models, cost structure, competitive landscape, growth factors, trends, engagement, and operating model

Browse through Grand View Research’s collection of procurement intelligence studies:

• Supply Chain Insurance Procurement Intelligence Report, 2023 - 2030 (Revenue Forecast, Supplier Ranking & Matrix, Emerging Technologies, Pricing Models, Cost Structure, Engagement & Operating Model, Competitive Landscape)

• Industrial Robotics Procurement Intelligence Report, 2023 - 2030 (Revenue Forecast, Supplier Ranking & Matrix, Emerging Technologies, Pricing Models, Cost Structure, Engagement & Operating Model, Competitive Landscape)

Key companies profiled

• FedEx

• DHL

• CMA CGM

• Maersk

• Kuehne Nagel

• Americold Logistics

• XPO Logistics

• Safmarine

• Evergreen Line

• CH Robinson Worldwide

Brief about Pipeline by Grand View Research:

A smart and effective supply chain is essential for growth in any organization. Pipeline division at Grand View Research provides detailed insights on every aspect of supply chain, which helps in efficient procurement decisions.

Our services include (not limited to):

• Market Intelligence involving – market size and forecast, growth factors, and driving trends

• Price and Cost Intelligence – pricing models adopted for the category, total cost of ownerships

• Supplier Intelligence – rich insight on supplier landscape, and identifies suppliers who are dominating, emerging, lounging, and specializing

• Sourcing / Procurement Intelligence – best practices followed in the industry, identifying standard KPIs and SLAs, peer analysis, negotiation strategies to be utilized with the suppliers, and best suited countries for sourcing to minimize supply chain disruptions

#Cold Chain Logistics Procurement Intelligence #Cold Chain Logistics Procurement #Procurement Intelligence #Cold Chain Logistics Market #Cold Chain Logistics Industry

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tritonmarketresearchamey · 3 months ago

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Navigating Food Safety: Key Regulations & Best Practices

Ensuring food safety isn't only a matter of quality—it is a cornerstone of public health worldwide. Each year, millions suffer from foodborne illnesses caused by contaminated food, highlighting the critical necessity for stringent safety measures across the entire food supply chain. Central to maintaining these standards are comprehensive food safety regulations. Governments and international bodies establish rigorous guidelines to ensure safe practices in food production, processing, distribution, and preparation. These regulations include essential protocols such as maintaining hygiene standards, following sanitation practices, controlling temperatures, and rigorously monitoring food handling procedures for preventing foodborne illnesses.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 600 million people fall sick annually owing to soiled food. Tragically, 420,000 individuals lose their lives each year as a result, leading to the loss of 33 million healthy life years. Furthermore, the economic impact is staggering, with approximately $110 billion lost annually in productivity and medical expenses in low- and middle-income countries due to unsafe food.

In this blog, we will explore the intricate landscape of food safety and regulation, from focal regulatory bodies to emerging technologies and cold storage solutions.

Farm-To-Table: Ensuring Food Safety Across the Supply Chain

Lapses in food safety can have grave consequences, as evidenced by several notable outbreaks. In 2011, a listeria outbreak traced back to contaminated cantaloupes from a Colorado farm led to 33 deaths and hospitalized over 140 individuals. Similarly, Foster Farms, a chicken producer in California, was linked to a Salmonella outbreak that affected 634 people across 29 states and Puerto Rico.

The company had to recall all its chicken products to prevent further illness. These incidents underscore the critical importance of ensuring food safety at every stage.

The farm-to-table approach is essential for safeguarding public health by ensuring food supply chain safety. From the initial stages of production through processing, distribution, and consumption, each step presents potential risks that must be mitigated with stringent safety measures. It requires farmers, processors, distributors, and retailers to adhere rigorously to regulations.

In this regard, modern food safety technology is transforming the way restaurants uphold food quality and safety. For example, Bluetooth thermometers enable remote temperature monitoring via smartphones or tablets, reducing manual checks and ensuring safe food storage and cooking. IoT sensors also offer real-time monitoring of temperature and humidity, alerting managers to any irregularities. Digital software platforms streamline operations by integrating automated temperature checks, allergen tracking, and task management, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. These systems continuously monitor conditions, alerting staff to unsafe situations, while allergen detection devices ensure proper labeling and storage, minimizing allergic reactions.

Food Safety Standards: Key Regulations and Compliance

Ensuring food safety involves a comprehensive framework of regulations designed to protect consumers and maintain high standards throughout the supply chain. Here are some of the most critical food safety regulations:

FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) represents the most significant reform of the FDA's food safety authority in over 70 years. FSMA regulations provide the FDA with enhanced mandates and powers to protect consumers and promote public health.

Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) outline the methods, equipment, facilities, and controls necessary for producing processed food and dietary supplements.

Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a management system that addresses food safety through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards throughout the food production process. This includes everything from raw material production and procurement to handling, manufacturing, distribution, and consumption.

To address the evolving landscape of food sources, production, and consumption, the FDA developed the Food Protection Plan 2007. This plan offers a comprehensive strategy to protect the nation's food supply from unintentional contamination and deliberate attacks, ensuring the safety and security of food products.

Under the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), food importers must ensure products are safe, sanitary, and properly labeled for US commerce.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety protocols include export certification for eligible products like conventional foods, additives, food contact substances, and infant formula that meet FD&C Act standards. Importers must register food facilities, adhere to import procedures, and provide Prior Notice to the FDA. Compliance programs include the Manual of Compliance Policy Guides, Prior Notice of Imported Food, and the Imported Seafood Safety Program.

Further, the HACCP compliance, the Accredited Third-party Certification Program, and the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) ensure food safety. The Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP) offers expedited reviews for importers with robust safety controls.

What is the Role of Cold Storage in Ensuring Food Safety?

Cold storage in food safety is vital for preserving food quality by keeping perishable items at low temperatures slowing bacterial growth and spoilage. This extends the shelf life of meat, dairy, and produce, retaining their nutritional value, flavor, and texture. Effective cold chain management ensures consistent, controlled temperatures from production to consumption, preventing spoilage and foodborne illnesses. Sophisticated monitoring systems track temperatures, prompting corrective actions to maintain safety and quality. By minimizing waste and maintaining high standards, cold storage ensures safe, high-quality products reach consumers, contributing to overall food safety and quality.

Future of Food Safety with Smart Solutions: AI, IoT, and Sustainability

The future of food safety is being shaped by automation and artificial intelligence (AI), which streamline compliance processes and enhance accuracy. These technologies can monitor food production in real time, detect anomalies, and ensure adherence to safety standards, reducing human error and increasing efficiency. One notable example is Spore.Bio, a startup focused on enhancing safety protocols for food and beverage manufacturers by leveraging AI technology. Emerging technologies like Blockchain and IoT are also revolutionizing traceability and transparency in the food supply chain. For instance, Blockchain ensures immutable records of each step from farm to table, while IoT devices provide continuous monitoring of conditions such as temperature and humidity, ensuring optimal storage and transport.

In addition, food safety and sustainability are becoming increasingly interconnected. Sustainable practices, such as reducing food waste and using eco-friendly packaging, contribute to a safer food system. Innovations that minimize environmental impact while maintaining stringent safety standards are becoming essential. As we move forward, the integration of these technologies and sustainable practices will play a crucial role in ensuring a safer, more reliable food supply for all.

#Food Safety #food supply chain safety #food safety technology #FDA food safety #consumer goods

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sunaleisocial · 5 months ago

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Food Safety Program for Space Has Taken Over on Earth - NASA

New Post has been published on https://sunalei.org/news/food-safety-program-for-space-has-taken-over-on-earth-nasa/

Food Safety Program for Space Has Taken Over on Earth - NASA

System created for Apollo astronaut food has become the global standard for hazard prevention

Countless NASA technologies turn up in our everyday lives, but one of the space agency’s most important contributions to modern society isn’t a technology at all – it’s the methodology that ensures the safety of the food we eat. Today the safety procedures and regulations for most of the food produced around the world are based on a system NASA created to guarantee safe food for Apollo astronauts journeying to the Moon.

For the Gemini missions, NASA and partner Pillsbury tested the food they were producing at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now Johnson Space Center in Houston, and destroyed entire batches when irregularities were found, a process similar to industry practices of the day. In response to agencywide guidelines from the Apollo Program Office aimed at ensuring the reliability of all critical systems, they altered that method for the Apollo missions.

They focused on identifying any points in the production process where hazards could be introduced, establishing procedures to eliminate or control each of those hazards, and then monitoring each of those points regularly. And they required extensive documentation of all this work. This became the foundation for the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system.

Howard Bauman, the microbiologist leading Pillsbury’s Apollo work, convinced his company to adopt the approach, and he became the leading advocate for its adoption across the food industry. That gradual process took decades, starting with the regulation of certain canned foods in the 1970s and culminating in the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, which mandated HACCP-like requirements across all food producers regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. By then, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was managing HACCP requirements for meat and poultry, while Canada and much of Europe had also put similar rules in place.

The standards also apply to any outside producers who want to export food into a country that requires HACCP, effectively spreading them across the globe.

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indianbrands · 10 months ago

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Key Challenges Faced in the Food and Beverage Industry

The food and beverage industry in India has been a victim of change in the past decade owing to sky rocketing customer demands and industry innovation. A rapidly paced and exceedingly customer propelled sector, this multibillion dollar industry is no stranger to reform and evolution through the years. Steered by changing global trends, this industry faces a myriad challenges.

It has been observed that the general perspective of individuals in respect to the food and beverage industry has seen a massive hit. People are more self conscious than ever, preferring nutritional food to indulgent food. As the prevalent awareness on health and nutrition has increased, so have the customer’s demands to eat wholesome, healthy and quality rich meals.

Some of the cardinal and prominent challenges faces by the food and beverage insudtry are as follows:

GST Input Tax Credit:

According to the National Restaurant Association of India’s 2013 India Food Service Report, the current size of the Indian food service industry is ?2,47,680 crore and is projected to grow to ?4,08,040 crore by 2018 at the rate of 11%. This growth is further fueled by the growth of the great Indian middle class. In the previous regime, restaurant owners did not have an option to adjust the output service tax liability against the input VAT on goods consumed. Since the input credit from central taxes were not available for set-off against VAT liability and vice versa. This would lead to the cascading effect of taxes, increasing the costs, and thus hiking prices for the consumer. Restaurants have been classified as services, and thus the reverse charge mechanism from the earlier regime has been adopted in the GST regime as well. Under this reverse charge mechanism, restaurant owners will need to pay tax at full rate on all taxable supplies from unregistered persons, which is bound to impact the profitability at some point.

Healthy and Organic Products:

Individuals today are on the hunt for food that does not contain added preservatives or contain any sort of artificial ingredients. The decreased demand for processed food has resulted in the emergence of organic food markets. The increased number of food related disorders that have occurred from dining in restaurants has prompted customers to make fundamental changes in their health, diet and lifestyle. Even when the occasional health fanatic decides to stray from his new found mindset, he expects high quality of food and ingredients.

Slow product innovation cycles:

One of the most crucial aspects in the food and beverage industry is bringing new products to the market. What makes it crucial and challenging is the timely manner in which new products align with emerging consumer trends. By the time these innovative products are tossed through R&D, testing and market detail, a great amount of delay is incurred. By the time these products hit the market, trends might be abating or a competitor from a smaller, more agile company or brand could make it inopportune for that new product to stand out.

Product traceability:

The Food Safety Modernization Act was passed by the FDA in January 2011 with an aspiration to decrease inconsistency and disparity in the supply chain, improve food quality, avoid food contamination, and enhance food tracing. Traceability is a vital obstacle in the food and beverage industry, not just for record management but also for generating revenue for every sector. Maintaining precise data records will drive food processing companies to employ advanced technology, like warehouse management systems and enterprise resource planning.

Data Consolidation:

F&B companies are also facing organizational challenges that accompany mergers and acquisitions. F&B multinationals have multiple brands and business units to manage as well as massive amounts of data to consolidate. Because of the complexity of consolidation, and both compliance and market-based demands, F&B companies that aspire to remain competitive must look into technological solutions.

Waste generation:

The food industry generates vast amounts of waste, right from the bottom of the supply chain to the top. Farmers, grocers, manufacturers, and wholesalers, each one of them generate product waste within the industry, despite technological advancements and the employment of recycling procedures. Manufacturers must overcome this obstacle in the food and beverage industry with advanced methodologies.

An industry with fierce cut throat competition, there exit various major and minor challenges in the food and beverage sector. However, a single change is bound to affect the entire market. Brands and Branches is a franchising company that operates in the food and beverage sector. They are a master franchisee and have various prominent brands under them. They are governed on a FOCO (franchise owned, company operated) model which assures risk free opportunities which essentially implies that the owner/investor of the brand need not worry about the adversities of running a restaurant as its efficient functioning lies on the shoulder of the brand or the company that already has expertise in the same.

#food and beverage franchise opportunities #food franchise #cafe franchise in india #cafe franchise opportunities #brand and branchs

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cliff-montgomery · 10 months ago

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FDA Plans To Help Trace Source Of Outbreaks Remain Unfinished

By Cliff Montgomery - Jan. 23rd, 2024

“Although the U.S. food supply is generally considered safe, food-borne illness remains a common and costly public health problem in the U.S.,” according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study released last week.

“For example, from 2014 through 2021,” declares the report, “food-borne disease outbreaks linked to leafy greens were associated with a total of 2,028 illnesses, 477 hospitalizations, and 18 deaths, according to CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention].”

“The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law in January 2011, expanded and overhauled U.S. food safety law,” stated the GAO study.

Among other things, “it included requirements for FDA to establish additional record-keeping requirements for facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold [such] foods” as “fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, ready-made deli salads, and nut butters,” according to the GAO report.

Below, I’ve quoted the one-page “Highlights” introduction to the report:

Why GAO Did This Study

“Food-borne illness remains a common and costly public health problem in the U.S. Being able to efficiently trace products linked to a food-borne illness outbreak can help government agencies and those who produce and sell food identify the source of the outbreak.

“FDA, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for developing and implementing several rules required by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, enacted in 2011. These include the food traceability rule.

“The act also included a provision for GAO to report on the traceability rule. This report, among other things, (1) describes FDA’s and selected stakeholders’ views on the rule’s recordkeeping requirements and (2) examines FDA’s actions to implement the rule and challenges FDA and stakeholders may face in achieving compliance.

“GAO reviewed FDA documentation and interviewed FDA officials and 20 selected stakeholders representing industry associations, consumer advocacy groups, and non-federal regulators.

What GAO Found

“In November 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) promulgated a final rule on food traceability to help identify the source of outbreaks of food-borne illness. In developing the rule, the FDA established a list of certain foods for which enhanced record-keeping is required, and set a compliance date of January 20, 2026.

“Entities handling an item on the list must maintain specific records, including a traceability plan, at certain points in the item’s supply chain.

“To identify foods for the list, FDA used an approach that incorporates statutorily mandated criteria, such as the history and severity of prior outbreaks involving the item.

“Several stakeholders GAO interviewed said FDA’s methodology for identifying foods for the list was appropriate. Several other stakeholders disagreed with this assessment, stating that FDA’s approach resulted in an overly inclusive list. In response to similar comments on the draft rule, FDA provided its rationale for considering foods at the commodity - or category - level, stating that foods in these groups had similar risk characteristics and associated hazards.

“FDA has taken some steps to help industry and non-federal regulators prepare for compliance with and enforcement of the rule. Also, in late 2022, FDA began an iterative planning process for implementing the rule.

“However, as of October 2023, FDA had not finalized or documented an implementation plan, according to FDA officials.

“Components of such a plan could help address challenges stakeholders identified in preparing for the compliance deadline. For example, the plan could include additional information on non-federal regulators’ roles in the inspection process and FDA’s enforcement strategy and needed resources. It also could identify additional guidance, training, and tools for stakeholders.

“By finalizing and documenting an implementation plan, FDA will have better assurance it is well positioned to make progress toward its regulatory goals and address the various challenges that stakeholders identified to achieving compliance by the deadline.

What GAO Recommends

“GAO recommends that FDA finalize and document an implementation plan for the traceability rule. HHS agreed with this recommendation.”

#political news #politics #food #us fda #government #government oversight

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leafonsidewalk · 2 years ago

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The Change in Climate

Climate change - long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, for example: variations in the solar cycle, but ever since the 1800s, the main cause has been human activities, mostly the burning of fossil fuels. When humans burn fossil fuels, we generate greenhouse gas emissions that act similarly to a blanket wrapped around Earth, raising temperatures by trapping the sun’s heat. Some greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change are carbon dioxide and methane. These emissions can come from the gasoline used to drive a car or burning coal to heat a building. Carbon dioxide can also be released when land and forests are cleared. A major source of methane emissions are landfills where LFG (landfill gas - a byproduct of the decomposition of organic material in landfills) is made of about 50% methane.

Since greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest level in 2 million years, Earth is about 1.1℃ warmer than it was during the late 1800s. Climate warming is happening at a speed unseen in the last 10,000 years with the last decade (2011-2020) being the warmest on record. 2020 tied with 2016 in being the hottest year on record ever since recordkeeping started in 1880. The industrial activities that modern civilization depends on have increased the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by almost 50 percent since 1750.

Climate change is greatly affecting the world and can cause intense droughts, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting of polar ice, declining biodiversity, and disastrous storms. It can affect a person’s work, health, safety, and our ability to grow food. Some people, for example: those living on small islands or in developing countries, are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The prolonged droughts are putting many people at risk of famine. The sea level and saltwater intrusion have increased so much that entire communities have had to relocate.

Many (as in thousands of) scientists and government reviewers have agreed that if we work to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5℃ at most, we will avoid the worst climate impacts while keeping a livable climate. However, the policies that are currently in place lead to a 2.8℃ rise by the end of the century.

Many solutions to the human impacts on climate change can provide economic benefits all while improving our lives and protecting the environment. Switching energy systems to use renewables, like solar or wind, instead of fossil fuels will help reduce the emissions driving climate change. While it’s great that a growing number of countries are committing to net zero emissions by 2050, about half of these cuts must be in place by 2030 to keep the warming below 1.5℃ and fossil fuel production should decrease by almost 6 percent each year between 2020 and 2030.

Sources: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change, https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/, Basic Information about Landfill Gas | US EPA, Home – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (nasa.gov)

#climate change #global warming #earth #plants #emissions #temperature #landfill #gas

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sithroyal · 5 years ago

Text

MODERN VERSE

VERSE TAG: ;;modern: i look to the stars and it feels like something is missing LOCATION: Varies [thread dependent] AGE: Default is 30 [otherwise, thread dependent]

Basic Information

X. Ben was born to Senator Leia Organa and high profile actor and model Han Solo. Due to their high activity schedules, Ben was left with various babysitters for much of his childhood. X. When he was ten, he was kidnapped by one of those babysitters and held for ransom. Ben has blocked out much of what happened while he was held by Snoke. Shortly after rescue, Ben was sent to live with his Uncle Luke in New York. (Note: While these memories are repressed, they are responsible for a later depersonalization disorder on top of various anger issues and chronic depression.) X. Growing up after Snoke’s kidnapping was difficult for Ben. He often felt different than his classmates and it was hard for him to make friends. His uncle caught on to this and tries enrolling him into various after school programs. He was often asked not to return due to his anger issues. X. As he got older, Ben expressed a deep desire to move out of his uncle’s house despite having nowhere to go. Seeing his father on television and in movies knowing that he wasn’t around was enough to make him irritable the rest of the day. Sharing his name and being stopped on the street by fans looking for photos only made things worse. X. In order to find something to get his attention, Ben took to technology and developed a fascination with graphics and coding. In freshman year, he started taking band classes. He can play trumpet, piano, and guitar. X. He tried getting in contact with his mother for a good part of his senior year of high school. When neither of his parents showed up for his graduation, he enlisted in the marines.

X. He tried getting in contact with his mother for a good part of his senior year of high school. When neither of his parents showed up for his graduation, he enlisted in the marines.

X. The day he left for basic training, Ben and Luke had an argument. Luke blamed him for taking off just as Han did and felt that the military wasn’t where Ben should have been going, that he was running away. Ben did nothing to him but he did become quiet enough to absorb what was said. The argument escalated and Ben threw terrible things at his uncle. It was nothing new. In the process, he shut down and focused on his basic training - started 2008.

X. Thirteen weeks basic training and no contact with his uncle made Ben flourish. He was one of the top recruits at the time, specializing in ballistic weaponry with melee and hand-to-hand combat as close seconds. While the training was exhausting, he began finding his confidence and backbone. At the same time, he was starkly reminded that he had little to no place in the slowly crafted groups of various other marines. This distance was justified for him in the way that distance would make loss easier later on. He started college soon after.

X. 2008, E1. Started college in New York as a reserve - two-day monthly and two weeks of annual training.

X. 2010, E3. During a training exercise, he engaged in unusual tactics to protect him and his men during a mock shoot out where they were pinned on location. First emergence of Kylo Ren in a non combat situation. Due to his quick decisions, Ben was commended by the officers overlooking his training.

X. 2011, E3 (Age 20). Grandmother died. Ben attended the funeral but didn’t speak to his family. All of his belongings were moved from the home and straight to a storage facility in Queens. Ben pays monthly for storage.

X. 2012, E-3 to O-1 (Age 22). Graduated fluent in Arabic and Urdu. Attended a ten week officer training class in Quantico, Virginia. Deployed on active duty near December. Ben was involved in protecting and evacuating civilians during a battle in an Iraqi city. Afterward, he was part of a search and rescue team to recover the injured and the dead.

X. 2014, O-1 (Age 24). From 2014 onward, Ben was deployed to Iran for multiple operations. At one point, he started to rethink his goals. Beginning of Kylo Ren starting to emerge, started brutal interrogation tactics of captured prisoners.

X. 2015, O-1 TO O-2 (Age 25). Promoted from rank O-1 to O-2.

X. Bought his own home and vehicle in New York state. Found out through his uncle that his father knew of him and was keeping an eye on him. Ben didn’t tell his mother but she informed him months later that she already knew. Most of the Solo family knows who he is and what he does. While he doesn’t have a target on his back, they do keep tabs on him.

X. 2015. Ben was employed by his mother mainly because he was needed for translation assistance as well as his unique but effective interrogation techniques. He was given full reports and was only allowed to translate small pieces at a time for confidentiality sake, but what information was given to him via questioning was unfiltered.

X. 2015-2017. (Verse dependent)

(Option 1) - multiple failed attempts at dating men and women alike. Very few could handle his constantly shifting lifestyle. Two girlfriends cheated on him, three boyfriends ghosted him.

(Option 2) - multiple PTSD induced nightly issues. Sleeps away from his partner to keep them from having to deal with his inability to sleep at normal hours and/or long periods of time. Snappy, irritable, and quite easy to set off. Would never hit his partner conscious but he does have issues where waking may cause him to choke them. Attempts many different therapists and rarely sticks to a single one until the end of 2016 - failed by mid 2017, Kylo Ren scared the therapist by revealing her address, phone number, and threatened to skin her family alive.

X. 2017 O-2 (Age 28). Early in the year, January through May. Ben began making efforts to finish his education on Spanish and Russian, and finished Spanish. Listed the course completion on his files. He went from performing operations to preventing loss of life on the ground by translating messages sent from opposing forces. Begins to feel he has his issue with Kylo under control (except he doesn’t).

X. 2017 O-2 to O-3 (Age 28). Late in the year, May until early 2018. Promoted to O-3 mid-May. Deployed to Afghanistan again. Captured by enemy forces in early June. Ben remained with them for almost a year before he was freed by a US Air Force pilot (Verse Dependent - Could be any SW Resistance or First Order Pilot.)

X. 2018 (Age 29). Ben spent the majority of the year in recovery. The first few weeks was touch and go but he was allowed out of the hospital within two months time. Because of the various injuries, he not only had to have physical therapy to recover (which he took on easily) but narcotic painkillers to manage his chronic pain. He didn’t allow many people to see him while he was recovering and took to staying at home alone unless friends showed up without mention. Partners were automatically allowed near him but instructed, by him, not to try to coddle him.

X. His injuries include; the long scar down his face, a bullet wound to his left shoulder, and a near fatal wound to his abdomen.

X. Late 2018. Leia has him reassigned to a position in intelligence.

X. 2019 O-3 to O-4 (Age 29-30). Officially diagnosed with PTSD, depression, and general anxiety disorders. He refused additional therapy and any medications prescribed to him. Managed to pay his home and vehicle off, does freelance translations in his spare time. He remains at home for the most part and works on his abilities in the backyard, surrounded by a privacy fence. Chewbacca (gift from vuuelo and service dog in training), his dog, remains with him for the most part along with any romantic partners.

X. As a safety measure, Chewbacca will alert anyone in the home to Ben’s depersonalization disorder acting up. He will bark and growl, then attempt to put himself between the other person and Ben in order to keep Ben from harming them.

X. He has a home in New York City and another in D.C. and frequently travels between the two. Because of his position, he often sees his mother and works with her but rarely speaks to her on a personal level. He hasn’t seen Han much at all since he was young and he actively avoids Luke if he can help it.

Important Note: Due to Ben’s high amount of emotional and mental instability after spending a year as a POW, any romantic relationships may be highly toxic. He does not take medication for his mental conditions and can endanger himself and anyone in his home with him. While Chewbacca will growl at him if ‘Kylo Ren’ is at the forefront, this does not mean that other people in the house will be safe.

Simplified Military Timeline

Joined up in '08, completed training & was actively a RESERVE by mid-'08

O-1 promotion in 2012; Active Duty, commissioned December O-2 promotion in 2015 O-3 promotion in 2017 O-4 promotion in 2019 Currently Reassigned As: O-4 (Major); MOS 0211 CI/HUMINT or Counter Intelligence and Human Intelligence Specialist

Yearly Salary: $89,524 Monthly: (Before Taxes) $7,460; (After Taxes) $5,068 Vehicle: Jeep Wrangler TJ Sport 03

$2100 monthly bills: electric, internet, cable, water, waste management 50 (every three months), car insurance, car payment, house payment (including insurance) $2968 left || $2568 after food ($100 per week)

Option 1: Possibility of meeting him somewhere in town, likely a coffee shop, grocery store, or walking to and from his office in either area. Option 2: Working with him or around him. Ben will visibly flinch if called ‘Kylo Ren’ by anyone other than his old unit mates.

Fandoms/AUs that use this verse as a base:

The Walking Dead: ;;twd: until the light finally dies // Fully Customizable - above backstory does not change aside from dates. Given the length of the series itself and the numerous ways Ben could come into the main group, this will require plotting on a person-by-person basis. Resident Evil: ;;RE: this is how you rot // Fully Customizable - above backstory does not change. After hearing that the Umbrella Corporation is reportedly at the root of all issues, Senator Leia Organa petitions for her son to go undercover for them. Plotting available on a person-by-person basis. Day After Tomorrow: ;;DAT: it ended in ice // Fully Customizable - above backstory does not change. The Silence: ;;the silence: sometimes silence is the best answer // Fully Customizable - above backstory does not change. Birdbox: ;;birdbox: seeing shouldn't be believing // Fully Customizable - above backstory does not change. Jurassic Park/World: ;;jurassic: of teeth and scales // Fully Customizable - above backstory does not change. Movie information only. Ben is hired by the owners of the park to stand in as security detail for the island and the owners themselves.

#;;verses: all #;;modern: i look to the stars and it feels like something is missing #;;twd: until the light finally dies #;;the silence: sometimes silence is the best answer #;;birdbox: seeing shouldn't be believing #;;jurassic: of teeth and scales #;;RE: this is how you rot #;;DAT: it ended in ice

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mybarricades · 5 years ago

Photo

The Dangerous Art of Pyotr Pavlesnky

His spectacular acts of self-mutilation and vandalism have landed him in jail in both Russia and France — and blurred the lines among art, protest and crime.

By Fernanda Eberstadt (The New York Times Magazine) July 11, 2019

On a fall day in Paris, in the luminous courthouse built by Renzo Piano near the Porte de Clichy, the Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky sat in the dock, listening to an interpreter’s translation of the proceedings against him. Pavlensky had spent the past 11 months in a French jail, primarily in solitary confinement, for what he considers an artwork and the French government considers a crime.

In the early hours of Oct. 16, 2017, Pavlensky set fire to the ground-floor windows of a branch of the Banque de France on the Place de la Bastille. A video showed him standing in the doorway of the fortresslike building, a black-clad figure framed by wings of flame. The site had been carefully chosen. The Banque de France is the French equivalent of the Federal Reserve, and this particular outpost was erected where the Bastille prison, stormed by revolutionary mobs in 1789, once stood. In the text accompanying the work, titled “Lighting,” Pavlensky declared the bank a symbol of modern-day tyranny and central bankers the new despots.

In an aftermath common to his artworks (which Pavlensky calls “actions”), he was arrested on the spot, hauled off for psychiatric examination and put in jail — this time with his longtime partner, Oksana Shalygina, who was assisting that night. The couple were charged with “property damage involving risk to others.” Shalygina, who is also the mother of their two young children, was released on probation after two months. But in September, almost a year after “Lighting,” Pavlensky was still in prison awaiting trial.

Seated before the panel of judges hearing the arguments for his pretrial release, Pavlensky, a hollow-cheeked man with enormous yellow-green, tigerish eyes, was dressed in his customary outfit of black scoop-necked T-shirt, black cargo pants and black sandals. The courtroom was packed with his supporters. One, a red-bearded artist named Sébastien Layral, had chopped off his earlobe for the occasion — recalling Pavlensky’s 2014 performance piece “Segregation,” in which Pavlensky climbed naked onto the wall of Moscow’s most infamous psychiatric institute and cut off his right earlobe to protest the political abuse of psychiatry. Outside the courthouse, six young women from the feminist group FEMEN stood bare-breasted, their lips sewn shut, their chests and backs painted with the slogans “Free Pavlensky” and “Activism Is Not a Disease.” Policemen raised a curtain of gold-foil blankets to hide the women’s naked torsos from onlookers, but their silent fists pumped high above it.

During his incarceration, Pavlensky held two dry hunger strikes (no food, no water); one was broken only, he says, when the prison authorities force-fed him. His right to daily exercise in the prison courtyard or to receive visitors was frequently denied.

This harsh treatment, Ariane Mnouchkine, founder of the avant-garde company Théâtre du Soleil, contended in an open letter to the judge, was an “unheard-of practice” in a country that prides itself on its tradition of artistic freedom. Before his arrest, Pavlensky was widely praised by critics for being, as one British newspaper put it, “the patron saint of Russian dissidence.” He was showcased in a prestigious 2017 survey of Russian art at the Saatchi Gallery in London and granted asylum in France the same year. But once he shifted the object of his critique from Putin’s Russia to the Western democracy that gave him refuge, the French government — and even some of his art-world supporters — grew decidedly less enthusiastic. In a country rattled by terrorist attacks, Pavlensky’s “action” took on a sinister resonance. Just two weeks before “Lighting,” the French Parliament passed a sweeping counterterrorism bill, making permanent most of the government’s state-of-emergency powers.

In the courtroom, waiting to be questioned by the judge, Pavlensky’s co-defendant, Shalygina, a tall, lunar-pale woman with a peroxide semimohawk, was pessimistic about her partner’s release. She had sat through half a dozen hearings in this case, and each time the judge had prolonged Pavlensky’s detention another three, four months, with no trial date in sight.

What made the case particularly uncertain was that the artist himself was not asking to be freed. For Pavlensky, the judicial process is an integral part of the artwork. “The government’s aim is to suppress or neutralize art, to reduce me to a vandal, a madman, a provocateur,” he told me earlier, “but the criminal case becomes one of the layers of the artwork, the portal through which you enter and see the mechanisms of power exposed.”

The presiding judge that day was Président Jean-Marie Denieul. Balding, bespectacled, genial, Denieul flipped through Pavlensky’s hefty dossier, summarizing his career with the relish of a doctor presented with a particularly rare medical specimen. Here was an artist who thought nothing of chopping off body parts “to make a political point,” Denieul remarked. “A skeletal Homo sapiens, but pretty tough!”

“This sounds like a homage!” said Pavlensky’s lawyer, Dominique Beyreuther-Minkov.

“It is, in a way,” the judge replied.

The prosecutor was not so well disposed. The defendant faced a prison sentence of 10 years, she pointed out. Since he had no job, no bank account, no legal home, she believed he posed a high flight risk. Moreover, since he refused to recognize the legitimacy of the French judiciary or that his act of arson was a crime, there was nothing to stop him from setting more buildings aflame. “He lives for his political acts,” she declared. If they released him “he will do it again.” Public safety, she concluded, demanded that Monsieur Pavlensky be kept in prison.

I first encountered Pavlensky in the summer of 2017. He and his family arrived from Russia six months earlier and were living in a series of Paris squats and collective apartments. Their latest hosts didn’t allow journalists, so Pavlensky suggested a rendezvous in Père Lachaise, the French cemetery where such luminaries as Balzac and Jim Morrison are buried.

Until “Lighting,” Pavlensky, who is 35, worked only in Russia. Most of his “actions” involved spectacular acts of self-mutilation or endurance. For the 2013 “Carcass,” he had himself deposited, naked and cocooned in barbed wire, outside the St. Petersburg Parliament, in response to a series of new laws restricting personal freedom. Later that year, in “Fixation,” he attached his scrotum with a Crucifixion-style nail to the paving stones of Red Square to symbolize the passivity of the Russian people. He was inspired, he told me, by “zeks,” imprisoned criminals in Russia who “sometimes do this to protest administrative decisions.”

Unyielding in his public stances, Pavlensky in person is unexpectedly warm, a little shy. Perched on a graveyard bench under a pitiless sun, he kept his head ducked, smiling often as he spoke about his path to political art. Born in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) in 1984, he was 16 when Vladimir Putin first became president. Putin closed down independent TV stations, made regional governors his direct appointees and seized banks and industries, imprisoning their oligarch owners or driving them into exile. He embraced the Russian Orthodox Church as a power base, encouraging the traditionalists’ vision of Russia as a “holy nation” whose destiny owed nothing to liberal democracy; art became a pawn in this cultural struggle. In 2003, Orthodox extremists attacked and defaced a Moscow exhibition called “Caution, Religion!” The charges against the vandals were dismissed, but the show’s curators were convicted under Russia’s infamous Article 282, known as the “blasphemy law.” A few years later, one of the curators was again fined for an exhibition called “Forbidden Art.” To many, these high-profile art trials recalled the Soviet-era trials of dissidents like Joseph Brodsky.

In the fall of 2011, Putin and Dmitri Medvedev announced that they would swap jobs (Putin had been serving as Medvedev’s prime minister since 2008 because Russian law barred him from serving a third consecutive term) and Putin would once again assume the presidency. This announcement, followed by what were widely seen as rigged parliamentary elections, sparked a nationwide wave of demonstrations. Many were characterized by an “Occupy”-style exuberance. The punk feminist group Pussy Riot, whose members specialized in guerrilla actions, seemed to embody this spirit of revolt. Shortly before the presidential election, Pussy Riot performed a “Punk Prayer” in The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Clad like cartoon ninjas in lollipop-colored dresses and balaclavas, they pranced and kickboxed as they shouted a song whose refrain went, “Mother of God, chase Putin out!” The church was almost empty and the “prayer” lasted less than two minutes, but three of the performers were nonetheless arrested and charged with “inciting religious hatred.”

At the time, Pavlensky was 27, an art student who hadn’t yet found a mobilizing subject for his work. “Even among my friends, there were few who understood Pussy Riot’s action,” Pavlensky told me. “I was shocked by the violence of people’s reactions. These women had touched nothing, but people wanted to burn them at the stake; even so-called dissidents condemned them.”

When Pussy Riot went on trial that July, Pavlensky decided to stage his first “action.” He stood outside the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, his mouth sewn shut, carrying a sign likening Pussy Riot’s performance to Jesus’ expulsion of the money-changers from the Temple.

“At first, I just wanted to go out in the street with my poster, like a one-man strike,” Pavlensky recalled. “I’m an atheist, but I wanted to show that the Russian Orthodox Church was in conflict with its own teachings, that it was just another instrument of state power. But then I started thinking: What if the police question me? What will I say? I realized if my mouth were sewn shut, there would be no possibility of answering, then I’d be the one with the power. People helped me sew my mouth; I got in a taxi, my mouth covered with my hand. I was frightened, but I tried to understand, Is this an objective, a rational fear, or is it just because I’ve seen that normally people don’t do this? It was the moment of no return, when I managed to overcome my own fears and become the political artist I am today.”

Titled “Seam,” the work was captured by several photojournalists, including Maxim Zmeyev, who cropped the photo to an iconic headshot. Pavlensky’s emaciated face, lips zigzagged in blood-red twine, radiates an almost Christlike suffering. By choosing this gesture, he also inscribed himself in a powerful lineage of artistic resistance, referencing a seminal 1989 work by David Wojnarowicz, “Silence=Death,” in which the artist sewed his lips shut to mark the Reagan administration’s refusal to address the AIDS epidemic.

The Pussy Riot trial ended with the conviction of three members. Two of them, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, would spend nearly two years in a prison camp; the third, Yekaterina Samutsevich, received a suspended sentence on appeal. Tolokonnikova later expressed her joy that Pussy Riot had found a worthy successor. “Pavlensky,” she tweeted, “is the mind, honor and balls of our epoch.”

Pavlensky’s work draws on a venerable tradition of performance art in which the body is used to interrogate cultural norms and power dynamics. In the 1960s, the Viennese Actionists staged performances using their own blood, urine and excrement to expose Austria’s willed amnesia about its Nazi past. In 1971, the American artist Chris Burden made a video of a friend shooting him with a .22 rifle in a kind of commentary on the Vietnam War.

As an art student, Pavlensky encountered the work of the Moscow Actionists. One, Oleg Kulik, pretended to be a dog: naked, chained, he barked at passers-by in a reminder of the animality beneath our civilizational veneer. Another, Alexander Brener, stood in boxing shorts and gloves in Red Square, demanding that President Boris Yeltsin, who had just started the First Chechen War to prevent the republic from gaining independence, come out and fight him.

The Moscow Actionists, with their guerrilla happenings in unsanctioned public spaces, insisted on a kind of art that couldn’t be bought. Pavlensky operates with a similar ethic, always choosing sites under high police surveillance. “If there is a scale of expression, with opera at one end and terrorism at the other,” he told me, “political art is closer on the scale to terrorism than to opera.”

For Pavlensky, the initial action is just the beginning of a larger process. Even as every element is precisely calculated — “I have to practice each gesture carefully, where I’m going to put my foot, my hand, because once I’m there, everything moves very quickly and there are so many unforeseeables,” he told me — what interests him is the state’s involuntary collaboration in his work. A recent exhibition at Milan’s Galleria Pack included photos of his Russian police dossier: grainy close-ups of embossed lettering on a gas canister, CCTV shots of a hooded figure on a wintry street corner — images that, as he points out, anonymous Interior Ministry employees have cropped, edited and laid out with deliberate artistry. “What I’m doing is turning the tables, drawing the government into the process of making art,” he said. “The power relations shift, the state enters into the work of art and becomes an object, an actor.”

In 2014, Pavlensky embarked on a more direct confrontation with the state. It was the year Putin began a war in Ukraine, cracking down on Ukrainian activists opposed to the invasion by imprisoning them on trumped-up terrorism charges. The filmmaker Oleg Sentsov was convicted of supposedly plotting to bomb a series of buildings and monuments and is now serving a 20-year sentence in the Russian Far North.

Pavlensky was an active supporter of the protesters gathering in Ukraine’s Maidan, and in what now seems a precursor to his Banque de France action, he set ablaze the doors of the Lubyanka, the headquarters of the Russian security service, then waited for the police to arrive, gas canister in hand. The “action,” which Pavlensky titled “Threat,” referenced Sentsov’s supposed plot. Pavlensky was arrested, sent to a psychiatric ward for a few weeks and then imprisoned for seven months, awaiting trial. In solidarity with Sentsov and other incarcerated activists, he demanded to be charged with terrorism. Instead, he was convicted of vandalism and let off with a fine, which he refused to pay.

The incident that would drive him into exile occurred just a few months after his release. An actress named Anastasia Slonina, associated with the Moscow theater group Teatr.doc, filed charges against Pavlensky and Shalygina. She claimed the couple assaulted her with a knife when she resisted their sexual advances. Pavlensky and Shalygina, who had an open relationship, denied the charges. “There was no violence, no knife,” Pavlensky says. (Anastasia Slonina did not respond to requests for comment.)

The charges created bitter divisions in Russian intellectual circles, the writer Masha Gessen told me. “On the one hand, ‘If she says it happened, we have to assume it happened.’ On the other, ‘No one should ever go to the police’ — an unimpeachable argument in Russia, where whatever the court system doles out is a priori unjust.” Pavlensky and Shalygina’s supporters insisted the couple had been framed. Although Gessen says she has no opinion on the case, she notes that “Russia loves to put dissidents in jail on sexual charges, because who’s going to stand up for a sexual predator?” Gessen cites the case of Yuri Dmitriev, a historian uncovering Soviet-era mass graves who is currently imprisoned on charges of sexual abuse and child pornography, widely regarded as having been fabricated. After “Threat,” “it was inevitable they were going to get Pavlensky one way or another. I think they wanted to get him out of the country.”

Pavlensky and Shalygina say they were warned that if convicted, they could each be sentenced to 10 years in prison, their two small children placed in a state orphanage. They decided to seek refuge in France, which Pavlensky chose because it was the “alma mater of revolution.” “I’m not scared of prison,” he said, “but I won’t go like a sheep to the slaughter for something I didn’t do.”

Two months before “Lighting,” I visited Pavlensky and Shalygina at their latest home, the eighth in seven months. They said that the French state had offered them housing, but, as Shalygina explained to me with a laugh, they didn’t want to be “fed by the monster.”

Pavlensky’s and Shalygina’s politics are loosely anarchist. They describe themselves as living by an alternative economy of foraging, donations from well-wishers and the occasional lecture fee. (French authorities were particularly irritated by Pavlensky’s telling German TV why Paris is a great place to live: When you’re hungry, you shoplift from supermarkets, and when you need to get somewhere, you jump the Metro turnstile.) None of Pavlensky’s art is for sale, and issues of Political Propaganda, an art magazine Shalygina began in Russia, are distributed free.

The address they’d given me was fairy-tale unexpected: a cottage in a cobblestone alley festooned in climbing roses, tucked behind a boulevard of grim high-rises. Inside, Pavlensky and Shalygina greeted me beaming. How had they ended up here? I asked.

The couple’s approach to house hunting, it turned out, was characteristically guerrilla. They’d fallen out with the inhabitants of their previous squat. One night, while on one of their regular family rambles around Paris, they came upon a bucolic alley and spotted a cottage that looked abandoned so they moved in. Twenty-four hours later, the owner showed up with the police, but evicting squatters from a Paris property that is not your primary residence can be a slow business in a legal system that favors tenants over landlords.

When I arrived, handymen were hooking the house up to the electricity mains. We climbed the steep broken stairs and emerged on a balcony, with views across Paris. Their daughters — 6-year-old Lilya playing a joyous peekaboo; 9-year-old Alisa, grave, reserved — clambered along the balcony railings, then scampered off to their bedroom to draw pictures. In Russia, Pavlensky and Shalygina had home-schooled their daughters, teaching them kickboxing, poetry, chess. Now, reluctantly, they’d enrolled the girls in the local primaire so they could learn French. Alisa liked school; Lilya didn’t.

Sitting on the balcony in the crisp sunlight, Pavlensky talked about his own upbringing in a high-rise complex on the western edge of St. Petersburg. His parents were “conformists shaped by the Soviet system, people who above all wanted a comfortable life.” His father was a geologist who spent his entire career at a government institute. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the elder Pavlensky fell into acute alcoholism. “My father died alone at 49, choking on a piece of raw meat. His example taught me how not to live. I saw how his reliance on the state for comfort, his disappointment at the state’s abandonment, led to this horrible death.”

Pavlensky’s mother, a retired nurse, is still alive. In a book of interviews, Pavlensky described her exasperation with the life he and Shalygina had chosen. “My mother is someone who thinks you have to stay on good terms with the police and beware of the neighbors. She would unleash this stream of clichés on me: ‘The children have to go to school. If they’re sick, you send them to the doctor. Why don’t you have a job? How are you going to feed your family? Why don’t you have any money?’ The apotheosis of her arguments was, ‘If you don’t work, how are you going to save enough money to go on vacation?’ ” When he was first sent to a psychiatric hospital after one of his “actions,” Pavlensky had a flash of recognition. The nurses’ way of bullying patients into compliance was exactly how his mother had always treated him: Unless you were catatonic, you were considered dangerous.

Now, looking out at the bluffs of the Buttes-Chaumont park, Pavlensky recalled how at art school, he came to regard culture as just another state institution, with its own levers of power. “When I dropped out, my true education continued,” he said. “I can honestly say my life was changed by art — by the example of artists like Caravaggio, Van Gogh, Duchamp, Malevich. I saw that art helps liberate — that real artists’ work was in constant collision with power.”

A year later, Pavlensky sat impassive in the prisoners’ box in the Porte de Clichy courtroom, as the panel of judges returned from their deliberations. From his bench, Judge Denieul pronounced their decision. The trial date was set for January. In the meantime, the terms of Shalygina’s probation were to be eased — from now on, she would report to the police only once a week, and the sole area of Paris from which she was banned was the 11th arrondissement, where the Place de la Bastille is located. As for Pavlensky — Denieul paused — “the same.”

In slow motion, Pavlensky’s lawyer wheeled on her heels to face the audience. Pumping her fists high, she let loose an ecstatic, “Yes!”

Four hours later, I was on my way with Oksana to pick Pavlensky up from prison. Stéphane Chatry, a tall black-bearded Frenchman who runs a program called Artivism Contemporary Art, was driving; riding shotgun was a young photojournalist, Flavien Moras. Our destination was Fleury-Mérogis prison, 12 miles outside Paris, where Oksana had also served her pretrial detention. The mood in the car was jubilant; Oksana blasted a tape of a Metro-busker singing an Arabic rendition of “Billie Jean.”

Fleury-Mérogis, a ’60s-era polygonal complex that has held some of France’s most notorious bank robbers and accused terrorists, is the largest prison in Europe. At the entrance, a guard behind bulletproof glass told us that Pavlensky had not yet returned from his hearing. There were only two transfers a day, and the prison bus had to make the rounds of all the Paris courthouses. The waiting room was closed at night, so we sat outside in the floodlit cold. Periodically, we heard muffled roars of prisoners deep within the complex. A loudspeaker crackled intermittent orders at us: No photographs; no smoking. Every hour or so, there would be a carload of people who had come to meet a friend or relative who was also being released. Like us, these groups — invariably young and French-African or Arab — were loud, raucous with nervous excitement.

Stéphane and Flavien drove off to a nearby fast-food chain for coffee and pizza; Oksana didn’t want to budge. She talked about her upbringing in Norilsk, a nickel-mining city in the Arctic Circle that is reportedly one of the most polluted cities in the world. Her father and brother were both miners; at 16, hungry “for light and joy,” she escaped to St. Petersburg. Twelve years later, she met Pyotr in a bar. The little finger on Oksana’s left hand is missing: Some years ago she chopped it off as an act of restorative truth for having concealed a sexual dalliance from Pyotr. (Though their relationship wasn’t monogamous, the deal was total transparency.) “In Russia, there’s this saying that a woman’s word means nothing,” she told me. “I wanted to show that I was good for my word.”

Oksana described Pyotr as her “best friend.” She helped him plan and execute his “actions”; when he was in prison, she campaigned full time for his cause while looking after their children. Tonight — now that Pyotr was finally being released — she was wondering who she would be without him. “The only thing I know how to do is help artists get in trouble,” she laughed.

At 11:30 p.m., the prison bus arrived from Paris, and Fleury’s metal maw opened to let it through. Two hours later, the doors opened once again, and three men walked out, their silhouettes backlit. One disappeared into the industrial wasteland. The other, a bearded youth carrying his belongings in plaid shopping bags, was greeted by his friends with whoops and fist-bumps. The third figure was Pavlensky. He looked chalky-gray, but happy. “Salut, le Russe,” the other shouted.

On the drive back to Paris, Pavlensky spoke in an excited tumble of English, French and Russian, supplemented by pantomime. He told us stories about elderly Georgian inmates and TV remote controls as intramural currency and how much he’d enjoyed reading Voltaire and Madame de Sévigné and why he kept getting thrown into the punishment cell. He wanted us to know everything about prison and also to appreciate its fundamental unknowability — how you could spend 20 years in one prison and only be able to testify to what you’d witnessed in your particular block; how Building D3 at Fleury was a different universe from Building D5.

When we reached downtown Paris, it was 2:30 a.m., and Pavlensky was looking for a bar in which to celebrate. He had a wad of bank notes, money that had been returned to him by prison authorities on his release, and though he usually doesn’t drink, he wanted to treat everyone to a few rounds of vodka shots.

“Where to?” asked Stéphane.

The Place de la Bastille, of course, Pavlensky said. It fit his philosophy of resistance that we go to the one place that he and Shalygina were forbidden from going. Stéphane parked on a side street. Even at that hour, the Place de la Bastille was lined with police cars. Stéphane wondered aloud how long Pavlensky would manage to stay out of prison — a month?

“A happy month,” he replied.

We stopped outside the Banque de France, so Oksana and Pyotr could examine the aftereffect of “Lighting.” It had cost 18,000 euros to repair the damage, the bank claimed in its civil suit.

“Not bad — 18,000 euros for a work of art,” Pavlensky reflected. “It’s beautiful, the Place de la Bastille, one of the most beautiful places in Paris. But not a good place for a bank.”

In January, Pavlensky returned to court and was given a three-year prison sentence. The 11 months he spent in pretrial detention were credited as time served; the remaining two years were suspended. The couple were fined roughly $25,000, for material and “moral” damage. Pavlensky says he has no plans to pay it.

Since his release, he told me in an email, his personal life has been “catastrophic”: Shalygina ended their 12-year relationship, throwing him into what he termed a “double exile.” (She and their two daughters are fine, she reports in a Facebook message, but she doesn’t wish their current lives to be part of this article, or to comment on her breakup with Pavlensky.) His new partner is a Frenchwoman whom he describes as his “antithesis” — “an icon of bourgeois prudence” with “a big apartment in the prestigious 16th arrondissement.” It’s a “tragic love,” he said, doomed by contradiction.

Pavlensky’s work, however, is thriving. He recently took part in half a dozen of the gilets jaunes protests, in which shops, newspaper kiosks and even a Rouen branch of the Banque de France were set ablaze — an act he regards as a tribute to “Lighting.” For Pavlensky, the French state’s response to his artwork confirmed his central thesis: Institutions of power are oppressive, yet they are also oddly vulnerable to someone who denies their legitimacy. He is now at work documenting the government’s contribution to “Lighting” — the CCTV images, court transcripts, letters from the prison authorities that constitute the larger artwork. All his work, Pavlensky says, reveals that society at large may be a prison, but it is still possible to exert a kind of negative liberty. “Everything in my art is done to make people think. It’s not enough just to have your own individual freedom; you need to help others free themselves.”

#Pyotr Pavlensky

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