Championing Safety: Why National Safety Month Matters to Nelson-Jameson

Nelson-Jameson is the trusted partner and supplier to food manufacturers across the country. But our commitment goes beyond the supply side – we are dedicated to delivering expertise and solutions that help create and protect the highest standards of food safety. That's why we acknowledge National Safety Month each June. It highlights the importance of safety in two areas that are particularly important to us: worker safety (our employees and yours) within food manufacturing facilities, and also food safety to protect consumers. Read on for some ways we honor National Safety Month, and also some of what the Nelson-Jameson team learned at Food Safety Summit recently at the conference in Rosemont, Ill. 

Worker Safety: Protecting the Hands That Help Feed

Nelson-Jameson is committed to helping solve food manufacturers’ challenges when it comes to keeping workers themselves safe.

We provide a wide range of products specifically designed to protect your personnel. This includes extensive offerings in PPE & Safety Products, such as gloves, protective clothing, boots, and much more that all play a part in helping safeguard workers from various workplace hazards. Supplies for facility maintenance and color coding also contribute to a safer working environment by helping prevent accidents and ensure proper procedures are followed. 

“Food safety is baked into everything we do. We prioritize food safety at every link in the chain of custody — from our SQF-certified distribution centers to our owned delivery fleet. Our food safety experts help ensure that same food safety culture at every step in your process.” 

Maintaining Food Safety for Everyone

Food safety is non-negotiable for manufacturers and consumers. And we maintain our commitment every day to helping achieve stringent food safety standards.

Our aforementioned color coding tools can help protect workers, but they’re also crucial for protecting consumers by preventing cross-contamination in facilities. Cleaning supplies and equipment are also necessary for maintaining sanitary conditions in facilities. And for quality assurance and control, we offer a comprehensive range of lab equipment and supplies for crucial testing like microbiological testing, ATP testing, and allergen testing. But going beyond safety products, we also have expert-curated programs to help ensure food safety. Check out our Resource Center for workshops, training, assessments, and more to see how our experts can help yours.

Safety as Our Foundation

For Nelson-Jameson, worker safety and food safety are not separate concerns; they are two sides of the same coin, both essential for the success and sustainability of the food processing industry. Our promise of Delivering the Exceptional™ includes a commitment to food and worker safety. And during and beyond National Safety Month, we’re dedicated to being a partner that provides the products, programs, and expertise needed to ensure both a safe workplace and safe food products.

Our Safety Resources

Learn more about how Nelson-Jameson can help promote worker safety and food safety during National Safety Month and beyond!

View Resources

What we learned at Food Safety Summit 2025

Speaking of food safety, here are some takeaways by the Nelson-Jameson team from the recent Food Safety Summit.

Regulatory updates, communication, and priorities 

During the conference’s sessions, speakers from key federal and state agencies such as the FDA, USDA FSIS, CDC, and Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) took the stage to provide high-level overviews of their organizations' priorities and recent initiatives.

Communication of recalls: Donald Prater of the FDA spoke to setting up the Human Foods Program (HFP) to unify its food-related activities. The program's core pillars are preventing foodborne illness, ensuring chemical safety, and improving nutritional outcomes. And the way to achiveing this, as Prater put it, is communication. 

"Communication, of course, is an essential part of an effective recall strategy. That's what helps ensure that consumers get the information and actually take action on it," he said.

Nelson-Jameson on communication: “Communication in food safety is much more than person-to-person communication – it also means letting a facility or even a tool itself communicate. For example, color-coded tools can communicate a designated area. And adequate signage can communicate any message concisely and clearly.”

Food safety surveillance: Megin Nichols of the CDC focused on public health impact, tracking foodborne illnesses, and identifying prevention methods. Priorities include outbreak response, surveillance, and modernizing early detection and surveillance effectiveness. 

"Talking a little bit about our food safety surveillance, we find that early warnings save lives. Our surveillance system really helps us to spot problems early so that we can quickly speak with our partners, find out what the illness was caused by and do rapid traceback and communication,” she said.

Nelson-Jameson on prevention: “On a global scale, the United States food supply is one of the safest. However, it’s still important to maintain a focus on protecting consumers from preventable foodborne diseases. Everyone in a supply chain is an owner of prevention, and keeping each link strong is imperative every day.”

AI, data, and modernizing information in an era of ‘misinformation’

Technology and data are increasingly recognized as vital for improving food safety across different levels. Here are some of our quick takeaways from other Food Safety Summit sessions: 

• Government tools: Although consumers report trusting the government for recall information, they rarely use government websites or alerts (only 13% visited a government website, 3% received government emails/texts).

• Multimedia efforts: Consumers are likelier to hear about recalls through intermediaries such as traditional media (TV, radio, print), online media, social media, word of mouth, or retailer loyalty programs.

• Unread notifications: Recall notifications are typically only written notices in English, limiting reach to non-English speakers. Communication in multiple languages is crucial.

• Better classification: The FDA is looking into ways to improve classification efficiency, potentially by identifying patterns in common recall types like undeclared allergens.

• AI in food safety: The FDA is actively leveraging data and technologies, including AI and machine learning, for various functions like inspections, import alerts, recalls, and pre-/postmarket work. They envision AI helping to focus resources, maximize public health protection, and minimize burden on compliant industry. 
• Remote learning: The use of remote regulatory assessments and leveraging state partners to increase inspection numbers and meet FISMA targets was discussed. The FDA aims to use data and AI for modernization, prioritizing risk, and is looking at sharing assessment results and other inspection data on its data dashboard.