MORE INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

ON THE HORIZON

Food and ice – it’s a wonderful combination when it comes to glitzy banquets and high-end black tie dinners etc.

Questions have been raised by the food safety people however, and health departments everywhere are beginning to look more closely at what is acceptable and what isn’t.

Some safety people are more aggressive than others while some turn a blind eye to the situation. But the outcome will undoubtedly be more rules and regulations governing the use of ice for serving dishes and food displays.

The message was hammered home recently when the local Department of Health had been contacted by it’s head office to find out if our plant was inspected regularly.  The matter was brought up as the Health Department was researching everything involved with the upcoming G8 conference which was being held in a prominent resort hotel in Ontario.

This opened a can of worms. The packaged ice companies have strict health regulations while we, as we have pointed out so many times before, have slipped through the cracks.

Sculptures used as décor would not apply, but today, ice plates, bowls, dishes, platters and presentation pieces are commonplace, and they will likely catch the attention of the health inspectors.

Now, in the latest issue of IceWorld journal I read an article by Joe Lillis, Chairman of the International Packaged Ice Association, that says the US Congress is about to vote on two Bills which address food safety modernization in the US food supply.

When passed, all US ice plants will be subject to the same inspections by the FDA as any other food manufacturer. Basically, the ice business will be the food business and with the change will come new guidelines for ice production. This is still confined to the packaged ice business but how long before safety considerations will apply to the ice sculpture business – just as questions are being raised in Canada right now ?

So watch this space – we can expect more action before too long.

And here’s news of another incident which might raise red flags -

Luges have come in for food safety scrutiny and luges which comprise a groove in the ice where drinkers put their mouths directly on the ice are being frowned on. Many get over the problem by freezing-in a food-grade plastic tube.

Now, we have heard of another threat to the ice business. This time it’s not directly related to food presentation. A carver friend in the UK had built up a thriving business supplying luges to local pubs on a regular basis.

It wasn’t long before the pubs received a note from the brewery head office to stop the practice of using luges. ‘It promotes binge drinking’, they said. The pubs stopped and a nice piece of business for the carver was lost. I guess we should expect to hear more about this angle, too. (See full story in People section).