Ecolab Unveils Innovative Tested Tool To Improve Food Safety

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) has recently launched an innovative and tested tool – Food Safety Culture Assessment – that will help in measurement and advancement of food safety behaviors and enhance the overall food safety culture associated with food retail organizations. With this new tool, the Ecolab expects to efficiently improve food safety and provide a boost to its Global Industrial segment.

Notably, this tool has been introduced as part of World Food Safety Day on Jun 7, 2019.

Few Words About Food Safety Culture Assessment

Given the constant need for fresh food and varied eating options from restaurants and the foodservice industry, food safety risks increase rapidly. Apart from improving food safety, it is imperative to ensure customer safety. Consequently, the requirement to add new risk reduction techniques to the portfolio becomes a pressing need.

The Food Safety Culture Assessment is a series of easy-to-read and comprehensible questions on the key elements of an effective food safety culture. The assessment will take only minutes to complete, and the results can help to detect trends based on unique attributes important to a company.

Moreover, Ecolab can conduct the assessment across all levels of an organization. The assessment results are then reported with an overview by question and category, a Food Safety Culture Index, an industry benchmark score, and recommendations created to help prioritize an organization’s action planning efforts.

The assessment can be taken annually or at any desired frequency that will help in checking the progress when it comes to maintaining and strengthening a robust food safety culture.

The tool has been created to offer better visibility into attitudes and actions of frontline employees, managers and corporate officers and detect the areas that require improvement.

Importance of Food Safety

Food safety is very critical in today’s world as the continued success of a business depends on it.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) access to sufficient amount of safe and nutritious food is the key to sustained lives and promotion of good health.

Unsafe food carries harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances that leads to more than 200 diseases ranging from diarrhea to cancers.

An estimated 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years (DALYs).

Market Prospects

Per a report by MarketsandMarkets the food safety testing market is anticipated to grow from $17 billion in 2018 $24.6 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 7.7% during the forecast period. This can primarily be attributable to increase in global outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.

Additionally, strict food safety regulations, availability of advanced rapid technology, rise in demand for convenience and packaged food products, upsurge in outbreaks of chemical contamination in food processing industries, and increase in consumer awareness about food safety is projected to bolster the market.

Global Industrial Segment at a Glance

With this new tool Ecolab expects to enhance its Global Industrial Segment and it is important to note that Food & Beverage falls under the aforementioned segment.

In the first quarter of 2019, sales in the segment grew 4.5% year over year fueled by major gains in the Water, Food & Beverage and Life Sciences units.

Zacks Rank and Price Performance

Currently Ecolab carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of Ecolab have gained 37.7% in a year’s time, outperforming the industry’s growth of 5%. The stock has also outpaced the S&P 500 index’s rally of 1.7%.

Key Picks

Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSII) , Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) and Heamonetics Corporation (NYSE:HAE) , each currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cardiovascular Systems has an earnings growth rate of 33.3% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.

Quidel Corporation has a long-term earnings growth rate of 25%.

Heamonetics has a long-term earnings growth rate of 13.5%.

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