Food Safety News begins its 10th year of service just a few days from now.
It seems like only yesterday that America’s most renown food safety attorney agreed to sponsor this little venture with instructions just to practice good journalism.
My purpose today, however, is not to revisit all the history we’ve made during our first 10 years, but to share with you some improvements we are preparing for our Decimal year.
You might have noticed a new byline: Joe Whitworth. You might have also surmised Joe Whitworth has a propensity for writing about food safety in Europe.
I am happy to announce Joe has joined our Food Safety News staff to cover Europe. Joe officially opened our European bureau on July 2 from his base in Europe, which has lately included both Oldham in the United Kingdom and Montpellier in France.
Some European readers may remember Joseph James Whitworth, who for the last half dozen years was a writer and editor for the William Reed Business Media publications, Food Quality News and Food Production Daily. He was a prolific writer with a real knack for food safety.
In addition to this addition to our human talent, we are also close to unveiling improvements to our technology
When we began publishing a decade ago, almost all readers viewed Food Safety News from a desk-bound computer screen or from a laptop. The common element was the standard size and shape of the screen. We later developed an iPhone app, but have remained most friendly to readers using computer screens.
Our readers, however, are increasingly opting for mobile devices. We need to adapt. So, this month, the Food Safety News “look” is going to make the most dramatic change since we began publishing.
Managing Editor Coral Beach and a team of tech-savvy pros from Seattle-based Lexblog, which hosts our content management system, are working to “go live” with these changes.
The “new look” will accommodate screens of all sizes and shapes, including all those iPhones and Smartphone screens and other mobile devices that are often now preferred.
The “new look” comes with enhanced navigation features that work on all screen sizes. Content from daily news to opinion pieces and from features to reader comments are all going to be better organized.
Keep watching Food Safety News for the change. And if you are attending the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) this week in Salt Lake City, be sure to visit the Food Safety News booth. Chuck Jolley, who handles our sales and marketing will be there along with frequent availability from Beach, writer Kelsey M. Mackin, and yours truly.
Publisher Bill Marler is supposed to drop in for a while too. So, don’t miss any of us and I promise those who’ve sent me an invitation to visit your booth, I’ll do my best.
Welcome, Joe!
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)