“Part of the reason that so much of this equipment can be adapted into a retail setting is because it's designed with that in mind,” Hollingsworth said.

“The fact that there's going to be a lot of employees coming and going, they all have to be trained on how to keep the equipment clean and how to use it properly. I think when that equipment is designed and entered into the working environment, [it keeps] in mind that a lot of employees are going to have to know how to use it, how to keep it clean, how to operate it properly. Plus, a lot of the new equipment and technologies we see require less attention.”

Sterilox has field training specialists who will train store associates, but the system is designed to be simple to use and labor-reducing.

“It definitely makes it easier for employees to work,” Daniel said. “We've replaced the crisping water in the sink; it's a plug-and-play system. We reduce labor because the product stays fresher longer, so associates are not reworking it and trimming back the dead leaves and things like that.”

Ecolab's products are also designed for labor savings, with users in field tests reporting 25%-35% reduction in the time required to clean a meat room, Mendez told SN.

“Store employees will be trained on the system at the time of installation, but one of the key elements of the Formula Foam's design is its simplicity. It's intuitive and easy to learn in a few minutes,” said Mendez.

FQSI will provide in-store materials to educate consumers about the freshness label.

“We will be working directly with the meat managers at the grocery level so they can express what's there, and at the same time we will be working through mass media in order to communicate with the consumers,” Bonne said.

Industry executives agreed that adequately training employees is one of the challenges when it comes to food safety equipment.

“Training has to be a continuous and constant type of program for retailers because of the high rate of turnover,” Hollingsworth said.

Food safety also must be built into the job so employees practice it consistently, Hollingsworth added.

Language barriers can also pose challenges when training employees, said Shirley Bohm, consumer safety officer, retail food program, at FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

FMI's SuperSafeMark program offers training in different formats to remedy this problem through two-day in-class training, reference books in different languages and online computer programs.

But given recent foodborne illness outbreaks, product recalls and contamination scares, perhaps the greatest challenge for supermarkets right now is restoring consumer confidence in the safety of products sold at their stores.

“Consumer perceptions of food supply safety are at an all-time low, and retailers must provide assurance to their customers they're taking every step to protect the food products they sell,” Mendez said.

A recent survey from the FMI states that the percentage of consumers confident that the food they buy in the grocery store is safe dropped from 82% last year to 66% this year.

“I think by and large the biggest challenge that the food industry faces is just finding ways to more directly and interactively articulate the safety and viability of the food products they're providing to the consumer,” Bonne said.

The industry is working on education, said Jeffrey Lineberry, executive director for the Conference for Food Protection, Lincoln, Calif.

“Through labeling and educational campaigns, consumers have become more aware of their role in preventing foodborne illness,” he said.

“The retail food industry has spent great sums on new technology and training to more tightly monitor the risk factors and control food from its origin to the store shelf.”

Daniel agreed, but noted that coming up with the money to invest in new equipment and technology is another challenge for retailers.

“Publicly, of course, everybody's going to say that food safety is paramount, that it's the most important thing, but you still have to put a dollar to it,” he said. “At the retail level, everything has to have a [return on investment].”

Retailers will continue to invest in food safety equipment and technology in the future, Geoff Koontz, spokesman for Sterilox, said.

“Food safety is just a long journey, and there are many Critical Control Points from the time it leaves the field — whether it goes through a processor in bags, or whether it goes through the distribution system,” he said. “So, technology development is going to continue to improve safety all along the distribution channel.”