Global food companies need to keep their factories clean and safe. They learn how in Harahan.

In food manufacturing, a poorly maintained facility can lead to tragedy.

Last year, there were nearly 300 food recalls related to 19 deaths and almost 500 hospitalizations in the U.S. A listeria outbreak traced to a single deli meat plant in Virginia caused 10 deaths and dozens of illnesses.

The problems ranged from cucumbers contaminated with salmonella to products containing undeclared allergens like peanuts or tree nuts.

It's these types of situations, including products coming off store shelves this month , that the trainers at Commercial Food Safety hope to prevent.

The company, known as CFS, is a subsidiary of New Orleans-based manufacturing behemoth Intralox, which has a reason to take food safety seriously. Intralox's primary business is designing and building conveyor