A food manufacturer’s food safety program must encourage continual improvement to their existing program in order to be successful and to comply with their food safety standard. And root cause analysis is a great tool for problem solving when a site is found not to be in conformance.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control has confirmed that two strains of Listeria monocytogenes found at Bidart Bros. facility in Shafter, CA, are identical to those in an outbreak that has sickened 34 in the U.S. and Canada, and killed at least three in the U.S.
Companies should start preparing for FSMA immediately, caution two food safety experts. Between the proposed and final rule, there is some concern for not knowing the future, but companies should conduct FSMA assessments and build a roadmap for compliance on track with FDA timelines. So are you prepared?
John Kukoly of BRC Global Standards recently spoke about what changed with BRC standard this year, changes expected in 2015, how food facilities can prepare for these changes. Here are some excerpts.
From the auditor’s point of view, what’s most important when it comes to auditing your food safety plans and programs? What do they consider best practices for passing audits? What are the biggest no-no’s leading to deductions? SCS Global’s Sr. Technical Director and Auditor Heena Patel answers.
“Food defense is different from preventive controls and food defense cannot be prescriptive—it needs to be tied to a facility-specific risk evaluation,” says Shannon Cooksey, Senior Director at the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
How can you gain competitive advantage through supplier collaboration and effective supplier relationship management? William Michels offers some ideas.
Adopting a couple different methods of verification, such as ATP swabs and microbial testing, done in a couple dozen strategic locations throughout your plant, should suffice to verify that your plant has been properly cleaned and sanitized, says 3M Food Safety’s Camila Gadotti.
“A good training program needs to address why are we doing this, what is the reason and rationale behind the training. The WHY is as important as WHAT we need to do. Often times, trainers are great auditors, but bad trainers.” – Eurofins’ Gary Smith.
Training is a journey, not a destination. So start looking at training as the best investment you can make in your people, products and brands.
