SafetyChain Blog

In the world of food manufacturing, audit compliance is among the most critical elements to a company’s success. Yet, it is also one of the most challenging aspects of food quality and safety management. Here are a few of the ongoing obstacles organizations must overcome.

To move beyond basic compliance, food and beverage companies must mitigate risks in three major areas: product recalls, regulatory non-compliance, and pathogen contamination/food-borne illnesses. The most effective strategy for doing so is adopting an enterprise risk management process. This allows companies to take a proactive look at food safety management.

For our September 2018 session, Christopher Snabes, MS, CFS, Senior Food Safety Director with The Acheson Group, joined SafetyChain for an update on current FSMA activities and to provide an overview of best practices for Hazard Analysis.

GFSI certification can help your company improve its food safety and quality outcomes, secure a competitive place in the market, and maintain a positive brand reputation. Yet, effectively managing GFSI requirements using your company’s existing resources can add new challenges. To combat these challenges, many companies are implementing food safety technology.

Your organization’s risk management approach comprises many factors, requiring a deep look into both corporate and facility-based risk management. It also should encompass your food safety programs and the knowledge and training of personnel. Nowadays, companies are also leveraging operational data to improve their risk programs. Here, we explore the process of risk assessment as well as three other elements of a holistic approach to risk management.

The FDA has conducted its first series of inspections around the Preventive Controls and Foreign Supplier Verification rules. Here are some of the most noteworthy takeaways companies have gathered from their FSMA inspections in the first half of 2018.

The FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has been called the most sweeping reform of U.S. food safety laws in seven decades. Its main purpose is to protect public health using a proactive, instead of reactive, approach to food safety. FSMA also granted the FDA new enforcement authorities to improve compliance with prevention- and risk-based food safety practices. Because it encompasses such a robust overhaul of food safety regulation, efforts to finalize laws and put legislation into effect have been ongoing since FSMA was signed into law in 2011.

Effective food supplier management is a resource-intensive endeavor for food and beverage companies. Ensuring your suppliers are aligning with the food safety regulations and customer requirements your facility must follow is no easy task. While manufacturers and processors have historically relied on offline systems to oversee vendor management, many are finding that web-based tools can transform their processes to drive efficiency and compliance.

Blog post courtesy of Roger Woehl, Chief Technology Officer, SafetyChain Software.

Many of the food safety and quality issues that eat away the bottom line of food production are found in the "Long Tail" of data collection and assessment.

In the last thirty years, huge progress has been made in the speed at which data can be automatically collected and analyzed. This is true in the food industry where high volumes of food quality, safety, and operational data is collected every few milliseconds, seconds, or minutes.

Food safety is the practice of minimizing the risk of food-borne disease outbreak or similar illnesses through specific handling, preparation, and storing activities. It encompasses a broad set of rules and routines that are implemented to reduce health hazards. In the food and beverage industry, food safety activities span far and wide, impacting the supply chain all the way from food’s origin points to where it reaches the final consumer. Practices could encompass food labeling, hygiene, management of import and export inspection, among others.