the feed

I have been surprised to discover that many manufacturers are still managing their training programs with a combination of PowerPoint and Excel spreadsheets.

Maybe I shouldn't say I was surprised since trainers, managers, and directors have long relied on these tools for their training. And I should know because I was once one of them.

Intertek Alchemy is joining the food industry to celebrate the third annual World Food Safety Day. The event, established by a United Nations resolution, offers an opportunity to honor everyone involved in growing, processing, transporting, selling, preparing, and serving the food that many of us take for granted.

The U.N. resolution states: “There is no food security without food safety, especially in a world where the food supply chain has become more complex.”

I could not agree more.

This week, the 9th edition of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) code went into effect, changing the way many of our customers pursue and maintain a Food Safety Culture. This code is one of many that ultimately helps companies meet the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarked standards through the SQF certification program.

During my last blog on this topic, I provided a simple overview of the new SQF edition and covered the basics of what you need to know to prepare for the new requirements. Many of these new additions to the code will require food producers to alter the way they implement, measure, and report food safety processes. In this blog, I’ll cover six new requirements under Edition 9, Section 2.1.1, that address senior management’s role in leading and supporting a proper food safety culture, and implementation processes.

As you may know, the 9th edition of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) codes goes into effect on May 24. Many of our clients seek accreditation with the SQF code for its ability to verify food producers are meeting industry, customer, and regulatory requirement for all sectors of the food supply chain. Here's a simple overview of what you need to know to prepare.

The beverage industry is undergoing significant changes as it strives to keep up with evolving consumer demands. As millennials become the largest generation cohort of the population, they have significantly impacted the trends of the beverage industry. Beverage manufacturers must understand millennials’ values, behaviors, and preferences to get ahead of their competition.

It’s time to start getting pumped about this year’s SQF Global Conference! This industry leading event will be virtual this year but will still offer stellar educational programs by talented speakers. Here’s what you can expect:

Intertek Alchemy released a new report analyzing the results from the 6^th annual Global Food Safety Training Survey. Why is this big news? The survey contains valuable data on food safety training programs and identifies areas for improvement in food safety training — insight that can help all companies improve their own training programs.

Industry-wide traceability remains a priority for the produce industry — and for good reason.

Foreign material prevention is among the most talked-about topics these days in the food safety world. After years of industry focus on this topic, prevention and mitigation of foreign material seems to be emphasized more now than ever.

Verification and validation seem similar. Both are included as part of HACCP Principle Number 6 for verification. Both are talked about simultaneously. So, is there really a difference? Yes! A big difference!

On behalf of my fellow Alchemists and consumers in every corner of the world, we extend a big thank you to the hard-working food safety professionals around the world in celebration of today – the world’s first ever annual Food Safety Day.

 Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is a process used to identify, evaluate, and assess the levels of risk using a systematic approach for determining probability or risk and the consequence of that risk. 

Environmental monitoring has become the center of attention for good reason lately. New requirements by FDA and GFSI standards have raised the importance of environmental monitoring programs (EMP’s).

Growing up, my grandfather used to tell us that we had to learn from the mistakes of others because we will not live long enough to make all the mistakes on our own. That said, US-based companies need to stay informed on what is going on around the world related to intentional adulteration.