17 octobre 2022

Food Safety Requirements for Suppliers

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The stakes are high for food security. In response to this higher risk, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has included requirements for managing supplier food safety in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). While the preventive controls rule applies to FDA-regulated ingredients, the principles and importance of effective food safety management programs for suppliers apply to all foods, regardless of who regulates or sells them. One of the essential components of the GFSI is: « Everyone has the right to have access to safe, nutritious and nutritious food. » This post confirms why the author of this article has become an expert in food safety. You should never have to question the safety of the food you bought for yourself or your family and friends. Food safety is a fundamental right that goes beyond where you live or your financial situation. The higher cost of a food can lead to better quality, but food safety should never be questioned. The FDA has supported this message in the last decade since the introduction of FSMA and has become even more prominent during the pandemic. Table 1 lists several supply chain objectives for manufacturers who are GFSI-recognized Certification Program Owners (CPOs) and who meet GFSI benchmarking requirements. Other complete requirements can be found in the referenced codes. Any production site that manufactures materials for Mondelēz International must meet the expectations set out in the Supplier Quality Expectations Manual (QMS). Supplier audit and approval requirements are included in the SQE manual.

The Supplier Quality Expectations Manual, additional guidance and training materials can be found on our Supplier Quality Manuals page. The FDA`s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is changing the country`s food safety system by shifting the focus from responding to foodborne illness to preventing them. The Congress adopted the FSMA in response to dramatic changes in the global food system and in our understanding of foodborne illnesses and their consequences, including the recognition that preventable foodborne illnesses are both a significant public health issue and a threat to the economic well-being of the food system. Juliana Canale is an expert in food manufacturing and regulation at the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Food Science with a concentration in Biotechnology from Cornell University. She has received the Certificate of Lead Instructor Training for Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) for Preventive Controls for Human Food (PCHF) and a Certificate of Lead Instructor Training for the FSPCA for Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) and is HACCP and Seafood HACCP certified by the IHA (International HACCP Alliance). Supplier certification is of paramount importance to ensure that companies adopt best practices in compliance with regulatory requirements and food safety. While the COVID-19 pandemic makes it a challenge, companies need to move forward and work on creative solutions to ensure their supply chains are up to date with the current state of food security. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it`s the importance of being flexible and agile while striving to adopt best practices and continually improve. For all suppliers of ingredients, food contact chemicals, processing aids and food contact packaging for Cargill companies. As of June 1, 2018, this guide replaces all previous versions of the Cargill Supplier External Manufacturer Requirements Manual.

The best way to demonstrate this problem is to look at a recent case of contamination by frozen vegetables and listeria. A frozen vegetable producer in Washington State, let`s call Company A, was selling bulk products to other companies that repackaged those vegetables with branded labels. Company A also packaged products for sale to its own retail customers under various private labels. To meet the demand for sales, this company relied on other frozen food companies to supply them with frozen mass products, which they then resold as their own. Unfortunately, one of these major suppliers, Company B, had a problem with Listeria contamination. Thus, although there were companies that had audited Company A and even received certificates of authenticity for the batches they had purchased, these corporate customers were dragged into a recall situation when this packaged product was tested by Company A and tested positive for listeria. This contaminated product was a mass product supplied by its supplier, Company B. When our customers and members shop in our stores, clubs or online, we know they expect low prices. But an often unspoken expectation is that they want the products they buy to be safe – and when it comes to food, that`s crucial.

Our commitment to our customers and members is unprecedented. We work tirelessly to provide safe, affordable and high-quality food. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we go beyond many retailers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico by requiring harmonized, state-of-the-art food safety standards to be adopted throughout the food production chain. Nowadays, many supplier approval programs consist exclusively of a checklist of documents that need to be collected by a supplier and kept in a filing cabinet. Programs that require only documentation are unlikely to meet the risk assessment requirements of Subsection G. Commonly collected documents today are third-party audit reports (or simply audit certificates), letters of guarantee, and certificates of analysis (COA). The supply chain has occupied consumers since the beginning of the global pandemic.

For food safety professionals, this is an issue that has only been exacerbated and complicated since the onset of COVID-19. Faced with this increased attention, companies are focusing on their supply chain. Therefore, it is imperative to discuss what motivates most companies in the current climate: supplier certification. Here are four steps you can take to ensure your food suppliers support the overall safety and quality of the food you serve. Ideally, the assessment is not an audit of the supplier`s plant or operations that duplicates existing audit systems. Rather, it should be an opportunity to better understand a supplier`s overall food safety culture and capabilities. A number of questions can be asked: Regardless of the risk, specifications and a letter of guarantee are required from all suppliers. Not all companies have the resources to fund on-site assessments for each of their suppliers.

Companies with thousands of suppliers will likely need to prioritize their suppliers` on-site assessments based on risk, as on-site assessments of each supplier are not logistically possible. In addition to better understanding a supplier`s ability to mitigate food safety risks, the recipient company team allows the recipient company`s team to better understand their supplier`s operations, which can help speed up business recovery in the event of a problem. Meeting suppliers face-to-face in their operations also helps build trust and thus improve communication and transparency, which is important for responding to difficult situations. 1. Check with food suppliers Before working with a supplier, be sure to research their history and processes. This includes obtaining referrals from other retailers and companies that have worked with a supplier. This general information can give you an early indication of the suitability of the provider in question. This step is crucial to help you work around future problems by identifying food suppliers with a reliable service history and ready to adapt to your processes. The best way to plan for this type of scenario is to have pre-approved secondary suppliers and co-packers.

For each of these vendors, you have all the up-to-date documentation required in your vendor control plan. Depending on the supplier and the item purchased, you may also need additional supply chain controls, including the introduction of a stricter sampling and testing protocol during initial transactions, allowing you to establish a relationship with your food supplier that aligns with your core goals to achieve your mission of the highest possible level of food safety in your chain. of supply. The supply chain is also linked to other areas of a company`s food safety program that will be highlighted later, but the most significant overlap is in food safety culture. Supply chain is an interdisciplinary activity that involves a thorough understanding of food safety risk analysis and the adoption of food safety best practices across multiple departments to ensure that safe food is obtained, assessed and processed door-to-door throughout the life cycle of the material(s) before being passed on to the retailer or consumer.

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