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This information can be used to develop food safety and quality programs that meet the requirements of modern Regulatory, Customer and Industry Standards:
When considering the development, documentation and implementation of Food Safety Management within food safety and quality management systems, the following information should be considered to ensure effective outcomes:
Every time a consumer eats, they are reliant on many stages of the food supply chain to ensure that their food is safe and of substantial quality. The food supply chain commonly begins in the paddock and progresses through various stages including preparation, packing, warehousing, distribution, processing, presentation and service. Every part of the supply chain must be responsible for their role in controlling potential hazards that may render foods unsafe or unsuitable for consumers. Most food borne illness incidents are the result of a lack of control of hazards during one or multiple stages of the paddock to plate food chain.
In the current age of rapidly changing legal requirements and rampant litigation, Food Safety Management systems are a prescribed and essential component of all food businesses and their suppliers. Having a well managed and maintained Food Safety Management System operating within your business need not be an overly complex, expensive or time-consuming task. The pre-requisite for any Food Safety Management System is a commitment to science-based food hazard analysis, identification and control, and elements that are part of any quality management system: Policy, Structure, Training, Awareness, Responsibility, Communication, Documentation, and Verification. The fundamental scope and purpose of any Food Safety Management System rely on science-based knowledge, a comprehensive management system and a willingness to meet the requirements for the production of safe and quality foods for your customers.
It is a common misconception when food safety incident occurrences are immediately blamed on a previous chain of supply step holder. As food production and service has become more complex, the onus for food safety and quality accountability is relevant to everyone who is involved in the “paddock to plate” food chain. It is not just those who are in direct contact with the food that need to be aware of food safety and quality requirements: It is also the housekeeper who had returned from the restroom to fold your napkin with unwashed hands; the kitchen hygienist who has wiped a soiled kitchen workbench with the same cloth used to polish your plate; the production worker with an unreported communicable illness; the warehouse supervisor who ignores temperature fluctuations in a storage chiller; or the wait staff member who had removed dust by blowing into your soon to be filled butter pot! The application of Food Safety Management is far-reaching in its scope and purpose in our modern age, and everyone involved is accountable for food safety within our business operations.
The proprietors and management of every food business are expected to display a due diligence approach to ensuring the moral and legal responsibilities of providing safe and quality foods for consumers. Individuals or food businesses prosecuted under the requirements of food safety laws can commonly offer a defence based on proof that they have taken all reasonable precautions to avoid the offence, and have shown due diligence in the implementation of related precautions.
When you have appropriately identified the hazards and risks associated with your food business and introduced measures to control them; you have taken considerable steps towards demonstrating due diligence. You must also be able to show that you have facilitated this process by having well developed, documented, implemented, monitored, verified and validated Food Safety Management elements.
A Food Safety Management System is a detailed plan of action which if applied correctly, will result in the production of safe foods. There is no precise template for any given food industry sector as each food business is different. A science-based approach such as HACCP will produce appropriate outcomes, as all potential hazards will be identified and controlled. Food Safety Management Systems need to be specifically tailored to each food business operation to address potential hazards are identified and controlled. It is important that everyone involved with food businesses from Paddock to Plate, is aware of their individual roles, responsibilities and accountabilities within the Food Safety Management System, and that their participation in such is proactive.
haccp.com has been designed to provide users with food safety knowledge, as well as giving defined direction for the development of new and existing Food Safety Management Systems.
A Food Safety Management System is a set of developed, documented, implemented, monitored, verified and validated procedures related to the production of safe food, often accompanied by structured pre-requisite programs. A successful Food Safety Management System has many elements, all of which are necessary to produce safe food, and to prove due diligence in doing so. Food Safety Management Systems are very much specific to each individual food operation, but they all rely on the same founding principles.
The following elements are nominated as being essential to any Food Safety Management System:
As components of the scope and purpose of your Food Safety Management System, it should generally be stated that the primary objective of the Food Safety Management System is to maintain status as a producer of safe foodstuffs and to exceed consumer expectations regarding food safety.
The implementation and management of a Food Safety Management System within any food business can assist with the following:
Internationally, a HACCP based Food Safety Management System relies on principles that are consistent with the principles and application of the Codex HACCP Guidelines developed and maintained by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. With the adoption and maintenance of HACCP within your food business, International markets may be maintained or expanded as HACCP based Food Safety Management Systems are internationally recognised.
An objective Food Safety Management System enhances the principles of shared responsibility for safe food production. By clarifying the respective roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of both government and industry regarding food safety activities, the sharing of responsibility can occur without loss of assurance of food safety.
The use of trademarked logos or symbols that are recognised regionally, nationally and internationally may have a significant impact on the marketability of product produced under an objective Food Safety Management System.
Closer communication will result between regulatory and industry members and associates. This communication will facilitate the informal and formal exchange of information related to the safe handling and production of food products.
Increased food business awareness and responsibility will result in rapid and efficient response to deviations at critical control points within any food-related process. Not only will minor problems be corrected in an efficient manner, but the enhanced in-line monitoring of product will result in reduced food recalls or product destruction due to compliance deviations. This will have a direct positive impact on the food business applying the Food Safety Management System while having an indirect positive impact on the food business’ customers.
The requirements of any science-based Food Safety Management System include, but are not limited to the following systemic examples to ensure adherence to relevant legislative requirements and food industry sector guideline:
Elements that are common to any quality management system, including:
A documented Good Manufacturing Practices policy, including requirements for:
Training programs, including:
Written job descriptions or duty statements for key food safety personnel including:
As components of the scope and purpose of your food safety program, it should generally be stated that all relevant food handling employees undertake training as specified in relevant legislation.
A written maintenance schedule including requirements for:
Standard Procedures for all stages of processes including:
Documentation and Record-Keeping requirements for:
A documented cleaning and sanitation schedule including:
A pest control program that specifies:
Food safety is a fundamental customer requirement, and therefore, is directly related to quality management. It is expected that all foods produced and supplied to customers are safe, and of substantial quality, in relation to the customer’s requirements and expectations.
Originally, food safety and food quality standards were maintained as separate components, both in application, and regarding certification activities. Food industry certification standards have been extremely successful in merging safety and quality system components to produce formidable auditable standards, which are now considered and applied by thousands of food businesses globally.
With increasing food safety and food quality requirements imposed upon food businesses, it is important to recognise the role that safety and quality have come to play in the operational scope of many food industry sectors. The integration of quality aspects into food industry certification standards has dramatically increased the operational capabilities of food businesses in line with other industry sectors. This has had obvious effects, especially evident for larger multi-national companies, many of which are recognised as Best Practice business management experts, not only within food industries but within any global industry sector.
The outcomes of merged food safety and food quality systems continue to produce positive outcomes within every food industry sector.
When applied successfully, merged safety and quality management systems offer:
Most merged certification standards employ the nomination and management of Quality Points and Quality Control Points, which are intended as the quality equivalents of Control Points and Critical Control Points within HACCP. These can be designated and implemented by using a process similar to that used within the HACCP process.
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Food Safety Management Development requirements in relation to their items.
Document: A document provides guidance and/or direction for performing work, making decisions, or rendering judgments which affect the safety or quality of the products or services that customers receive.
Documented policies, procedures, work instructions and schedules form the basis of any food safety and quality management system. The following documentation formats may be considered to ensure ongoing compliance with specified requirements for Food Safety Management:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Food Safety Management Documentation requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Food Safety Management Templates section of haccp.com for examples of Food Safety Management documentation, record and resource formats commonly applied within food safety and quality systems.
Implementation: Implementation is the application of documented food safety and quality system elements into the actual business operation.
The implementation of Food Safety Management within any food business requires genuine commitment from senior management, staff and visitors to ensure the nominated goals of implementation are achievable on an ongoing basis. It is a step which requires significant planning and consideration of general and specific food business circumstances to ensure the outcomes of Food Safety Management do not negatively impact upon the safety and quality of the food items dispatched from the business.
Implementation of Food Safety Management must include the clear definition of responsibilities and authorities for all levels of participation by senior management, staff and visitors to the site.
When implementing Food Safety Management within a food safety and quality system, you may wish to consider the following requirements prior to completion:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Food Safety Management Implementation requirements in relation to their items.
Monitoring: Monitoring is the act of reviewing and confirming measurable parameters of a defined process or product status.
Monitoring requirements within food industry sectors are generally identified against limits of acceptability defined within HACCP plans, implementation procedures and work instructions. Monitoring usually includes some element of record-keeping, which may be maintained manually or through digital systems. It is important to consider that advancements of technology have spawned many systems and processes which are self-monitored and or self-adjusted when variances are identified. Regardless of the system used; The goal of any monitoring activity is to provide sufficient evidence that any limit of acceptability has been met.
Traditional Food Safety Management monitoring requirements include manual recording and the application of corrective actions when the results of monitoring are found to be outside acceptable limits. Corrective Actions should also generally be strongly linked to the monitoring process where applied to ensure full traceability of the applied actions.
Common monitoring activities and record formats may be applicable to Food Safety Management:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Food Safety Management Monitoring requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Food Safety Management Templates section of haccp.com for examples of Food Safety Management documentation, record and resource formats commonly applied within food safety and quality systems.
Corrective Action: Corrective action is mandatory action to be taken when a deviation to the Quality System occurs, particularly in relation to a Critical Control Point.
Preventative Action: At any step in the process where a hazard has been identified, preventative action must be put into place to prevent re-occurrence.
Corrective Action and Preventative Action is implemented to ensure that any identified non-conformance issues are documented, investigated and rectified within appropriate time-frames. Corrective action is any action applied to regain control over a product, process, policy or procedure that has been identified as being non-conforming or outside nominated limits of acceptability. Preventative action is any action applied to prevent any identified non-conformance from reoccurring.
The outcomes of corrective and preventative actions should result in regained process control after effective application. Specified corrective actions are commonly linked to the HACCP Plans and to the food business certification process.
Below are Corrective Action and Preventative Action examples which may be associated with Food Safety Management related non-conformance:
Deviations and critical observations must be recorded in a timely and appropriate manner to address their potentiality to provide aspects of non-conformance with the scope and purpose of the Food Safety Management System. Such incidents should be discussed and investigated in detail at food safety meetings and management review activities. As a result of the investigation, corrective actions or procedures may be initiated to prevent re-occurrence of any problems.
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Food Safety Management Corrective Action requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Corrective Action and Preventative Action section of haccp.com for examples of best practice applications for this food safety and quality system element.
Verification: The act of reviewing, inspecting, testing, checking, auditing, or otherwise establishing and documenting whether items, processes, services, or documents conform to specified requirements.
Verification is the detailed review of all food safety and quality system elements to confirm that they are effectively developed, documented, implemented, monitored and reviewed. It is important that all food safety and quality system elements, including documented policies, procedures, training, HACCP plans and their operational applications are verified on an ongoing scheduled basis. The verification process commonly includes a defined schedule for which verification activities are required, how often they are conducted, who is responsible and detailed documented procedures for each nominated verification activity.
The general goal of an established verification process is to ensure any systemic non-conformance issues are identified and rectified within an appropriate time-frame. When non-conformance issues are identified through the verification process, Corrective Actions and Preventative Actions should be implemented to ensure they do not impact the effectiveness of the food safety and quality system.
The following examples of verification activities may be applicable to Food Safety Management:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Food Safety Management Verification requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Verification Activities section of haccp.com for examples of best practice applications for this food safety and quality system element.
Validation: The process of gathering evidence to provide a scientific basis for the documented act of demonstrating that a procedure, process and activity will consistently lead to the expected results. It often includes the qualification of systems and equipment.
Validation is the provision of evidence to support the limits of control or acceptability for food safety or quality parameters nominated within systemic elements. Limits of control or acceptability are commonly included within documented food safety and quality system elements such as procedures, HACCP plans and specifications.
Common sources of validation include regulatory and legislative standards, finished product specifications and customer requirements, industry codes of practice and guidelines, verified and validated research, historical product and process control outcomes and analytical testing.
The general goal of an established validation process is to ensure any systemic non-conformance issues are identified and rectified within an appropriate time-frame. When non-conformance issues are identified through the verification process, Corrective Actions and Preventative Actions should be implemented to ensure they do not impact the effectiveness of the food safety and quality system.
Validation activities are commonly defined within the verification schedules and procedures of established food safety and quality management systems.
The following examples may be applicable to validation of the limits of control or acceptability for Food Safety Management:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Food Safety Management Validation requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Validation Activities section of haccp.com for examples of best practice applications for this food safety and quality system element.
Skills and Knowledge: Skills and knowledge are attributes of human interactions commonly linked to competency within any specified job related task.
Training and competency requirements for Food Safety Management must be ongoing, including regular scheduled reviews to ensure the effectiveness of training and competency outcomes.
Team members who have defined responsibilities regarding Food Safety Management should have knowledge including:
Team members who have defined responsibilities regarding Food Safety Management should have skills including:
Team members who have defined responsibilities regarding Food Safety Management should have access to resources including:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Food Safety Management Training, Competency and Resources requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Training, Competency and Resources section of haccp.com for examples of best practice applications for this food safety and quality system element.
haccp.com was created to support food businesses and food industry professionals in achieving and maintaining the stringent requirements of food industry compliance.