Food safety culture has been a hot topic since the publication of FSSC 22000 ver5.1. So, what exactly is food safety culture?

Food Safety Culture is defined as:

“Shared values, beliefs and norms that affect mind-set and behaviors toward food safety in, across and throughout an organization.”    ~Global Food Safety Initiative – GFSI

When we examine the foodborne incident reports, we can see that MAJORITY of the incidents were caused by deviation from safe practises. What does these reports tell then?

The reports indicated that food safety culture is heavily influenced by its Values, Vision, and Behaviour as a whole. It is also dependent on the employees’ safety and risk awareness.

According to Jim Collins, “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”

The author of Good to Great, states that in order to build a great organization, we must ensure that the right people are in place. Even in the food manufacturing industry, the power of the human mind and sense of beliefs are required to achieve a common goal.

So how do we integrate food safety into your organization’s culture?

Begin At the Top

Make sure that the upper management in your company understands that they are not exempted from following the procedures. A food safety culture is more sustainable when upper management is able to lead by example. 

Training

The employer is responsible for providing all necessary training to their employees. To keep food safety as a top priority, employers should provide refresher courses and ongoing training to employees. The employer should also provide sufficient resources to support food preparation.

Explain the Reasoning

Instead of focusing on telling your employees ‘What’ to do, explains the “Why”. Explain to your employees why the procedures must be followed.

Data Analysis

All the data collected is not only for recording purposes during an audit. The numbers and data collected tell a story. So, have you analyzed the data and documents before they are kept in the archive cabinet?

I hope that you might find the bite-size information helpful in implementing a successful Food Safety Management System. If you do, feel free to share this with anyone who can benefit from this article.

Reference:

1. Building Food Safety Culture: Employment of People: https://www.profoodworld.com/food-safety/fsma/article/21354776/give-employees-a-voice-by-building-humancentered-food-safety-culture
2. Be Confident in your Food Safety Culture: https://www.foodmanufacturing.com/safety/blog/21796938/be-confident-in-your-food-safety-culture
3. The Increasing Focus on Food Safety Culture: https://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2021/the-increasing-focus-on-food-safety-culture/

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