Words into Actions – moving from inspections to process based Assessments

ISO 22000, PAS 220 and FSSC 22000 are changing the world of Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) assessments. The inspection method, long the standard bearer in FSMS assessments, is slowly giving way to the process based assessment. Put simply, the checklist approach is being replaced by one that takes a more in-depth look at the processes behind the results.
That was one of the issues discussed last week at LRQA’s FSMS Trainers Course in Orlando, Florida. Vel Pillay, Food Safety Program Manager - Americas, Erasmo Salazar, ISO 22000 Lead Assessor and Trainer from Mexico and Dave Sherring, UK Trainer Manager and course designer, delivered the latest ISO 22000 Auditor/Lead Auditor course to a group of clients from an interesting range of organisations across the food supply chain; including fruit processing, chemical processing and even the US Army.

Building Consumer Trust through Assurance

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) conference that took place last week in Washington D.C. is a very timely one. According to the IBM Consumer Confidence Survey conducted in June 2009, 80% of consumers do not trust their food. This is because of breakdowns in food safety protocols and fraud perpetrated by unscrupulous manufacturers that eroded consumer confidence.

The food industry has changed over the years and tremendous progress has been made in the way we look at identifying issues associated with food safety. The industry has moved from a reactive inspection based approach to a more proactive approach of identifying, evaluating and controlling physical, chemical and microbiological hazards at all stages of the process.

FSSC 22000 The standard of choice

This morning at the Global Food Safety Conference, we talked to Vel Pillay, LRQA Americas food safety expert. Vel talked about the road that LRQA has taken to FSSC 22000 and what lies ahead. Our interview took place on day two of the Washington, D.C. event. Below is the transcript of our interview (Listen to or download the audio podcast here)

Approximately three years ago, the North American food sector recognised the need for greater harmonisation, and adopted the five standards/schemes/programmes benchmarked by GFSI.

Three days and counting....

Monday, February 1st is the beginning of our Food Month blog. We already have a series of interviews, podcasts and blog post lined up for next week. We will be in Washington D.C. for the Global Food Safety Conference.

Our leading food safety experts, Cor Groenveld from Holland and Vel Pillay for the Americas will be reporting live from the event....

See you there and/or then.