ISO 22000 Blog » vinca

People would pay more for safe food

vinca — Thu, 26 May 2011 12:50:28 +0000

PHILADELPHIA, May 22 (UPI) — Challenging conventional wisdom that most people want smaller government and less expensive food, a U.S. survey indicates most would pay more for safer food.

The Pew Charitable Trusts commissioned a poll by Hart Research and American Viewpoint that indicates 66 percent support additional funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to carry out new responsibilities related to food safety.

Seventy-four percent feel it is worth a 1 percent to 3 percent increase in the cost of food to pay for new safety measures in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which was signed into law this year. In addition, 70 percent of those surveyed favor food companies paying an average annual fee of $1,000 to help cover the cost of new FDA food safety activities.

Twenty-five percent of U.S. adults say they worry a great deal about food being contaminated with bacteria that makes it unsafe to eat, while 85 percent say the government should be responsible for ensuring that food is safe to eat and 71 percent of voters say the FDA plays a very important or essential role in protecting Americans’ health and safety.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, strengthening the oversight authorities of the FDA, by improving safety standards for food facilities and fresh produce, strengthens inspection requirements, boosts powers to help limit the dangers of food imports and provides the FDA with the power to issue a mandatory recall of contaminated food, among other authorities.

Before the new law, the FDA examined about 1 percent of food imports and each facility received a visit from an FDA inspector on average once a decade, Pew officials say.

The survey, conducted April 28 to May 4, surveyed 1,015 likely voters on land-line phones and cellphones. The survey has a margin of error 3.1 percentage points.

FSSC 22000 poised for explosive growth, predicts chief

vinca — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:06:45 +0000

The food safety management scheme FSSC 22000 is set for explosive growth over the next three years as increasing numbers of major food processors and retailers switch to using the system, said the organisation’s chief Fons Schmid.

In the second part of FoodProductionDaily.com’s special edition on Plant Audits and Quality Control, the chair of the FSSC board of stakeholders outlined drivers behind the growth projections, and talked about the body’s plans to form a new division to provide certification services when the forthcoming ISO standard on packaging comes into force.

Evolution of FSSC

The Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000 is still in its infancy compared to other schemes such as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) but its current 300 certifications (compared to the BRC’s 13,000) will soar by more than 10 times within a few years, predicted Schmid.

“We are still relatively young as an organisation but our development dates back more than a decade,”he said.

The method has been developed for the certification of food safety systems of food manufacturers that process or manufacture animal products, perishable vegetable outputs or products with a log shelf life – as well as ingredients such as additives, vitamins and biocultures.

The formation of FSSC 22000 has its seeds in the string of food contamination incidents at end of the 1990’s that saw a straining in trust in food manufacturers by leading retailers, who increasingly pushed for the formation of private certification schemes to oversee the supply chain.

But it took another five years for the food manufacturing sector to recognise that a unified system would be more efficient and credible than the individual ones used by companies. The sector’s insistence on a scheme developed by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) led to the ISO 22000 in 2005.

It was not, however, until this standard was combined with an industry-led system PAS 220 in 2008 that it received the necessary approval from the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

The FSSC is a combination of these standards plus extra criteria such as the need for food processors to have an inventory of applicable foreign regulations on their premises and effective supervision of personnel to apply safety standards.

Tipping point

Schmid highlights two crucial elements that he is convinced will underpin the rapid growth of the non-for-profit group’s scheme: full GFSI approval in spring 2010 and its acceptance by the European Cooperation for Accreditation. FSSC 22000 was the first of the GFSI-recognised schemes to receive ECA approval and means all accreditation bodies in Europe accept it.

This was due to come into force at the start of this year but a delay means this will now more likely happen from the 1 July, 2011, he added.

The initiative’s global structure and increasing acceptance by major players will also ensure its growth, said Schmid. The scheme already counts a number of giants such as Cargill and Kraft while others such a Coca-Cola and Nestle are considering its adoption.

The growing market for certification bodies is also driving expansion and with this number expected to surge to create what the FSSC board chair calls a tipping point.

“We currently have nine accredited bodies but a further 36 that are in the process of going through the application procedure. Some 26 more have expressed an interest in coming on board”, he explained.

Consequently the number is expected to balloon to 60 by the end of the year and such increased coverage will be a massive driver for growth – mainly in Europe and North America but also China and key parts of South East Asia such as Thailand and Japan.

He said this would have a massive effect on the scheme’s expansion because “many food manufacturers have been waiting for the certification bodies they currently work with to get FSSC accreditation – and from there will come the tipping point”.

The FSSC said it expects to have 1,000 certifications in place by the end of the year and between 5,000 and 10,000 within three years.

“FSSC 22000 is in its infancy but we are expecting an explosion in growth”, said Schmid.

But he stressed the foundation’s goal was not for the scheme to become the number one system in the world but rather making sure that its accreditation bodies are “operating to highest standard of certification and integrity”.

Packaging and other challenges

The key to the scheme’s future growth will be its ability to adapt, said Schmid, adding this was something the organisation worked hard on.

He cited the forthcoming ISO standard on food packaging for material manufacturers as being a good example

“With packaging we would need to adapt our requirements and scope, which won’t be difficult but we will need new certification bodies and accreditation, as well as a new division,” he said “The ISO may introduce the packaging standard sometime this year. We could incorporate it within a couple of months.”

Upgrading the scheme to meet GFSI 6 is on their radar but while Schmid acknowledges the challenge he predicts this should be completed by the middle of this year – in plenty of time for the 1 January, 2012 deadline. In the meantime, the GFSI will continue to recognise its current procedures.

Increasing its penetration in North America and the opening of an office in China by the end of the year are also two aims high on the FSSC’s list.

“We are constantly adapting and gaining more and more recognition from big manufacturers. We firmly believe that FSSC 22000 is making food processing safer across the globe,” Schmid said.

New 22000 Implementation Options

vinca — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:16:05 +0000

22000 Tools now offers another level of the popular All in One Package. The All-in-One Package is great for the smaller business that doesn’t need to train as many people and has a lower price. The Premium All-in-One includes training for the Food Safety Team, The internal auditors and 50 employees. Click the image below to compare the packages.

Compare 22000 Implementation Packages

American Canyon Winery achieves ISO 22000 Certification

vinca — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:34:40 +0000

Sonoma Wine Company’s (SWC) American Canyon winery received ISO 22000 certification last week making them the first US winery to achieve ISO 22000, the international standard of food safety in the ISO quality management series. “Quality management systems streamline operations, reduce costs and stimulate innovation in operational practices” says Dennis Carroll, President of Sonoma Wine Company. “It is about continuous improvement and best business practices, hot button topics that dovetail nicely with our sustainable business goals” adds GM, Ed Silva.

With the exception of larger wineries that have active import and export programs, the US wine industry by and large has not complied with international standards for quality management certifications. SWC, as the largest contract winery service provider on the north coast, is positioning itself to offer contract services to wine producing countries that look favorably on these certifications or, in the case of Australia for example, require certification in order to receive and package their bulk wine. “There is a business opportunity for us to attract import bulk-to-bottle programs from countries whose import programs are at a disadvantage due to exchange rates. Shipping bulk is more efficient and can be more cost effective than shipping finished cased goods,” notes Natasha Granoff, Director of Business Development. “And it is equally attractive from a lower carbon footprint perspective.”

This certification is further demonstrative of SWC’s industry leadership in best business practices, environmental stewardship, and sustainability. It follows a year rich with impactful milestones for SWC, including the installation of a groundbreaking solar cogeneration system at the Graton, California facility this past November.

About Sonoma Wine Company
Sonoma Wine Company provides unparalleled grape-to-bottle winemaking capabilities in Northern California. The integration of custom winery services offers one-stop-shopping for virtual and existing wineries including crush to-bottle, tank and barrel storage and services, box wine and keg wine filling, case goods warehousing, private label and direct to consumer fulfillment . Their Sonoma and Napa county facilities produce more than five million cases of wine annually for 30 clients. Over the past few years, Sonoma Wine Company’s focus on resource conservation and efficiency resulted in significant reductions in water and fossil fuel use while garnering recognition from many agencies including PG&E and the EPA for establishing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory in 2005. For more information please visit www.sonomawineco.com or contact Charles Communications Associates at press@charlescom.com or 415-701-9463

How does a company begin down the path to ISO 22000or FSSC 22000?

vinca — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:09:30 +0000

Our quality systems professionals have outlined the steps that they use in developing quality management systems with clients. We will cover each step in detail. You can use this as a guide for planning your project.

Step 1

The first key step is for management to recognize the need for a Food Safety Management System. This is critical to having management commitment. Without management commitment you will not have a successful project. Management will need to provide resources as well as play a key role in the development of the system. If top management is on board, you have accomplished a big first step. If not, getting them well informed is a good place to start. Once they understand what is required, and what the benefits of a good management system are they are much more likely to give the project their support. Have management identify the goals for the Quality System.

Review questions such as:

Is Registration or Certification the main goal?
Is there a customer or market requirement? If not, what is the goal or reason for building the system?

Compare these goals to what a 22000 Food Safety Management System (FSMS) will do for you. A 22000 FSMS will give you and your customers confidence in a globally recognized quality system, expand market opportunities and bring improvement to your processes.

Educate the decision makers on what the 22000 FMSM requires, and what it will take to achieve it. If you have already done a Gap Analysis you will have an idea of how big of a project it will be. You may have quite a bit in place that already addresses requirements; this is especially true if you already have a strong HACCP system in place. Quality processes or systems that you have in place already will mean a shorter implementation project.

Information on planning and conducting a gap analysis is detailed on our website.

FSSC 22000 Certification: Who issues certificates?

vinca — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:09:13 +0000

In order to receive an FSSC 22000 Certificate you will need to have a Certification Audit performed by an associated certification body. This is an accredited organization. At this time those organizations include:

Bureau de Normalisation du Quebec
Bureau Veritas Certification
Lloyds Register Quality Assurance
NSF-CMi Certification Ltd
SAI Global
SGS Systems and Services Certification

Certification bodies who want to become associated and accredited for FSSC 22000 first have to sign a Letter of Intent for a provisional license. The certification bodies who want to become associated for FSSC 22000 have to sign a Letter of Intent. The provisional license, granted by this letter of intent, is intended to give the certification body the opportunity to approach a limited number of potential clients to prove their competence to the accreditation body. This means that unaccredited FSSC 22000 certification audits can be delivered. You can find a list of those organizations on the FSSC 22000 website

22000 Certification Project Manager

vinca — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:06:46 +0000

We are happy to announce our newest, most comprehensive tool for managing your 22000 Food Safety Management System implementation project. The 22000 Project Manager outlines the management system step-by-step, from start to finish, providing all of the training, guidance, tools and documentation needed to implement the 22000 FSMS.

Users appreciate the ease of use. In the words of the customer “I have found the information very pleasing in that it is clearly understood, set out in a very computer friendly manner as the various fields flow nicely into each other helping one to understand the organization that ISO 22000 requires before the implementation.”

22000 Certification is the new, globally recognized certification that ensures that food suppliers are in compliance with the requirements of an effective, standardized food safety system. This certification now provides peace of mind for suppliers, retailers, and consumers world-wide, as it ensures the integrity and safety of food products throughout each link in the food chain. The documented internal food safety processes that are required to receive this certification provide a systematic, proactive, ongoing approach to food safety that ensures that the highest possible food safety standards are met.

Achieving this certification allows a food related business to sell product to the growing number of major national and international manufacturers and retail chains that require this 22000 Certification. It also ensures food safety for your consumers, and will reduce the risks associated with costly food recalls. The food safety processes that are required to receive certification provide a systematic, proactive, ongoing approach to food safety that ensures that the highest food safety standards are met and maintained. 22000 Certification is for all companies with services and products that are involved in the food supply chain including: feed production, food manufacturing, food ingredients, transportation of food, packaging or selling food (retail or wholesale), serving prepared food (restaurants, grocery stores), and food equipment production.

How to conduct an ISO 22000 Gap Analysis

vinca — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:04:35 +0000

New FREE Online Gap Analysis Manager shows you how to conduct the gap analysis.

Print a gap analysis plan
Download the checklist template
View the gap analysis tutorial

This is a great place to start as you begin to explore food safety system standards for your company.

Food Packaging Safety Webinar

vinca — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:54:33 +0000

Active and Intelligent Packaging Technologies: A Food Safety and Quality Perspective

In this food Safety training understand elements of active and intelligent packaging technologies for food safety and quality.

Why Should You Attend:

From food safety and quality perspective, traditional packages are passive barriers to delay the detrimental environmental effects on the food product. Increased regulatory concerns, market globalization, enhanced concerns for food safety and threat for bioterrorism are few of the factors which have led to innovative food packaging materials and solutions. Active and intelligent packaging are two emerging technologies for food safety and quality point of view.

Active packaging technology extends the shelf life by allowing packages to interact with food and the environment. Active packaging involves delayed oxidation, controlled respiration rate and microbial growth and moisture migration.
Intelligent Packaging technology basically monitors and communicates the information related to food quality. Intelligent packaging technology involves smart devices such as time temperature indicators, ripeness indicators, biosensors and radio frequency identification which can be incorporated in packaging materials or attached to inside or outside of a package.

Attend this food safety webinar to understand the different active and intelligent packaging techniques which you can follow to have your food products adhere to global food quality and compliance requirements.

Areas Covered in the Seminar:

History of Packaging.
Factors for Packaging Consideration.
- Protection
- Communication
- Convenience
- Containment
Active Packaging
- Oxygen Scavengers
- Carbon Dioxide Absorption
- Moisture Control
- Microbial Control
- Ethylene Absorbers
- Temperature Control
Intelligent Packaging
- Framework of Intelligent Packaging
- Smart Package Devices
- Time-Temperature Indicators
- Gas Indicators
- Biosensors
Application of Active and Intelligent Packaging
Future Developments
- Application of Nanotechnology
- Innovation in Smart Package Devices
- Integration of Intelligent Packaging into Total Packaging System

Who Will Benefit:

Food Operations Executives and Managers
Quality Assurance Managers and Personnel
Regulatory Personnel
Consultants

Instructor Profile:
Atique Rehman, is working as a Food Scientist in a Food Analytical Company in Canada. He is an experienced quality assurance and food safety professional with a Master of Science degree in Food Science & Agriculture Chemistry from McGill University Canada, Certified HACCP Auditor Designation from American Society for Quality (ASQ) and Certified Food Safety Trainer from National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) USA. Atique is well versed in quality management and food safety system development, implementation, monitoring, auditing and continuous improvement and carries 7 years practical experience while working in Saudi Arabia and Canada, in different areas of food business.

Learn more and register for this webinar

FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

vinca — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:40:52 +0000

Improving Capacity to Prevent Food Safety Problems FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Moves Forward!

Released by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), a copy of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) was released this week. The bill is expected come to the Senate floor in September.

Many of the changes and responsibilities fall on the FDA, but there are also requirements for Food Facilities.

These are some highlights of sections that will impact Food Facilities directly:

Inspection of Records

The FDA will have expanded access to records when there is a threat of serious adverse health consequences from an adulterated food or a reasonable probability that a food will cause serious adverse health consequences.

Registration

Food Facility registration requirements will be expanded. All food facilities will need to register, and renew biennially. Registration may be suspended if there is a reasonable probability that food will cause serious adverse health consequences.

Hazard Analysis and Risk Based Preventative Controls

All registered domestic facilities will need to have a Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventative Control program in place. Facilities must identify possible hazards and implement controls to minimize or prevent the risk of the hazard occurring. This requirement will include the need for a written plan, available to the FDA.

Fees

The FDA will be able to assess fees for compliance failures.

Transportation

The FDA will promulgate regulations on the sanitary transportation of food.

Inspection Resources

The FDA would be able to allocate resources based on risk profiles. There would also be an increase int the frequency of inspections overall with facilities being inspected at least every 4 years, but as frequent as every year, based on risk profiles.

Mandatory Recall Authority

The FDA would have the authority to order food recalls if the food is not voluntarily recalled and could cause serious adverse health affects.

HOW WOULD THE BILL AFFECT IMPORTED FOODS?

Some of the requirements that will affect those that import foods, and the international companies that want to sell in the United States include:

Supplier Verification

The current version of bill requires importers to manage suppliers with supplier verification activities; importers will not be able to import without complying with this section.

Qualified Importer

Participation in a “Voluntary Qualified Importer Program” allows importers to qualify for expedited review. (Includes use of recognized Third Party Certification)

Import Certifications

The FDA may require certification for high-risk foods and refuse admission of foods without required certification. (Includes recognized Third Party Certification)

Inspection

The FDA would be able to arrange with foreign governments to facilitate inspection of foreign facilities and refuse entry of food from a country that does not allow inspection by the United States.

Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors

The FDA will recognize accreditation bodies to certify that foreign food facilities comply with U.S. food safety standards. Third party certification may be used for the “Voluntary Qualified Importer Program” to fulfill import certification requirements.