In today’s globally connected world you can go to the supermarket and buy food imported from all over the world. There are many benefits to this, as it allows consumers to taste the delicacies of other cultures, to experience meals that originated on the other side of the globe, and to really get an understanding about how food is not just something your body needs to sustain itself, but a real treat to be experienced.

Many business’ in the food industry aim to go multi-national and export their food to other countries, and this can raise concerns about different food regulations between countries, keeping food contamination-free throughout the import and export process, and ensuring that the food is fit to be sold in other countries. For business’ looking to expand their market to other countries, while maintaining stakeholder and client confidence, it is worthwhile to implement an internationally recognised Food Safety Management Plan (FSMS), which demonstrates that you have identified potential hazards and contaminations to the food you work with, and taken steps to mitigate their effect on your operations.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is an organisation which seeks to raise the bar when it comes to food safety across the world, by outlining strict food safety standards across all stages of the food supply chain in order to establish consumer confidence in the distribution of food across the globe. Its high-quality food standards can be found in several internationally certified standards, including ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems and parts of ISO 22000 Food Safety Standards. All business who work with food as part of their daily operations should look at getting certified to a food safety standard, because it works at streamlining their business practices by analysing their food preparation practices, to ensure that not only are they of an international certified standard of food safety, but that they are conducted in a simple, systematic, trouble-free manner.

What benefits does a Food Safety Management System bring to my business?

A food safety management system is all about structure, as it logically and systematically refines your existing food safety systems and processes into a more-streamlined, efficient, safer operation. For example, the ISO 22000 Food Safety Standards work at providing business’ within the food industry with a number of food safety controls, which ensure that its food safety standards meet global standards, are easy to understand and work with, and work at improving employee morale by ensuring that all staff are briefed on their what there responsibilities are when it comes to food safety within the business. This is specifically achieved by:

• Outlining the general requirements and standards that need to be met for an effective food safety management system. It is important to provide a base line of what food safety standards your organisation is aiming for, as different companies will have different structures, goals and food preparation processes in place. Food Safety Management Systems can help your business in understanding its own food goals, and what safety controls and processes it needs to implement to achieve them.
• Providing a guide on how to effectively record and document food safety issues pertaining to the business. A Food Safety Management System is most effective if it is operated in a clear, logical manner, with all relevant matters being accurately logged, so there is a clear record of what happened, how it was dealt with, and what steps need to be taken to rectify future issues. This ensures that business’ continue to run smoothly, with minimal downtime, and that potential food safety issues and mitigated before they have a significant effect on the business’ operations.
• Outlining an easy to understand, succinct chain of command within the organisation, pertaining to food safety concerns. The documentation of a structured chain of command, consisting of management responsibly overseeing the food safety process, designing a structured management system with food safety team leaders who can assist with daily enquiries, as well as emergency provisions, prepares business’ for what to do in the event of an incident, and ensures that the incident will have minimal downtime on their daily operations.
• An overview of how to mitigate the effects of potential hazards, threats, and vulnerabilities to food safety. This is a pro-active step which sees the business conducting a thorough review of their worksites and other places where there food is handled to ensure that the food they work is free from potential dangers and contaminations at every stage of the food preparation process.
• Implementing a validation process, to ensure that the Food Safety Management System is continuing to operate in a manner which ensures the food is handled with the strictest safety protocols at every stage of the food supply chain.  This step works at ensuring your Food Safety Management System does not just reach internationally certified standards, it upholds them and keeps up to date with industry changes, to ensure that your food safety practices continually reflect the internationally certified food safety standards. This works at instilling stakeholder and customer confidence, as you have demonstrated that your business treats the issue of food safety and preparation with the utmost dedication and professionalism.

When it comes to food safety you want your business to be top-notch

Business’ need to uphold their reputation to maintain their good-standing with customers and clients. A single breach of food hygiene or contamination can bring the status of the whole business into question, which can make stakeholders reluctant to deal with them. The best recipe for food safety success is clear preparation, a systematic, methodical approach to food safety across the business, and fault-checking processes in place to detect potential threats and work at mitigating them before they have a detrimental effect on operations.

A certified food safety standard will help your business achieve these goals. Please call Anitech Group’s consultants on 1300 802 163 to discuss the particular requirements of your business, in what ways a food safety management system could benefit it, and how to implement one across worksites in a smooth, easy manner. With a Food Safety Management System providing you with a clear guide for successful food safety, doesn’t this sound like an appetising proposal?