Food safety management systems should foster a positive food safety culture, according to Dr. Billie Johnson of BHJ North America’s food safety and regulatory compliance manager position who addressed attendees at the 2023 Petfood Forum held May 2 in Kansas City Missouri USA.
Do we have a positive food safety culture? Most industry participants would tell you food safety culture is hard to monitor, recognize and figure out,” she stated. But it can actually be measured just like everything else: How many quality incidents or recalls have occurred recently; if this has been the case with you then that indicates an ineffective food safety culture right now.
Management practices that promote a positive food safety culture include management commitment and leadership, roles and responsibilities that all employees understand, training and education programs, resource management practices, documentation practices, supplier-customer partnerships and ongoing improvements.
Johnson told a tale from one of her facility audits where there was a broken pallet on the floor that team members simply stepped over without stopping to inspect further.
“I stopped and picked it up – with an auditor right by my side – before she lectured all of us about not having a food safety culture in place, since example is the best teacher. If my manager picks up debris off the floor, then it may inspire me to do the same. However, if they all step over it without picking anything up?”
Johnson offered five ways to assess whether a facility had developed an effective food safety culture:
Are all employees participating? Are employees prepared for questions the auditor might pose?
Do employees possess positive attitudes toward both their work and its inspection? Its And can employees discuss and describe what they do?
Does management stress that production numbers are important, but quality products must also be made safely?