Guaranteeing food quality and safety from farm to fork

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the quality, hygiene and safety issues surrounding what they eat and drink. Before eating or buying a product, they scrutinize its nutritional value, looking for characteristics that make it safe and unique.

In addition to this increase in buyer consciousness, recent episodes have sparked consumer alarm, which has created difficulties for many in the food industry. In the European Union – where 300,000 food producers, both large and small and from 25 different countries, contribute 14 percent of the entire European output – the issue of ensuring food quality and communicating this to the public has become crucial to the industry’s continued success. Ensuring quality and safety is key to the competitiveness of the food industry players, and indeed the survival of brands, food producers and companies. As a result, managing risk has become a central requirement for those operating along the entire food production chain, from farmers, fishermen and growers to food processors, retailers, distributors and storage and transport companies. Managing risk is essential for everyone in the food industry who works to guarantee quality and safety at each step of the way and who wants to maintain a competitive presence on the market.

Experience provides a guarantee

Det Norske Veritas (DNV), an independent certification body, has developed a portfolio of specialised services for businesses operating in the food sector. Through the implementation of rigorous control and verification methodologies DNV certification enables effective risk reduction, thereby protecting the image of businesses operating in this sector.

DNV has certified more than 2000 organisations worldwide, operating at all stages of the product lifecycle in the food industry – farming, breeding, primary and secondary transformation organisations, transportation, conservation, retail, catering and distribution. Furthermore, DNV is one of the very few certification bodies to have been accredited for all activities connected with the food industry. The company makes available its specific extensive experience in auditing food safety management systems at all levels of the food lifecycle, combined with its ability to effectively respond to regional particularities. DNV has all the expertise and experience required to satisfy the specific requirements of food industry organisations in every market segment – from baked products to meat, beverages to cereals and dairy products.

ISO 22000 applicable across the food supply chain

Drawing on its tradition of experience and skill in the agro-food sector, DNV participated to one of the reference working groups that drafted the ISO 22000, along with representatives from 14 countries and organisations, including the Codex Alimentarius, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and the European confederation of agro-food industries (CIAA).

This new regulation is a voluntary standard and became effective in spring 2005. The objective of the new requirement is to harmonise the diverse existing standards and to provide a tool that enables the development of the HACCP method throughout the entire production/manufacturing system. Overall, the activities and procedures followed by a company in the event of a product safety hazard are examined. Also examined are logistic operations such as recalling or withdrawing products from the market, as well as procedures adopted when issuing communications to health authorities, customers and consumers.

The standard is based on several factors considered fundamental for ensuring safety across the food supply chain to the point of final consumption. These include interactive communication with all interested parties (including the control authority), management system, process control, HACCP principles applied in compliance with the provisions of the Codex Alimentarius, prerequisite programs (including GMPs) infesting agents monitoring, and cleaning and disinfection procedures.

Interactive communication is without doubt the most innovative new feature. ISO 22000 requires all subjects in the supply chain to maintain a constant, open dialogue with their direct clients, allowing the most significant risks to be identified and kept under control at every stage of the supply chain.

As Stefano Crea, DNV Global Food Manager, explains: “ISO 22000 introduces a general safety management scheme and a working methodology, representing both a premise and a prerequisite for action on specific issues in response to the individual requirements of interested stakeholders.” This is the case, for example, with standards such as BRC Global Standard - Food and International Food Standard (IFS), which are promoted by European retailers and can be implemented in the framework of a more generalised, comprehensive system like the ISO 22000. The standard can be applied on its own or in combination with other management system standards such as ISO 9001:2000. While they have different objectives, ISO 22000 will take due consideration of the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 in order to enhance compatibility of the two standards and to allow their joint or integrated implementation. “The consolidation effect on food safety management systems is one of the clear benefits the new standard will bring,” concluded Crea.

For further information please contact: Arjen de Keizer, Marketing & Business Development on Arjen.de.Keizer@DNV.com or see the advert for more contact details.