The 2018/2019 Listeriosis outbreak rocked our food safety world. It was a watershed moment in food safety for South Africa, and we should all be responding to this tragedy with a review of our systems to identify potential weaknesses. But this is not just about more regulations and more audits. You probably have the right systems, you may even have certification. And yet you find yourself consistently battling with the same issues in your facility, year on year.
Have you considered that it could be a food safety culture issue blocking your company's food safety objectives? Perhaps your organisation’s culture is spilling over into your food safety initiatives and stunting your progress?
In the food industry there have been a number of instances that echo with the story of a swimmer fighting for his life. The question that food safety professionals have to ask is: Am I prepared to dive in?
The food industry, like any other, is not a perfect world scenario, and parallels between the case study in Part 1 and potential risky situations in food premises equate to consequences to consumers
I frequently discuss the importance of having a food safety culture with operators of a variety types of companies, and they all seem to tell me the same thing: “my company has a great food safety culture."
It is time to realise that we need something more than just systems and checklists to manage and improve food safety in South Africa. We need to figure out what it is we've missed, and do it!
We were privileged to host an amazing wealth of knowledge at this year's Food Safety Culture Workshop held this year in Johannesburg. You can view some of the speakers presentations here.
This article briefly cover the elements that Frank Yiannas considers to be the characteristics of an effective food safety culture, and more importantly, why food safety culture is so important
Were I the CEO of a 1,900-store restaurant chain with 45,000 employees and had just had six foodborne illness outbreaks in six months, what would I do this coming Monday morning?