Partner Article

Surviving an Audit with Food Safety Technology

Embedding food safety technology into how your business works is the most secure way for food manufacturers to comply with new food safety requirements.

Food safety audits: how are you going to cope?

What’s the deal with food safety?

From salmonella in eggs to horse meat in beef burgers, from nut allergies to gluten intolerance, food safety is big news. Regulations put food safety technology in the front line of the fight against:

• Food fraud: by rogue operators who cut costs by using substandard ingredients.

• Food crime: systematic food adulteration by organised crime or terrorists poses a serious threat to health and safety.

• Food allergies: a growing problem for children and adults throughout Europe.

• Food intolerance: even more commonplace than allergies.

• Food hygiene issues: bacterial infections such as campylobacter can cause serious illness or even fatalities.

Food safety technology is big news.

Government, local authorities and industry bodies are all working – separately and together – to improve food safety. At the core of each initiative is the need for regular, robust and detailed audits:

• The Elliott Review published 4th September 2014 establishes eight pillars of food integrity including more efficient and effective audits. In fact Sanderson, as an expert in food manufacturing processes, was invited to be a contributor to the industry feedback that helped to inform the Review.

• The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standard allows your premises, systems and procedures to be audited for compliance with BRC requirements.

Make your food safety technology work for you.

Food safety technology is an enterprise-wide issue. From ingredients to delivery, ERP software that integrates production lines, packaging, warehousing and delivery equipment can enforce food safety and audit compliance.

Your BIG question: Will your food safety technology cope with new food-safety issues and industry audits?

New audit requirements mean that food safety technology must become embedded in your everyday processes. A best practice approach to achieve this is to ensure checks and controls within your ERP system. But is your system doing the job?

• Does it align with your specific business processes, or require significant modifications?

• Is it designed for the food manufacturing sector?

• Is it a comprehensive integrated system, or do you need to source peripheral technology?

• Are you leading the software supplier, or are they guiding you?

If you’re not getting the right answers, you need to ask some more questions about your food safety technology approach.

The BIG questions.

Fact is, a good food and drink manufacturing ERP system will provide control and visibility of food safety for your company.To protect your business, you need to be confident that your current set-up stands up to scrutiny. Here are a few questions to ask:

• Is that same ERP system sold by other vendors to other sectors? If so, food safety is not at its heart by default.

• Does the software have everything that’s needed for the food and drink industry? It should have better than 95% best fit, available out of the box.

• How many other UK food and drink manufacturers use the system successfully? (And for how long?)

This is the future of your business we’re talking about, get to grips with the issues. Download our eGuide: Food Industry ERP: 4 questions your business must ask

Copy and paste this link into your browser: http://bit.ly/Sanderson1

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Bywater .