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SQF version 9 Food Safety/Quality Policy incorporating the new Food Safety Culture requirement

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OrRedFood

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Posted 11 May 2021 - 11:23 PM

Hi everyone - I'm attempting to simplify a very long Management quality policy statement I inherited from my predecessor and also to incorporate commitment to Food Safety Culture into it; is anyone willing to share examples for SQF version 9? Thank you in advance!



Hoosiersmoker

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Posted 12 May 2021 - 01:43 PM

Food Safety Culture isn't really a new thing, just being called out as an identified and recorded / measured part of your Food Safety program. Training, proficiency testing, signage, incentives etc. demonstrate a "culture". Seeing someone clean up, pick up etc. without being told demonstrates a culture. The auditors I have spoken to are still up in the air about measuring the effectiveness of the food safety culture though.



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OrRedFood

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Posted 12 May 2021 - 04:20 PM

I agree, some on this forum have very specific programs to address visibility of a Food Safety Culture, while others aren't sure. I have heard that testing is not enough. 

 

Anonymous questionnaires to gauge how employees feel about being empowered to address food safety issues seem like a good start, seeing if employees feel safe in brining up food safety issues or fear reprisal, that no one will care, etc. to get an idea of where a company is really at. 

 

I think I will do that, and see where we stand before I  take any action or design programs.  

 

I'm interested in any programs that anyone has found successful, I know it's early into the requirement being expanded but everything helps! Any "AHA!" moments?



EVG

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Posted 22 June 2021 - 10:28 PM

Hello,

 

I have a question regarding this FS Culture subject. First a little background to help you understand the issue. We have been given a minor NC on point 2.1.1.1 that states as follows:

 

"Although incipient efforts to establish food safety culture evaluations and improvement, the plan to implement has not been documented."

 

However, both the code and the guidance are kind of ambiguous when addressing the subject.

 

Our policy statement includes our commitment to establish and maintain a food safety culture, we have made conscious evaluation using various maturity models and tools (such as the questionnaires provided by Australia/NZ) with all employees and senior management; we have shown how we measure monthly improvement, discuss it and constantly update the objectives; we have submitted all our personal to general exams about food safety and their responsibilities to create individual improvement plans and discuss monthly on a one on one basis with all employees; and have shown our plan to develop and implement a reward program to engage employees on the improvement of the food safety culture.

 

Is this not enough evidence of a "plan to implement"? We have this only as part of our monthly meetings agendas but do not have a separate Food Safety Culture Program as most of the requirements are covered on our Management and Internal Policies Program and on our Capacitation Program. Does this mean that the Program we need to solve this NC is a Safety Culture Improvement Program?

 

Also, the next section of the code that addresses food safety culture (2.1.1.2) have mostly been long implemented as part of the system. My doubt here is about point (i) of the section. When it mentions "food safety objectives and performance measures" should I understand this as the measure of the performance of the food safety objectives or that "performance measures" are regarding personnel evaluations? I have the doubt because on most of the literature (Eg. Yiannas 2010 book, Debby Newslow book and most of Jaspersen articles and publications) they mention that employee performance evaluations should be, at least on great part, based on measurement of the accomplishment of the objectives that relates to their food safety responsibilities or about the food safety aspects related to their tasks or job descriptions.

 

I am really kind of stuck on everything related to the NC. The root cause may be the same NC (program not documented) but I don't know if this is something the certification body accepts. I also don't have previous experience on submitting "to do plan" as the CAPA to the certification body. I am sure that establishing a reward program and changing the performance evaluation won't be an easy task to implement in such a short time as this will have to go up to the board to get budget approval and HR will have to be involved.

 

Will appreciate any help you can provide.



melindahays

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Posted 16 November 2021 - 04:55 PM

Hello to all. This is my first year at with SQF audit  for edition 9. Will someone be willing to help me understand more about what exactly the auditor is looking for in the food safety culture. We have a food safety plan in place along with a food safety and quality policy statement. I gathered that they want to know what measures we take to ensure food safety. We are SQF certified, and if anyone can help me through this, i would greatly appreciate it.



Scampi

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Posted 16 November 2021 - 05:13 PM

you need to show how the company has established a culture of food safety

i.e. rewards/awards for employees doing the right thing even when no one is watching

posters showing how the company fully supports the emphasis being on food safety

 

https://www.foodsafe...culture-matters

This link may give you a good starting point

 

it's another way a company can demonstrate the commitment to producing safe food


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Scotty_SQF

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Posted 18 November 2021 - 12:49 PM

EVG

 

That's frustrating...To me with what you written, you have objective evidence showing that you meet that criteria.  This what makes me nervous every time I get a new auditor is finding out what that auditor will focus on and how they interpret the code, when in reality they should be interpreting the code as it is and not reading further in to it.  I have had some great auditors that look at what we have and then say lets see what the code says, we read it together and then they say you met the criteria, even if we didn't have a specific program or SOP.  If we at least had as part of another program, etc. as long as it met the criteria then you were in compliance.  I have been reading a lot of posts on here and reaching out to others on Food Safety Culture and it seems to me there is a lot of grey area it needs to be better defined as to what specifically you need to have.  I understand people doing questionnaires, etc., but that does not translate to everyone.  We have a small facility with 6 people on the floor, so for here, it will not work as they know we know what their handwriting looks like, so I am sure they would not be truthful on a questionnaire, so how could we use that then?  I have figured out another way to perform behavioral observations and document them as a form of us measuring it, then that gets reported monthly.

 

Went on a long winded typing tangent...lol.  Anyway, it is just slightly concerning seeing others receiving NC's for something that is ill-defined in my opinion.



Scampi

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Posted 18 November 2021 - 01:00 PM

There is an SQF roundtable today, not sure if there are any spots available

 

IMHO this entire bullet is a waste of time and resources..................if they'd focus on actual food safety instead of this rhetoric, we could see a tangible reduction in recalls and withdrawals

 

It's putting the emphasis on the wrong thing, like closing the barn door after the horses are out

 

https://www.sqfi.com...code-edition-9/


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Setanta

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Posted 18 November 2021 - 02:21 PM

There is an SQF roundtable today, not sure if there are any spots available

 

IMHO this entire bullet is a waste of time and resources..................if they'd focus on actual food safety instead of this rhetoric, we could see a tangible reduction in recalls and withdrawals

 

It's putting the emphasis on the wrong thing, like closing the barn door after the horses are out

 

https://www.sqfi.com...code-edition-9/

 

 

Which seems to be the direct SQF has chosen to take...


-Setanta         

 

 

 


Hoosiersmoker

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Posted 18 November 2021 - 05:02 PM

Just finished our annual SQF Recertification today. Scored 99% on Food Safety and 100% on quality. Our auditor was very broad on what he considered Food Safety Culture. We had the words written into our policy and mission statements, Train all incoming employees giving a good basis for understanding their role in food safety and state it is their responsibility to say something if they see an issue that could affect the safety of our products. Those components seemed to be adequate for him to pass our food safety culture. We have a new employee social media recognition program (Called Motivosity) that has a survey module within it that I will use for our measurable portion... Did I mention we got a 99% on the food safety portion?  :thumbup:





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