SQF 2.4.1.1 Compliance to Food Regulations

Hello,

    I am new to SQF. I  have a pretty good understanding of what needs to be done, but some of SQF clauses I am unsure what documentation to provide. For 2.4.1.1 Compliance to Food Regulations my company has previously only had a paragraph statement (below) for the entire clause. I feel like this isn't adequate enough but I am unsure/am not sure what I would need in its place. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

"Information concerning up-to-date regulations, scientific and technical developments and changes to relevant industry codes of practice is accessed largely through the FDA, the CDC, the USDA websites and automated e-mail subscriptions.  The update alerts will be sent to the SQF Practitioner on a routine basis and they will forward to HR for distribution as needed."

Thank You!

Hi Ifelczak,

The requirements for 2.4.1.1 are really quite simple in my experience. Just sign up for any number of notifications from FDA, USDA, FSIS, and any non-governmental sites such as Food Safety Magazine, etc. Here are some sites I'd recommend you sign up for (and for issues such as recalls, new legislation/regulatory requirements and suggestions set up a file in your Outlook program (or whatever email system you use) so you can prove to an auditor that you monitor food safety issues and best practices:

http://www.fda.gov/C...rts/default.htm

http://www.fsis.usda...alls-and-alerts

http://www.fsis.usda...ortal/fsis/home

http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/

These sites should provide you with a lot of info regarding recalls and food safety info in general. If you see a recall that could possibly affect your company I'd recommend that you copy and paste the link to your Procurement Manager, Production Manager and possibly up the President of the company so that the ingredient in question can either be eliminated from concern, or in a worst case scenario at least give your company a jump start on your corrective action process.

Hope that helps,
esquef

Suggestion that was made to my company:  create a spreadsheet that lists all the laws and regulations that apply to the country where your product is made and to the country where you product will be used (all the way up to the consumer).

Suggestion that was made to my company:  create a spreadsheet that lists all the laws and regulations that apply to the country where your product is made and to the country where you product will be used (all the way up to the consumer).

Hi CM,

For every product ? Sounds like a Civil Service suggestion.

Hello,

    I am new to SQF. I  have a pretty good understanding of what needs to be done, but some of SQF clauses I am unsure what documentation to provide. For 2.4.1.1 Compliance to Food Regulations my company has previously only had a paragraph statement (below) for the entire clause. I feel like this isn't adequate enough but I am unsure/am not sure what I would need in its place. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

"Information concerning up-to-date regulations, scientific and technical developments and changes to relevant industry codes of practice is accessed largely through the FDA, the CDC, the USDA websites and automated e-mail subscriptions.  The update alerts will be sent to the SQF Practitioner on a routine basis and they will forward to HR for distribution as needed."

 

 

 

Thank You!

Ifelczak,

Actually, your paragraph is the basics, you just need to expound upon it. Who gets the email updates, how are they reported up the chain to senior management, what websites does the responsible person visit, etc. etc. Just expand it, and say how your company does it. For example, how is your company keeping up to date with FSMA rules and the implementation time frames? How is your senior management kept apprised of those developments? How do you know if the type of food you make has been implemented in a recall? Is there are trade organization your company belongs to (AIB, RFA, etc.), and who belongs to it? Write all of these things down, and you comply with 2.4.1. Larger companies generally have a regulatory person (or people) that do this one job. Smaller SQF companies, usually the practitioner does it or fulfills the role.

Chris