Food Fight

Tags: Legislation, Public Policy, and Regulations, Food Logistics, Logistics, Supply Chain


Each year, 600 million people, or about one-tenth of the world's population, fall ill from contaminated food. More than 400,000—including 125,000 children younger than five years old—die as a result, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).



GFSI's vision: safe food for consumers everywhere. The "GFSI approach to food safety systems offers an internationally accepted certification of company or facility food safety systems, assuring that each conforms to agreed-upon, benchmarked requirements," explains Maureen Olewnik, Ph.D., and coordinator of the Global Food Systems Initiative at Kansas State University.

While GFSI isn't a certification program itself, it recognizes food safety certification programs (CPOs) that meet its benchmarking requirements. The CPOs "set food safety standards and develop requirements for management systems while orchestrating the certification of food operations," according to GFSI.

As of December 2017, 19 GFSI "scopes of recognition" covered various sectors of the food industry, such as animal farming, plant farming, and food processing equipment manufacturing. "The objective is to be inclusive and cover the supply chain from farm to fork," says Lisa Prevert, GFSI communication manager.

GFSI Trifecta

GFSI is working toward three primary objectives:

1. Harmonizing and raising the standards of food safety certification programs throughout the world by incorporating food safety standards into its benchmarking requirements. "The standards are very much science-based, very much risk-based," Robach says. GFSI works closely with several government organizations, including OIE and the International Plant Protection Commission. Formatting agreed-upon "gold standards" for food safety so that companies can adopt them drives both consistency and safety.

2. Building food safety capacity around the world through GFSI's Global Markets Program, which focuses on less sophisticated companies in developing markets. This is key, as the time, resources, and knowledge required to achieve certification can make it difficult for some smaller companies to pursue it.


3. Connecting with government agencies across the globe to develop joint programs. "We see this as contributing to the global harmonization of food safety regulations," Robach says. When governments understand the food safety initiatives underway within the industry, they can better determine how to deploy their resources for oversight, he notes.


Going Publix

Publix Super Markets, based in Lakeland, Florida, is among the companies that have earned certification. "Within the retail grocery industry, GFSI has become the new pre-qualification food safety component for our trading partners," says Maria Brous, director of media and community relations for Publix.


Similarly, Cargill has had all its food facilities GFSI certified, and is driving the initiatives through its supply chain. "We're involved in agriculture and just about every aspect of the food supply chain," Robach says. "GFSI makes a lot of sense for us."


It's an investment that can pay off, however. "When you improve control, there are fewer opportunities for safety issues and less waste," says Martin Bucknavage, senior food safety extension associate with Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania. That can cut costs and reduce the number of product refusals.


The Cargill Value Chain



Indeed, one goal of GFSI since the beginning has been "once certified, recognized everywhere." This objective can prompt a question for supply chain professionals working within the U.S. food industry, or with food companies that sell into the United States: Does GFSI certification mean a company also complies with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)?

At this point, the two acts are similar, but not identical. "If you're GFSI compliant, you're a long way to compliance with FSMA," says David Acheson, M.D., president and chief executive officer with Acheson Group, a global food and beverage safety consulting company.

One subtle, but important, distinction between the two concerns the food safety plan required by FSMA. This plan describes how the company assesses and controls risks. It doesn't need to be long, Acheson notes, but it does need to be in writing and available for FDA inspectors. GFSI currently doesn't require a food safety plan.

That said, the "nuts and bolts of the systems you put in place for supply chain control" to earn GFSI certification overlap quite a bit with FSMA, Acheson says.

Preventing Foodborne Diseases


A Selling Point With Consumers?

Given that some companies now require their suppliers to be GFSI certified, it's also natural to ask whether consumers might soon start requesting GFSI-labeled food. At this point, GFSI is not considering labeling consumer products. "We look at food safety as being 'pre-competitive,'" Robach says. That is, it should be the minimum required, so all consumers can be confident their food is safe.

Problems within the food supply chain impact all companies. Rather than one company keeping best practices to itself, "it's best for the industry to share best practices and make technology available broadly to help control any of these hazards or risks," Robach says.

"Any time companies have to comply with a standard, it brings everything to a higher level," Bucknavage says.

As more and more companies achieve GFSI certification, not only does the world's food supply become safer, but all partners in the food supply chain benefit.

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