October NWA newsletter

We released the latest edition of the NWA newsletter
http://www.nwasoft.com/newsletter/2009-2.htm

It includes application profiles on NWA Quality Systems at Widmer Brothers Brewing, Fortitech and Rockwood Pigments.

Where E. Coli Control Works

By now, we have all read the New York Times article “E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
and the long string of resulting commentary. The article again raises the question of effective safety and quality management in the ground beef supply chain.

One program that has shown consistent success in controlling food safety has been the USDA AMS ground beef purchasing system for the National School Lunch Program. The program actively uses methods that have been developed over the years in industrial supply chain quality management notably vendor certification, process control and active auditing.

The result of this program is that since 2003, the first year using these methods, they have never delivered ground beef to the school kids that tested positive for E. Coli O157H7.

You can read about the program at: http://www.nwasoft.com/appnotes/usdagrbeef.htm
and see videos clips from the Feast or Famine” program which featured the NSLP food safety system at: http://www.nwasoft.com/appnotes/feastfamine.htm .

The system that the NSLP developed has one of the best records in the industry. The food industry should adapt the elements of this program into their food safety efforts.

Screencast Presents ISO 22000 Compliant Food Safety Systems

The recording of the April 7 webinar with Pilgrim Software is now posted.  The screencast ISO 22000 Compliant Food Safety Systems examines the ISO 22000 standard and the role of standard commercial software in implementing a compliant food-safety-management system (FSMS). ISO 22000 is a linked standard and the FSMS is the enabling system architecture. The standard describes a FSMS that is not simply a records archive, but rather an active process-management tool.

The webinar describes the strategy of creating and maintaining a system to manage the operational aspects of prerequisite and HACCP programs, ingredient and product genealogy, and quality management with the necessary alerts and analytics to support truly intelligent process management and improvement. The session also discusses how the FSMS links with other corporate functions such as supply chain management.

View Webcast

IFT Annual Meeting 2009

 John and I will at the IFT Annual Meeting in Anaheim and speaking in two Quality Assurance Division Symposia. Join us at the symposia and also at the QAD breakfast.

 

 

 

 Session 46 – The Global Food Safety Initiative : Harmonizing Food Safety Standards
Sunday June 7, 2009, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Room 205AB
Session Moderators : Amy Parks, Schreiber Foods and Sid Jhaveri, Starbucks

 Ensuring food safety is a major concern in the global food supply. As a result, the Food Business Forum (CIES) launched the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) in May 2000. GFSI has three business objectives:
(1) Achieve a harmonization of food safety management system standards through a benchmarking process;
(2) improve cost efficiency throughout the food supply chain through a common acceptance of recognized standards; and
(3) provide a unique international stakeholder platform for networking, knowledge exchange and sharing of best food safety practices and information. As a result, GFSI has approved four management system schemes and is currently benchmarking ISO 22000. The GFSI initiative is impacting food safety management systems in the United States. In 2008, Wal-Mart announced that private label suppliers must have their processing plants certified to a GFSI standard. This symposium will discuss the GFSI initiative, compare the benchmarked standards and detail the certification process in order to provide critical information to make the proper management decision with regard to the certification process. In addition, it will present a case study on the process a food plant used to obtain certification of their food safety management system.

 

 

 

Speakers

Tatiana A Lorca, EcoSure : Global Food Safety Initiative : An international organization that harmonizes food safety management standards.

John G Surak, Surak and Associates ; Comparing the global safety food initiative approved standards and ISO 22000.

Rena M Pierami, Silliker Inc. : GFSI : Ensuring Safety Through Certification.

Holly A Mockus, Sara Lee : Case Study : Experiences in implementing SQF.

Marco León Félix, LEFIX y Asociados : The Global Food Safety Initiative in Latin America : How does it work

Session 144 – Mitigating food safety risks in a global market : Ensuring the safety of ingredients and products for the consumers

Monday June 8, 2009, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Room 209AB

Session Moderators: Amy Parks, Schreiber Foods and Sid Jhaveri, Starbucks

Afsaneh Sadeghnobari, Kerry Group : Mitigating food safety risk in a global supply chain. 

Mitigating food safety risk is a critical part of any quality assurance program. With recent food safety incidents affecting infants and adults throughout the world, it is important to review the efficacy of such programs. This session will provide up-to-date and relevant information on processes, systems and case studies from global food companies.

Speakers

Sid Jhaveri, Starbucks : Ensuring safety of food and beverage products for global consumers.

Kurt E. Deibel, PepsiCo Beverages : Global manufacturing : Ensuring safe and legal products while adhering to local, regional and global regulatory requirements.

Jeff Banks, Cadbury Schweppes : From Salmonella to Melamine : Learnings on the way.

Jeffery L Cawley, Northwest Analytical Inc : Systems support for food safety risk reduction in global supply chains.

 

 

 

Quality Assurance Division Breakfast
Monday June 8, 2009, 7:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Guest Speaker : Jeff Banks, Cadbury

Jeff Banks is Global Director of Quality and Food Safety Cadbury. He is a biology graduate and holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology. He became internationally known when Head of Microbiology at Campden Food Research Association, subsequently taking up the role of Global Director at DuPont Qualicon, then moved into freelance consulting with Food Safety Assurance specialising in root cause analyses and vulnerability assessments for food and personal care corporations worldwide. An expert in the area of food safety and food technology, he has worked in support of most of the worlds leading food processors over a 25 year career. He is the author of more than 80 peer-reviewed research and review papers. In late 2006, he provided consulting support for Cadbury after their Salmonella recall, and soon after joined the business. Under his leadership, in 2007, Cadbury initiated a full review of policies, standards and procedures following the United Kingdom product recall, and developed a Quality and Food Safety Improvement programme. Jeff’s role within Cadbury’s Global Supply Chain is to ensure the reliable supply of high quality and safe products. This encompasses sourcing of ingredients and packaging materials, manufacturing and co-manufacturing and distribution involving nearly 80 manufacturing facilities in 30 countries.

Webinar – ISO 22000 Compliant Food Safety Systems

 

Jeff Cawley will speak in the webinar, ISO 22000 Compliant Food Safety Systems , Tuesday, April 7, 2009 11:00 am EDT. The seminar is part of the Pilgrim Software Enterprise Compliance and Quality Management series and will discuss the role of Food Safety Systems such as NWA eHACCP in meeting the ISO 22000 standard.

 

The presentation will examine the ISO 22000 standard and the role of standard commercial software in implementing a compliant food safety management system (FSMS). ISO 22000 is a linked standard and the FSMS is the enabling system architecture. The standard describes a FSMS that is not simply a records archive, but rather an active process management tool.

The webinar will describe the strategy of system creation and maintenance to manage the operational aspects of prerequisite and HACCP programs, ingredient and product genealogy, and quality management with the necessary alerts and analytics to support truly intelligent process management and improvement. The session will also discuss how the FSMS links with other corporate functions such as supply chain management.

ISO 22000 Compliant Food Safety Systems will address these frequently asked questions:

- What are the components of the FSMS specified in ISO 22000?
- What is feasible to automate in programs such as Prequisite conditions and HACCP management?
- Which functions are handled by standard software modules and where is customization required?
- What is the role of active process alerts and analytics for effective food safety management and improvement?
- How is the FSMS operationally integrated with other enterprise computing

 

 

Registration  form

 

Solutions for food recalls

Opportunities exist for food processors to strengthen their food safety system. The challenge is to identify the key factors that will leverage the greatest effect. This entails identifying what are truly effective policies and practices.

The first step is to separate the practices that will bring very small, if any, improvements in food safety, from practices that will bring large improvements. There are two practices that will bring only small gains, more testing and more inspection.

Food safety cannot be tested into the product. We have seen this with the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) recall. A lot contaminated with Salmonella tested both positive and negative for the pathogen. Therefore, just because a lot tests negative, it does not mean the lot is free of pathogens.

Traditional inspection procedures do not provide enough assurance that the plant’s food safety management system is being managed effectively. The plant can prepare for announced audits. In addition, the traditional audit gives only a picture of what is happening on the day of the audit.

Unfortunately, when there is a food safety incident in the U.S., we hear the cry for more testing and more inspecting.

Several best practices that can bring large gains to food safety include:
• Building food safety into the product design and manufacturing process
• Use process control techniques to monitor performance of internal processing
systems and supplier performance
• Use process audit techniques to assess internal processes and suppliers
performance.

These techniques have been tested throughout the food industry. Building food safety is accomplished by using HACCP. HACCP is further strengthened by having sound Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) that are validated and verified. Currently, a number of food safety management system standards such as ISO 22000 provide the structure for sound implementation.

An article on HACCP and ISO 22000 is published on the ASQ web site.

Statistical process control linked to continuous improvement have been used effectively to improve the safety of foods. The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has incorporated these techniques into the purchasing specification of ground beef, for over six years. First, they build food safety into the purchasing requirements for the manufacturer of the ground beef and the supplier of the meat. Next they test for indicator organism that could indicate the presence of a pathogen. Finally, the plant is responsible for reducing the incidence of the indicator organisms using continuous improvement techniques. Success is measured using statistical process control charts. As a result over the last five years, there have been no incidents of E. coli O517:H7 in any test results in product that that has been shipped to schools.

A video on this process is published on the Capital Media Group website.

The final best practice is to use process audit techniques. This type of audit goes beyond reviewing documents and a simple walk through the processing facility, to spending most of the time on the plant floor observing operations and talking with line employees on multiple shifts to see if the manufacturing and sanitation procedures are being followed.

An article on process audits is published on the Food Safety Magazine website.

The final step is to assess all of the data uncovered from the three preceding steps. This is done to see if a consistent message is being told. If all three parts do not tell the same message, the auditor needs to dig further and find out why. If the combined data tell a consistent message, the auditor can be confident that information presented in the audit report is accurate.

Moving from Paper to Electronic HACCP Records

The article by John and I, “Moving from Paper to Electronic HACCP Records” appears in the February/March 2009 issue of Food Safety Magazine. You can read it at: www.foodsafetymagazine.com/article.asp?id=2799&sub=sub1

 The article is derived from our presentation at last year’s Food Safety Summit and from experience developing NWA eHACCP, http://www.nwasoft.com/ehaccp.htm . The conversion process is similar to other paper-based to IT based systems such as a LIMS conversion. By following the approach outlined in the article, trauma will be reduced and the chances of success much greater.

Peanut recall monitoring

The FDA has created a widget to give anyone access to the PCA recall information. A nice example of what can be done with web based alerting.

Food safety for the 21st century

With the advent of the mega food safety recall, there is a reoccurring call to develop prevention based systems for food processors. This can be accomplished by implementing a food safety management system based on HACCP and GMPs. ISO 22000 and other food safety management system standards accomplish this.

In addition, there is a need to update the regulatory system to ensure food processors have a strong prevention based food safety system.

In 2003, the National Academies of Sciences published Scientific Criteria to Ensure Safe Food. This publication was requested by Congress through the Food and Drug Administration and the USDA/Food Safety Inspection Service. It accomplished the following objectives:

• Defined the terms “performance standard” and “performance criteria.”
• Evaluated the scientific basis for existing criteria.
• Defined the science-based process to establish food safety criteria.
• Examined whether current criteria accomplish what they purport to accomplish.
• Reviewed the need for performance standards as measures of process control.
• Recommended changes for improvement.

The publication makes a recommendations to the regulatory agencies to improve the development of food safety regulations and criteria.

The basic work is completed, all that needs to be done is the implementation of the NAS recommendations.

This text is can be read on the National Academies Press website at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10690

“Roaches, Mold, Slime, Oh My ” – Salmonella at Peanut Corp of America

With apologies to Dorothy in OZ (Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh my), the FDA  site inspectors apear to have encountered as unbelievable a situation at Peanut Corp of America. http://www.fda.gov/ora/frequent/483s/r_ATL-DO_PCA_Blakely_GA_Form_FDA_483_dtd_Jan_09-27_2009.pdf

Not only was the plant a catastrophe of flagrant health and GMP violations, but a dozen positive salmonella tests had been skirted and known bad product shipped.

PCA is a case study as to why food processors need to establish competent vendor certification ans supply chain quality/safety management systems that include initial product/process specification, vendor audit and certification followed by ongoing audit and HACCP + quality program reporting. The national school program purchasing system is a good case in point of a successful program.  See:  www.nwasoft.com/appnotes/feastfamine.htm