By Jill Rivkin

The turn of the new millennium brought with it a number of concerns regarding overall safety, whether it was uncertainty about computers and major electronics short-circuiting or bigger issues such as our country’s safety. And for the food industry, it brought some highly anticipated food safety standards in the form of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), spearheaded by some of the world’s largest retailers. Now, nearly a decade later with companies such as Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores; France’s Carrefour; the United Kingdom’s Tesco; and other retail giants whole-heartedly onboard, the program is something quite substantial, and reputable.

In an effort to continuously improve food safety management systems to increase confidence on all levels of the supply chain and with consumers, GFSI includes certification schemes that benchmark food-safety throughout growing, production, processing, distribution and retail, as well as improving cost-efficiencies throughout systems. Without a universally recognized standard for food safety, different buyers have requested food producers undergo multiple audits, often with only slightly different inspection requirements and the duplication costing excessive amounts of time and money. By standardizing inspection criteria and benchmarking standards, consistency of audits has allowed a single benchmarked audit to be used by multiple buyers. This reduces the time and cost associated with supply-chain quality and safety verification. To the extent possible, GFSI levels the playing field.

“Third-party certification is increasingly more important as there is more and more industry drive toward standardization,” says Robert Prevendar, director of food safety certification systems at NSF International, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based public health and safety organization. “For food companies that want to manufacture and distribute products, they’re going to find it’s increasingly critical because third-party certification is going to be demanded, even required by major retailers and brand owners, and ultimately, consumers.”

Breaking It Down

There are four schemes or standards that have been benchmarked to the GFSI, according to Prevendar. SQF (Safe Quality Food) and BRC (British Retail Consortium) are the dominant two of four GFSI benchmark standards, having “gained more traction” in North America, he says. The other two are IFS (International Food Standards) and the upcoming FSSC 22000 (Food Safety System Certification).

While SQF and BRC primarily serve the industry, it’s not a matter of better or best, just slight variation, Prevendar adds. “The standards are not significantly different from each other, it’s more a matter of how they are marketed and promoted. They are all benchmarked against common criteria and cover the same types of issues… One of the ways to ensure consistent assessment of suppliers is to ensure consistency between the standards that each is evaluated against.”

“Some of these [initiatives] got into market sooner than others,” adds Jim Bail, NSF director of food safety programs. “The more established standards have more recognition.”

Time Spent

The time required to achieve a GFSI certification varies on a case-by-case basis, and much depends on the preparation and the “maturity” of the food safety systems in place, Prevendar says. He adds that if a facility has not done a thorough job on documentation in the past, there will be necessary preparation on the front end.

“Companies need to dedicate resources to make that happen,” he says. “The standards are very specific on documentation of policies, procedures and HACCP plans. Though many facilities may be doing these things already, they may not have the necessary documentation in place.” And they need to.

Similarly, if companies are serious about achieving certification, Prevendar says there is training and education available to ensure that the appropriate people involved completely understand the requirements and the processes involved. He also points to pre-assessment as a great way to gage where companies may have to focus energies in order to achieve certification.

“A pre-assessment is a dry-run audit that isn’t part of the certification,” he explains. “It shows the company where it stands. We perform many of these types of audits.”

However, he emphasizes that companies that are up-to-date on procedures and policies can likely achieve certification in about three months. “The entire certification process can take as little as 60 to 90 days from phone call to certificate, depending on the supplier’s preparation and readiness,” he says.

For GFSI certification, companies should work with a certification body that is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). And in order to achieve ANSI accreditation, a certification body must meet comprehensive requirements, especially the qualifications, experience, training and certification of the auditors. Qualified auditors are only permitted to audit food categories for which they have been registered based on their training and experience. This feature recognizes the high importance placed on the auditor, which is why the program requires an “audit of the auditor.”

On the Upswing

Certification to benchmarked standards in an industry as visible and complex as the food industry puts many minds at ease throughout the system — from formulation scientists to consumers, and everyone in between. And while this system initially was launched as collaboration between retailers and manufacturers by CIES — The Food Business Forum, brand owners play an integral role and gain a tremendous assurance that product quality, consistency and safety are closely monitored by all parties.

“The assurance that retailers are getting from the certification of their vendors are the same types the brand owner can get from certified contract suppliers,” Prevendar says. “The same principles apply.”

And they will continue to into the future.

“It’s a clear industry trend right now on the manufacturing and packaging sides. It helps demonstrate to brand owners and retailers that systems are meeting current international standards. But also on the other side, for brand owners and retailers having suppliers that meet these standards, they’re going to have assurance of their own brand protection,” Prevendar says, adding: “And for manufacturers, it’s important to realize that though it may look daunting, it is achievable.”