Day 1 Highlights-CIES International Food Safety Conference

GFSI gives update on benchmarking

Chris Anstey, Product Integrity Manager at Tesco, gave an update on the work of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). In terms of activities, GFSI has benchmarked the following standards against its Guidance Document Version 4—BRC, Dutch HACCP, IFS, SQF 2000—and expects them to maintain recognition status.

Regarding ISO 22000—a big question at last year’s CIES Food Safety Conference—Chris Anstey explained that the new standard is not able to submit itself for benchmarking, but remains in dialogue with GFSI.

More broadly, he argued, the number one task if you are working on food safety is to move from interdependence towards an integrated global community with shared values. This world of open borders means that incidents affect everybody in all countries. Progress has already been made: “Six years ago the world’s retailers did not collaborate on non-competitive issues like food safety, and now they do”, he pointed out.


Nestlé stresses role of individuals in food safety

Hans Jöhr, corporate head of agriculture at Nestlé, underlined the role of individuals in maintaining food safety. It is a long way from agriculture to the point of sale and everywhere people are involved. As a large, diverse group, Nestle has to harmonize its practices and make them understandable for thousands of people in the supply chain, he stressed. Training is thus vital for capacity-building so people in the field can manage issues.
Nestlé has integrated food safety in its work with producers through the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, developed with other major manufacturers. This integrated strategy, rolled out by Nestle in 2000, does not involve certification but raises awareness and provides training for farmers. In Thailand, for example, 16,000 trainers and coffee farmers have been trained over the past five years; while in Pakistan over 135,000 buffalo farmers have received basic training in relation to milk production.

Food safety represents the non-negotiable part of the quality chain, he explained. However, consumer expectations encompass many ‘emotional’ areas, such as fair trade, the environment and personal values. As a result, building trust in the supply chain is a cross-functional activity that must be managed across the whole chain. In terms of standards, harmonization has become more necessary; it is not possible to repeat the proliferation we have seen in food safety in the area of social standards, he argued. To progress, we will need strategic alliances between stakeholders to support harmonization, so let’s talk together, he urged.

Day 1 Highlights-CIES International Food Safety Conference