This New Tool Can Enhance Retail Food Safety
By Laurel Maloy, contributing writer, Food Online
The FDA’s fresh cooperative attitude seems to be contagious as new alliances are formed in an effort to ensure food safety from the field to the grocery store
The Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI’s) tag line is The Voice of Food Retail, Feeding Families-Enriching Lives. This international network of wholesalers and retailers has high hopes for its collaborative efforts to improve global food distribution and food safety. You can join as a member of a number of categories: retailers, independent operators, wholesalers, associate members, private brands, Canadian retailer, or under the International retailer category. This compartmented organization provides the opportunity for the organization to more precisely target membership according to its particular interest and areas of expertise. FMI hosts a number of annual conferences and publishes such reports as The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2014.
FMI has joined forces with Alchemy Systems in cooperation with retail food safety directors around the world to create an innovative, interactive, online training course. Alchemy was named the Top Training Company in Workforce Development for 2014 by Trainingindustry.com and the Top Place to Work in Austin, TX by the Austin-American Statesman. Alchemy has also been recognized internationally in the U.K., earning the Business Excellence Award-Solution and Growth Focused Training Firm of the Year by Acquisition International.
The course was developed based upon suggestions and a “wish list” of what the ideal course should contain. It allows for the busy retail food managers’ schedule and can be personalized with company-specific policies or protocols. Furthermore, company logos and color schemes can be incorporated to provide a personalized corporate connection.
Food processing professionals have a number of choices available for ongoing training. The FDA and the USDA, as well FSIS, all have training materials. However, scheduling and opportunity may not always coincide to enable food retail professionals to take advantage of the many training options available.
This newest tool is called SafeMark™ Food Safety Manager: Certification Training for Retail Food Stores. The course is designed to equip food managers with the knowledge and tools necessary to meet the regulatory compliance of the 2013 FDA Food Code and FSMA. It is also touted as the ideal course to prepare managers to take the SafeMark Food Protection Manager Certification Exam offered by the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals. This organization also provides Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Certification and a Food Handler Certificate Program.
Team work can be a collective effort within the community as well. Sending a few, well-spoken, highly-motivated individuals to conferences or having them participate in paid training creates an opportunity for train-the-trainer cost savings. Attending managers can then pass the information on to their neighbors in the food-processing industry, with the information flowing down to all employees. These considerable training savings will ultimately equate to a better educated workforce and the retail community’s heightened awareness. The 2014 Global Food Safety Training Survey highlighted the role that coaching plays in influencing the culture of food safety. Food safety is not a contest, but rather a challenge, with the entire food industry and the consumer being the ultimate winner. The results can be measured in terms of consumer confidence, brand reputation, ROI, and increased employee morale, a direct attribution to the community effort to influence change.