Food suppliers and retailers must work together to rebuild consumer confidence. Tougher testing regimes and stricter regulation will contribute to reassuring nervous customers, but the catastrophic breakdown of trust caused by the horse meat scandal will take time to heal.
Regulation and Certification
Regulation and certification schemes are designed to ensure that appropriate policies, processes and documentation are in place within the food supply chain. In order to be effective, such schemes require the participation and support of all industry players, not only in monitoring their own behavior, but also in being aware of the potential for errors and/or fraudulent activity.
Although not entirely immune to criminal intent, certification schemes such as FSSC 22000, IFS, BRC Global Standard for Food Safety, and SQF must nonetheless be implemented at every point along the supply chain to confirm system compliance. Spot checks, ad hoc testing, and investing in the continuous development of staff and systems are all tools that may be employed to prevent, or at least reduce, the risk of a similar scandal occurring in the future.
Dr. Wacker is the global food testing business development manager at SGS Consumer Testing Services. He can be reached [email protected].
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