Food safety and quality policy

This week I wrote a post about management commitment and driving continuous improvement in an organisation. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standard for Food, along with other quaIity management system standards also requires that the organisation has a food safety and quality policy. I have written posts before about quality planning and the development of a quality policy. This really is a key policy document where the organisation outlines its commitment to providing safe products and meeting the quality requirements of its customers. The BRC Standard requires that the organisation defines the strategic aims and objectives of your organisation and this information is often contained in the food safety and quality policy.

The policy is a concise document that defines:

• goals and objectives with regard to quality and food safety;
• a commitment to meeting stated requirements of internal and external customers;
• who in the organisation is responsible for implementing the food safety and quality policy and associated management system;
• the quality management system (QMS) standards that the organisation is seeking to comply with e.g.; BRC Global Standard, ISO 22000, or ISO 9000; and
• an undertaking to drive continuous improvement throughout the organisation’s activities;

The policy must also demonstrate senior management’s commitment to providing adequate resources to support the achievement of food safety and quality objectives. The resources that need to be provided within an organisation include financial, physical, human, social and environmental capital (See effective management of assets.) This will include the resources to develop staff awareness of the requirements of the policy.

The policy needs to be reviewed at least annually. The review process often includes the following:

• confirming that the policy has been signed by a senior manager, e.g. Managing Director, CEO, to demonstrate management commitment to its contents;
• ensuring that the organisational strategy defined is still valid, appropriate and that the policy complies with legislative and market requirements and any changes to these requirements since the document was last issued have been addressed; and
• determining whether quality and food safety objectives have been met and continuous improvement can be formally demonstrated.

Why write a food safety and quality policy? Is it just because your customers demand it? If you have a policy it will formally demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to produce safe food, comply with legislation, international standards, and meeting customer requirements. It sets a benchmark for the organisation so that it can measure its own performance. If such commitments are informal, then the organisation as well as the senior management cannot be held to account! This is why the food safety and quality policy forms the foundation of the requirements of the BRC Global Standard for Food.

© Louise Manning, 2008