Food safety versus quality

There have been in the last twenty-four hours there have again been around 30 product recall press releases in connection with the peanut butter recall. This is unpresecendented! The number of cases linked to the outbreak is now 575 in 43 states.

Can we rely on third party audits to deliver food safety? This is a debate that we are currently having in the UK. How does the level of hygiene and the practices undertaken on the one day of the year when the audit takes place reflect what happens on the other 364?

How much does the paperwork driven by HACCP reflect the practices actually in place? How do we integrate the management of quality with the management of food safety?

Food safety is not negotiable - food is either safe or unsafe - black and white.

Quality is negotiable - under constraints, but is grey - if the only apples available have ten per cent more red colour on them than the specification they can still be supplied if the customer approved the temporary specification.

If food is found to be contaminated with Ecoli or Salmonella - is the situation then negotiable? The answer has to be No.