Global Food Safety Initiative hosted 200 industry and government leaders this week at briefings in Washington, D.C.

November 17, 2016

4 Min Read
FSMA, food safety headline GFSI briefings

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), powered by The Consumer Goods Forum, hosted 200 industry and government leaders at briefings Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C. Foremost on the agenda was the alignment between GFSI and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the marketplace. The discussions highlighted the potential to better leverage GFSI for FSMA implementation, international business and enhanced food safety for consumers everywhere.

Expert speakers included executive speakers from Amazon, Cargill, The Coca-Cola Co., Danone, Dole, McDonald’s, Mondelez, Target and Wegmans took the stage to speak to current challenges in a rapidly changing food landscape and how each company has benefited from working within the GFSI approach. Food safety leaders called attention to the strong alignment of GFSI and FSMA. The private sector has developed robust tools within voluntary initiatives such as GFSI, which could be put to the service of the public sector, as both industry and government work towards the shared goal of safe food for consumers. 

The presence of government representatives from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), foreign embassies and other government agencies was a strong testament to the expanding public-private dialog and the increasing interest in a collaborative approach.

“There is a lot going on in the market place today. The food system is more and more complex and change will never be slower than it is today,” said Mike Robach, chair of the GFSI Board and corporate vice president, Cargill. “We are only as good as our weakest link and it is important that we operate seamlessly around the world. We want to bring everyone along the food safety journey.”

GFSI tools, from food safety capability building and guidance to the world’s most widely-recognized food safety benchmarking requirements, are complementary to regulatory oversight, not a substitute for it, Robach emphasized. Regulatory agencies have regulatory responsibilities, which are essential for ensuring compliance across the board and leveling the playing field. Where GFSI has a role is to supplement these efforts, contribute best-practice and food safety tools, while facilitating the work of agencies as they evaluate how to best deploy limited resources.

“There are real opportunities for us as regulators to work with the industry and leverage what you are doing for the good of all consumers,” said a top representative of the  CFIA. He shared insights into the challenges of regulating rapidly-increasing import volume amidst expanding food safety threats and new food processing methods, all while meeting increasing consumer expectations.

He explained food safety reforms in Canada under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and the CFIA Private Certification Policy. The policy acknowledges that third party certification schemes, such as those recognized by GFSI, can help food facilities meet or exceed regulatory food safety requirements and enables the CFIA to use the results of private certification to inform its risk-based inspection activities. 

GFSI meets or exceeds FSMA requirements

David Acheson, chief executive officer and founder of The Acheson Group and former associate commissioner for foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, revealed the results of a comparative analysis carried out between the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements V7 and the U.S. FDA FSMA Preventive Controls Rule for Human Foods. “GFSI generally meets or exceeds all of the requirements in the FSMA preventative control rule,” he stated. “In some cases, GFSI has requirements not reflected in FSMA.”  

To the industry professionals in the room, he said, “Having a GSFI certification will put facilities in a good place for FSMA compliance. No doubt about it!” He concluded by saying, “The bottom line is that, when implemented, both GFSI and FSMA will protect the food supply to the same extent.”

“GFSI is an example of partnering to do something that no single company could do alone,” said GFSI chair Mike Robach, quoting Bob Johansen and Karl Ronn in the book “The Reciprocity Advantage: A New Way to Partner for Innovation & Growth.” “It is massive reciprocity on a global scale.” 

GFSI brings together key actors of the food industry to collaboratively drive continuous improvement in food safety management systems around the world. The GFSI community works on a volunteer basis and is composed of the world's leading food safety experts from retail, manufacturing and food service companies, as well as international organisations, governments, academia and service providers to the global food industry.

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