To create an effective food safety management system (FSMS) for your business, it is important to understand first what a food safety system is and how it is vital to food operations. Thorough background knowledge would help you to comprehend the process better and identify the problem areas efficiently. Therefore, This Blog covers the basics of safe food management and provides guidance about points to consider for creating your own FSMS.
Introduction & Importance:
FSMS covers a set of practices and procedures that are followed to ensure food is safe from any kind of hazard or illness. It is a legal compulsion for the food business and acts as proof that products are manufactured safely in a given food manufacturing facility. They must cover all points from supplier to end-consumer that can compromise the safety of food. Several practices e.g. monitoring procedures, hazard analysis, risk management, etc. are used to secure the food at every contact point. They can vary based on the nature of the food and the potential hazards present.
Apart from ensuring the safety and quality of food, these systems also help in compliance with certain governmental regulatory standards. It is observed that their practical implementation significantly reduces the risk of illness in various food products. Moreover, they also boost consumer trust and reduce the incidences of complaints or product recall. Thus, establishing an FSMS is not only beneficial in terms of product safety and business profits but also consumer satisfaction.
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Creating an FSMS:
The most important thing while creating such a system is maintaining documentation. You must document each step, e.g. your safety policies, HACCP plan; Monitoring and product recall records, etc.
The major component of FSMS is the HACCP plan but you also need to follow certain prerequisites and effective managerial control for the management system to be successful. This means it is also important to focus on major risk factors given by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that impact the safety of your food and may result in Food Borne Illnesses.
Once you have understood all this, start by creating a food safety team that will be responsible for creating and monitoring all food safety principles. Initiate a discussion and identify why you need a food safety system, what things it will cover, and what objectives and goals you want to achieve through it. After this brainstorming, set up a food safety policy focusing on what management structures you would follow to obtain the desired results. This should also include protocols to handle customer complaints, product recalls, disease outbreaks, unsafe products, audits, etc. The next step would be having a thorough HACCP plan with 7 principles focusing on all CCPs in the process line. Additionally, consider all pre-requisite programs including GAP, GMP, and GHP. Lastly, to know whether your safety procedures are effective or not, develop a proper measurement system to measure effectiveness and continue to improve based on findings.
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