Suppliers' Food Safety Assurance - Need Of The Hour In Food Industry

Bureau Veritas is a global leader in conformity assessment and certification services offering a wide range of services in Auditing, Classification, Certification, Testing & Analysis, Consultation, and many more.

- Kaushik Sengupta

With globalization of the food supply chain, changing world trade scenarios and obligations emerging from the World Trade Organization (WTO), conformance to international/importing countries’ standards is necessary for access to overseas markets. The food service sector is amongst the fastest growing sectors in India. The growth is driven by demographics, lifestyle and economic changes across the country.

It has also resulted in unprecedented interest in the development of the food standards & regulations and a strengthening of the food safety control infrastructure in India. There is a gradual shift from end product testing to a systems approach with food manufacturers opting for standards like ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, BRC and other GFSI schemes. As the industry is gradually moving towards generating profits, more retailers would be willing to increase spend on food safety and getting their suppliers to adhere to international standards. Some global retailers generally require all their suppliers to have a GFSI benchmarked standard certifications. It can be difficult for suppliers to comply with the standards required by retailers at first as they may need to invest in facilities, training and upgrade plant & machinery.

“Only recently have people begun to recognise that working with suppliers is just as important as listening to customers,” - Barry Nalebuff. Supplier Food Safety Assurance is the confidence in the supplier’s ability to deliver safe food products/ingredient’s to satisfy the needs of the customer.