Food Safety Standards

Supplying packaging materials for the food and beverage industries is the life-blood of many package printers. Although not regulated nearly as stringently as medical and pharmaceutical products, the food industry has never-the-less been the center of unwanted attention in recent years with any number of recalls and contamination problems.

These problems notwithstanding, there have been increasing efforts to improve food safety standards and to bring the entire supply chain into the effort. In addition, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law last year, which is said to be the most sweeping reform in U.S. food safety laws in more than 70 years.

Founded in 1944, NSF International is an accredited, third-party provider of Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-benchmarked standards certifications. These standards include Safe Quality Foods (SQF), British Retail Consortium (BRC), International Food Standard (IFS), and Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000, among others. As described on its Web site, "GFSI benchmarks existing food standards against food safety criteria, and also looks to develop mechanisms to exchange information in the supply chain, to raise consumer awareness, and to review existing good retail practices." Part of its charter is to reduce duplication in the supply chain through common acceptance of GFSI benchmarked schemes.

The Consumer Goods Forum, which oversees GFSI, is a global network of more than 650 retailers, manufacturers, and service providers. It recently held its annual Global Food Safety Conference in February. Robert Prevendar, director of supply chain food safety for NSF International's Global Food Safety Division, discussed food safety packaging standards at this conference. packagePRINTING caught up with Prevendar to get his perspective on the impact of these standards for package printers and converters.

What are some of the key objectives of food safety standards as they relate to food packaging?

Prevendar: Food Safety risks posed from packaging should be handled in the same way as those from producing and processing food. The industry is beginning to recognize that food safety is a shared responsibility and there is a strong need for an end-to-end supply chain approach to food safety.

Certification to Global Food Safety Initiative-benchmarked standards enables packagers to demonstrate to their supply chain partners—and ultimately major retailers—that they are a strong partner in food safety and have quality systems in place that ensure their packaging products will not have an adverse effect on the safety and quality of the food products they package.

But that isn't the only goal. When the Global Food Safety Initiative launched a packaging safety Technical Working Group last February as part of a strategy to manage risks from food contact materials, they said they had initiated this effort in response to the growing need to streamline and harmonize food safety requirements for packagers.

Of the major packaging standards (BRC Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials, FSSC 22000/PAS223, SQF for Packaging) is there one that more clearly addresses issues with packaging materials suppliers and/or package printers?

Prevendar: They are all very similar in many ways. The BRC standard and the IFS standard are both very specifically designed by the packaging industry, for the packaging industry. FSSC and SQF have broader applications, but certainly include the packaging industry.

Printing aspects of packaging in particular have a huge impact on safety and quality. The types of inks used and how they can potentially migrate through a barrier are all very important aspects of packaging to consider when it comes to food safety. These kinds of risks are addressed in each of these standards.

How do these packaging standards help protect brands and support food safety objectives?

Prevendar: Contaminated food can have serious effects on consumers' health. According the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), food-borne illnesses cause about 300,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths every year in the United States. Food recalls are also really, really expensive. In the United States alone, the economy can hemorrhage about $7 billion a year due to these problems.

The costs of a food recall, which include removing contaminated food from store shelves, lawsuits, and sometimes revamping the facility that is believed to have produced the contaminated product, really add up. Not to mention the loss of sales caused by a bruised reputation and lowered consumer trust. Everyone in the supply chain tends to share the burden—retailers and manufacturers alike.

If the food industry is going to avoid these very costly food safety incidents, they will need to hold each other to higher standards. Certification to GFSI-benchmarked standards enables food companies at every link in the supply chain to achieve best practices and standards that are recognized globally. Certification allows a facility to demonstrate to their customers further down the supply chain they are committed to food safety.

What benefits do food companies get by certifying their packaging suppliers? What areas of a printer/converter's operation could be impacted the most by such certification requirements?

Prevendar: The major benefits for food companies are derived from the added assurance that their packaging suppliers have documented procedures in place for evaluating and mitigating risks to food safety, gone through a rigorous auditing process, evaluated how their products impact food safety, and are dedicated to continuous improvement.

Do you foresee more regulation to provide more track-and-trace requirements in the food industry? Are there developing technologies that will play more important roles in support of food safety packaging requirements (e.g., digital printing, RFID)?

Prevendar: I think this is likely as the rules around FSMA (the Food Safety Modernization Act) come out. There are many technologies that can be utilized in packaging to help the industry improve traceability.

Do food safety standards address such issues as diversion or counterfeiting of packaging materials or food products?

Prevendar: Not specifically. However, diversion and counterfeiting could be covered by the security requirements of the standards. If products are being diverted out of your plant through unauthorized channels, this is a security issue. If good plant security is in place protecting products from intentional risks, they should also help protect against diversion. Improved traceability should also be a tool to help catch diversion of products.

Where is the supply chain most vulnerable from a food safety standpoint, and what can be done to address these issues?

Prevendar: As I said before, food safety is a shared responsibility. It is critical to maintain strong food safety and quality process in each step in the supply chain. If one step in the supply chain is vulnerable, every step is affected.

Pharmaceutical regulations can be very 
stringent on packaging materials suppliers (i.e., accounting for, and securing materials produced). Do you see food safety standards adopting similar or at least, more stringent requirements?

Prevendar: Packaging for food and pharmaceuticals are regulated differently, but I believe there will likely be parallels going forward.

How best can packaging materials suppliers keep abreast of standards and regulations that could impact their businesses and their customers?

Prevendar: If you work with an accredited third-party certifier, like NSF International, they will be your partner in earning and maintain compliance to GFSI standards. If there is ever an update or a change to a standard, we work very closely with our customers to ensure they are made aware and can make the necessary changes to maintain their compliance.

Additional comments

Prevendar: NSF International developed a free online assessment tool to help facilities understand their readiness for GFSI compliance. You can take this free assessment here. NSF International also developed a white paper specifically for packagers to help educate them about the BRC/IOP Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials. You can download this white paper here.

Robert Prevendar has 20 years of experience in public health and food safety, including experience with regulatory agencies and providing food safety training, auditing, and consulting for food companies worldwide. He earned his Master of Public Health from Benedictine University and his Bachelor of Science in environmental health from Illinois State University. pP