News from legal and crisis management

4. QA management meeting the Akademie Fresenius in Cologne

In an executive meeting of food industry in late June in Cologne 2012 impact of the new Food Information Regulation, IFS 6 and opportunities for crisis prevention and management were discussed.

The subject of quality assurance is highly sensitive in the food industry:

Even the smallest omissions and negligence can quickly grow into major food scandals with serious consequences. Loss of consumer confidence and permanent damage to the company's image are just two of the potential consequences. In order to prevent this, food manufacturers need to continuously check their own production processes for hygiene, safety and legal conformity. The most important innovations in the field were highlighted at the 4th "QA Manager Conference" of the Fresenius Academy from June 27th to 28th, 2012 in Cologne.

One of the major innovations for food manufacturers is the EU's new food information regulation, which must be implemented in companies by the end of 2014. Dr. Petra Unland (Dr. August Oetker Nahrungsmittel) presented the most serious changes at the conference. In the future, all food packaging will have to contain a range of new information, some of which will be mandatory for all, while others will only be relevant for certain types of packaging, explained Unland at the beginning. The general obligations therefore included the declaration of nutritional values, the highlighting of allergens in the list of ingredients and the use of a minimum font size on the packaging. Special regulations for certain packaging, however, concern, among other things, the printing of instructions for use and the specification of specific vegetable oils and fats. According to the expert, labeling the origin of primary ingredients is still a long way off. All information must be clearly, legible and in clearly visible places with minimum font sizes on the packaging. The abundance of the information that is now mandatory brings with it, above all, space problems for the manufacturers, since cups and other round packaging in particular often offer little space to accommodate all the required information, explained Unland. In these cases, the "largest surface" of a packaging is decisive for the extent of the required markings. The rules for misleading people have also been tightened, which plays a role in the areas of "clean labeling" and images. Clean labeling would, for example, concern "eye-catching product labeling that indicates that certain ingredients or processes are not used". Common claims on the market include "no artificial additives", "no aromas / only natural aromas" or "no flavor enhancers". The decision on the admissibility of clean labeling and images is always based on individual cases and is subject to a dynamic. The disadvantage of the clean labeling declaration is the discrimination against approved additives. The consumer model must be reconsidered due to the food information regulation - towards a "less" informed consumer, so Unland.

IFS 6 with numerous innovations

The new International Food Standard has been in effect since July 01st, 2012. In comparison to the previous version, IFS 6 contains numerous additions and completely new chapters. Dr. Helga Hippe (IFS Management) gave an overview of the new version at the conference. One of the major innovations is the introduction of the "Food Defense" (German: product protection) chapter, which now makes it mandatory, according to Hippe. Corresponding guidelines have already been published on the IFS website. There are also innovations in the areas of purchasing and product packaging. For the placing on the market of purchased products, IFS 6 now prescribes a procedure for the approval and verification of suppliers with clear evaluation criteria. According to IFS 6, product packaging must in future be based on the risk assessment and intended use of the product - here too the new IFS version would provide criteria for orientation. Further innovations in the area of ​​product packaging are detailed requirements such as regular checking of the conformity of packaging labeling and product as well as provisions on label information. In summary, the new IFS Food Version 6 is a standard for checking both food safety and food quality, concluded Hippe.

Prevent and skillfully manage risks

A large number of (supposed) food scandals have come to light in recent years. Today there are many triggers for crises, as Frank Schroedter (Engel & Zimmermann Agency) began his lecture on the subject of "Communicatively mastering crises". Among other things, misinformation on the Internet, campaigns by NGOs and consumer complaints would get the ball rolling. Although every crisis is different from the previous one and there are therefore no patent remedies for overcoming it, it is possible to establish standards and measures that help to deal with them effectively, emphasized Schroedter. Regular communication with the regional and national media is particularly important for prevention in order to build trust there and to show that the company is ready for dialogue. The establishment of contacts to opinion leaders in politics, administration, associations and consumer institutions should, if possible, already have taken place in peacetime so that they can be used in an emergency. If there is actually a crisis, above all, quick action and the disclosure of facts to the media and the public are essential, said Schroedter. The topic itself must be actively occupied with information from your own company. This includes both the immediate collection of essential information after the outbreak of a crisis and the clarification of responsibilities. Overall, it is advisable to appoint an expert to speak to the media ("one voice" principle), advised Schroedter. In any case, however, one should avoid any form of the defensive such as "diving" or "sitting out" of the crisis. Acting too quickly in the form of hasty statements can also be counterproductive. "The top priority is always to keep your nerve", Schroedter affirmed in conclusion.

The conference documentation including scripts from all the presentations can Fresenius Conference for the price of 295, - EUR plus VAT at the Akademie Fresenius be based...

Contact:

Benita Selle
The Akademie Fresenius GmbH
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44379 Dortmund (Germany)

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Source: Dortmund, Cologne [Institut Fresenius]