Food Defense: What to Consider?
Fresenius Seminar informs about new chapter in the IFS Food version 6 on
The latest version of IFS Food includes for the first time a chapter on product protection (Food Defense). Food producers who want to be certified according to the standard for food safety, must now meet a number of new requirements and are obliged to establish their own in-house system for product protection and to check regularly. All details of the Food Defense Section and tips for legally compliant implementation received IFS officers, managers and internal auditors at the seminar "Food Defense" the Akademie Fresenius at 18. September in Wiesbaden.
As an expert, Dr. Bernd Lindemann (professor for beverage technology and auditor for various management systems in the food industry) first introduced the participants to the background of the new product protection regulation within IFS Food.
The term "food defense" means the protection of food against deliberate adulteration by biological, chemical, physical or radiological substances and is therefore important for the defense against terrorist or criminal acts, according to Lindemann. The subject comes from the USA, where the food sector has long been considered critical or susceptible to interference with regard to national security and its protection therefore enjoys high priority. Reasons for the danger are seen, among other things, in the potentially widespread contamination of foodstuffs, their widespread distribution and the short reaction time due to short consumption. The American way of thinking assumes that basically everyone is a possible target of intended food contamination, so that one sees no alternative to extensive preventive measures. For this reason, the new chapter in IFS Food was developed by the North American working group of the IFS and accordingly strongly influenced by the approach of the USA.
Responsibilities and hazard analysis
Due to the explosive nature of the subject, the responsibilities for product protection are at the top of the hierarchy of food companies, continued Lindemann. According to IFS Food, the person responsible for food defense, who is responsible for checking the in-house product protection program, must either be a member of the management team or have access to top management and, in any case, have sufficient knowledge of the subject. In the operational business, the responsibility is borne by special food defense teams consisting of employees at all levels, whose tasks and responsibilities must be clearly clarified. Each team is also headed by a team leader who oversees the coordination, development, implementation, maintenance and improvement of the system. Another key element of the new requirements is an annual hazard analysis and risk assessment, which must always be carried out again in the event of changes in the company that affect the integrity of the food. An exact method for this is not specified in the IFS, but the US American FDA (Food and Drug Administration) would recommend two methods, Lindemann emphasized. On the one hand, Operational Risk Management (ORM) can be used, in which possible contaminants, particularly endangered foods and specific combinations of foods and contaminants are identified and assessed. On the other hand, there is the CARVER + Shock method practiced in the USA, with which, among other things, the danger of contamination, the accessibility of food in the company and the possible effects of contamination are considered. After identifying and assessing the risks, the analysis should then be concluded with the development and implementation of adequate preventive measures and their regular monitoring.
Documented procedures, staff training, and visitor guidelines
In addition to the obligatory risk analysis, the definition of a suitable alarm system with constant monitoring of its effectiveness is also required, continued Lindemann. Procedures should be implemented to prevent sabotage and / or to identify signs of sabotage. In particular, security-critical areas - so-called "critical nodes" - would have to be protected against unauthorized intrusion and all accesses to the plant had to be controlled. Of course, this also applies to staff and visitors, for whom specific guidelines have to be drawn up. With regard to the monitoring of food processes, it is also necessary to educate employees in the form of training courses on the subject of product protection and necessary control measures. Particularly with regard to control examinations by external bodies, the responsible personnel would have to be specially trained and communication with authorities and other key points of the procedure would have to be documented.
Audits and preventive measures
Due to the numerous test areas, the list of questions to be dealt with during audits is correspondingly long, says Lindemann. It is not only necessary to check whether the required risk analyzes have been carried out adequately and all those responsible for product protection and other employees are competent and aware of their tasks, but also the safeguarding of the outdoor and indoor areas of the company, the raw materials and visitor access must be checked and any security gaps must be checked Shipping or delivery of goods can be identified and rectified. Finally, Lindemann explained suitable preventive measures to protect food products.
It is true that general statements about suitable prevention are not possible, since a specific hazard analysis and risk assessment is necessary for each operating site, but when manufacturing products, for example, one can already achieve more security by setting up clearly visible team workstations and using key cards, Obtain passwords or other means to limit access to them. In trade and sales, on the other hand, employee training courses and, in particular, the gathering of information about new employees make sense. In general, deterrent measures such as installing cameras and other surveillance instruments and securing doors with alarms could also increase security in all companies.
Source: Dortmund, Wiesbaden [Akademie Fresenius]
