Importance of Food Safety Management
Saint Yi Htet#1
#
Wyeth Nutritionals Singapore
1, Tuas South Ave 4, Singapore 637609
1
masaint@gmail.com
Abstract— It is crucial to assure food locally produced or
imported is safe for the public consumption. At the same time,
food safety standards are also important to minimize trade
barriers between the countries. The level of regulation
implemented in each country varies depending on the culture,
climate, geographical location, past experience on food safety
issues and food safety awareness of the consumers and the food
manufacturers. As the globalization has widened the network of
food supply chain and the consumers has acquired more
knowledge on food safety, many countries are driven to raise the
food safety standards. This paper highlights the importance of
food safety management and explains some examples of step-by-
step adaptation to higher food safety standards by the combined
effort of Regulatory Bodies, Academia such as Universities and
Institutions and the Food Manufacturing Industry.
Keywords— Food Safety Management; ISO 9000, ISO 22000,
HACCP, Food Hygiene s
I. INTRODUCTION
Food Safety is an issue for both domestic
consumption and trade. Domestically, failure in food safety
management could cause loss of workforce, increase public
health expenditure and even lead to loss of lives in serious
cases. Ineffective food safety management system could also
lead to loss of opportunity for export. Some countries use food
safety regulations to ensure the food produced or imported
into the country is safe for consumption while other could also
use food safety as a tool for trade barrier.
To strike a balance between public safety and using food
safety measure as a trade barrier, the Codex Alimentarius
Commission (CAC) was established by the Food and
Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and
the World Health Organization (WHO). Codex set the
standards which are accepted the in many countries. 1
II. DIFFERENCES IN FOOD SAFETY REGULATION
Countries have different food safety risks and
experience of food safety issues based on the geographic or
climatic conditions, cultural difference and food production
practices. Such perceptions are reflected in the specifications
set for the import.
A holistic Food Safety Management System shall perform
regulating and enforcement for domestic food producers.
Sustainability of a food safety management system partly
depends on the selection of scope and standards which are
suitable for the current status of the consumers, the local food
manufacturers, the target export country and the target food
products for export.
III. COSTS AND BENEFITS OF FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT
A full-fledge Food Safety Regulation is costly. It is
costly for the authority. Identifying the scope of food safety
issues to be covered under the regulation, developing
standards, training officers for inspection and certification and
implementing enforcement need time and skills. It is also
costly for the food producers. They are also likely to have
additional costs to improve the process for higher quality and
product safety, to get the certification and to maintain the
standards set by the authority. There may be costs of rejects in
cases of failure to meet the standard. Such additional costs for
regulation in the food industry may be distributed to the public
i.e. increased price for a product of the same quality.
However, these additional costs shall be weighed against
the benefits for implementing stringent food safety standards.
Most important benefit from implementing a sustainable and
effective Food Safety Management System is the ability to
provide safe food for the public which could result in reduced
public health expenditure for the food safety related cases.
Such cases include diarrhea due to microbiologically
contaminated cooked food and cancer caused by mold present
in dried food. It could even save lives of infants and children
when serious cases such as melamine in infant formula
happen. The outcome of an effective Food safety Management
System also include better brand image, increased sales for the
food producers and opportunity for export.
IV. REGULATING FOOD SAFETY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
Countries are implementing food safety management
by legislating Food Safety or Food Hygiene one step after
another. For example, Malaysia has implemented Code of
Practice 1974 which encouraged Food Safety practices. And
under Food Act 1983, partial legislation of food hygiene was
started. Any premises preparing or selling food which fails to
comply with sanitary and hygienic requirements could be
closed down by the authority. Now Malaysia Ministry of
Health is in the process of implementing Food Hygiene
Regulations 2009 aiming to provide an infrastructure to
control the hygiene and safety of food sold in the country.
Food Hygiene Regulations 2009 includes requirements for
- Registration of food premises
- Conduct and maintenance of food premises
- Food handler
 - Special requirements in handling, preparing, packing,
serving, storing and selling of specific food
- Carriage of food. 2
The above example demonstrates the gradual expansion of
Food Legislation from Code of Practice to Regulation.
Similarly, Singapore has also gone through Food
Legislation journey step by step. The Agri-Food and
Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) was established in
2000. One of the objectives was to ensure a resilient supply of
safe food. The Sale of Food Act 2002 defines and prohibits
selling “unsafe” food, and it also requires the food businesses
to be licensed. Food Regulations 2006 stipulates expanded
range of food safety issues covering food safety and
specification standards, food additives, chemical residues,
labeling and advertising.
Food Safety legislations facilitate, strengthen and
harmonize the enforcement activities in food premises. Such
mandatory Food Safety regulations not only are capable of
providing safe food for the public, but also build a strong food
safety culture in the country. It will gradually raise the
standard of food manufacturing industry in the country and
shall serve as the stepping stone in reaching out the
international market food safety standards.
V. MARKET AS A DRIVING FORCE FOR FOOD SAFETY
Consumers in many developed countries are aware of
food safety standards and thus the markets become driving
force for the higher standards. To meet the increasingly
stringent standards demanded by the importers, many
countries in Asia are also increasingly establishing quality
regulations for food. 3
For instance, Ministry of Health, Malaysia is also
encouraging food manufacturers to get certified for Good
Manufacturing Practices (GMP) under Malaysian Certification
Scheme for GMP. This scheme is voluntary certification based
on the inspection at the factory. With this scheme, Malaysia
Ministry of Health provides formal recognition of food
producers that have effectively implemented and maintained
all requirements. The scheme also enables local food industry
to be competitive at the international trade. 4
The elements which were covered for the
certification are
- Premises, environment and facilities
- Hygiene and sanitation facilities
- Equipment
- Operational Control
- End product verification
- Sanitation and maintenance
- Workers
- Transportation and distribution
- Traceability and product information
- Internal inspection and audit
- Training
In the food manufacturing Industry, the concept of food
safety is shifting towards protecting food safety at any points
in the food supply chain, which is also known as “farm to
fork” approach. The manufacturer of the finished product can
ask its raw food suppliers for the market-recognized
certificates such as ISO 9000 or HACCP. Or the buyer can ask
to prove the suppliers’ food safety management system is safe
and sound. At the same time, finished product manufacturer
can ask the retailers to prove the handling and storage
conditions at their outlets. This is to ensure that the food
safety standards are maintained as they were produced at the
factory. Such requirements for food safety are included in the
contracts. The “farm to fork” concept is also a driving force
for higher food safety standards in the competitive markets.
While Malaysia is encouraging the food producers to
voluntarily adopt GMP, Singapore includes Hazard Analysis
Critical Control Point (HACCP), Cleaning and Sanitation
Program, Pest Control Program, Waste Management,
Transportation of Finished Products and Maintenance
Program as part of licensing requirement for operating food
processing establishment.
HACCP is a Food Safety Management System for a food
manufacturing plant to analyze possible contaminations
(physical, chemical and microbial) from the raw materials as
well as at every step of the process; and then plan to take
preventive measures. It dictates corrective actions to maintain
the controls measures at each Critical Control Point in case of
failure. It is not a stand alone program, but built on the strong
foundations blocks – Infrastructure and Maintenance, Building
Services, Personal Hygiene, Standard Operation Procedures,
Current Good Manufacturing Practices, Training and Recall
Programs.
Principles of implementing HACCP are
1. Conduct a hazard analysis
a. Flow Diagram
b. Hazard identification
2. Determine the Critical Control Points (CCPs)
3. Establish the critical limits
a. Measurable parameter
4. Establish a system to monitor control of the CCP
5. Establish the corrective action to be taken when
monitoring indicates a deviation from an established
control limit
6. Establish procedures for verification to conform
that the HACCP system is working effectively
7. Establish documentation concerning all
procedures and record appropriate to these principles and
their application
 The basic concepts of HACCP include preventing potential
contaminations from farm to fork. In the second generation of
HACCP, the risk calculation starts from the tolerable limit of
the product at the point of consumption, then process shall be
designed to handle the calculated risk reduction. For example,
if the acceptable level of total aerobic plate count in
pasteurized milk is 10,000 cfu/gm, the process shall be
designed to reduce the microbial load to acceptable level or
the raw milk shall not contain higher microbial load than the
process can handle.
VI. DEMONSTRATION OF A CRITICAL CONTROL POINT (CCP)
A. Flow Diagram and Analysis
HACCP team has to prepare a flow diagram of the
step.
Figure 1: Pasteurization of milk
Raw Milk
Milk Storage Tank
CCP 1: HTST
HTST/ Pasteurizer @ 85ºC
Pasteurized Milk
B. Determine Critical Control Point(s)
HACCP team identified HTST as Critical Control
Point because if the milk is not properly pasteurized at that
step, the product safety will be affected.
C. Establish Critical Limit(s)
Milk must be pasteurized at 85 ºC for 15 seconds; the
control limits at CCP 1 are temperature 82 ~ 85ºC & flow rate
of 1200 lit/sec (in order to ensure the holding time is 15 sec).
Food Safety Team has to justify why the operation parameters
(i.e. 85 ºC for 15 seconds) are chosen.
D. Establish a system to monitor control of CCP
Monitoring has to be done to record
- Temperature and flow rate from the control panel;
every 15 min
- Temperature and flow rate from the field; every
hour
E. Establish the corrective action to be taken when
monitoring indicates a deviation from an established
control limit
In case of temperature drops to 82 ºC or lower, milk in
the system must be diverted into the circulation loop and
heated until the temperature reaches back to normal at 85ºC.
Depending on the problem and the time taken for rectification,
the product in the circulation loop may need to be discarded.
F. Establish procedures for verification to conform that the
HACCP system is working effectively and establish
documentation concerning all procedures and record
appropriate to these principles and their application
To fulfill these principles, the Food Safety Team
needs to implement an internal audit program which
will audit the department(s) for GMP, GDP and
documentations recorded for HACCP.
To be able to facilitate this simple operation and
monitoring, the following area the required tasks:
- - Train the operator and keep training records
- - Calibrate the instruments and keep calibration
records
- - Temperature/ Flow Rate records
- - Periodical challenge of the diverter valve to
ensure that the milk will be diverted into the circulation
loop in case temperature drops to 82ºC or lower; and
keep record of the challenge
Being a preventive Food Safety Management System
which is tailored to the particular product and the process,
HACCP is highly effective in preventing contaminations.
Implementing HACCP as food safety management system in a
manufacturing plant is desirable because it is preventing
contamination for the whole food chain. It prevents potential
food safety hazards from the raw materials through the
process to the point of consumption. It has higher tendency to
hold accountability of food safety in the hand of producer in
stead of leaving the quality to either the raw materials
suppliers or the finished product retailers along the food chain.
However, the obvious disadvantage of HACCP is high
cost. It starts with the building design to provide the right
environment at least for the critical steps of a process.
Maintaining a good environment could mean having the air
filtered with HEPA filters and treated with UV, getting the
right Relative Humidity and temperature. Monitoring CCPs
also need continuous effort of Good Manufacturing and Good
Documentation Practices. It is costly not only to the food
producers, but to the regulatory too. The authority will need to
train strong auditors/inspectors to be able to thoroughly audit
process and the practices at each food production facility.
VII. ROLE OF ACEDAMIA AND INDUSTRY
Like the role of Food Safety Authority is essential,
collaboration of Academia and Food Industry is important too.
Universities and Research Centers provide strong technical
supports like risk calculation and developing risk management
tools, scientific justification for specifications and standards,
developing new test methods to detect newly-evolved
contaminants such as melamine in infant formula. Combined
effort of universities and the industry shall results
development of new products, new equipment and new
processes.
There are many international voluntary organizations
working on food safety standards, food safety management
systems and supporting technologies. Most of the members in
such voluntary organizations are from universities and
institutions. These groups organize international conferences
with the support of local Food Safety Authority and the
industry. These international seminars are the venue for
sharing standards, technologies and information from one part
of the world to the other.
VIII. CONCLUSION
Regulating Food Safety shall be formulated from the
international norms and standards, the culture, climate and
past experience on food safety issues. Although directly
imposing regulation on food safety in stead of developing the
industry and the public gradually is possible, step-by-step
approach starting from Code of Practice to Regulation seems
to be sustainable. Leadership of Food Safety Authority,
collaboration of Universities and the Industry itself is
paramount to build an effective Food Safety Management
System. Implementing voluntary schemes for Good
Manufacturing, Hygiene and Documentation Practices helps
the food manufacturing industry to be able to step up their
capability to meet the international Food Safety standards. In
addition, gradual improvement on Food Safety Management
will also raise public awareness on Food Safety and eventually
the market could become a driver for the standards.
REFERENCES
[1] Codex Alimentarius Web site, Available:
http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/faq_gen.jsp#G11
[2] Mr. Nik Shabnam Bt. Nik Mohd. Salleh, Deputy Director of
Standard Section, Food Safety & Quality Division, Ministry of
Health Malaysia, “Food Hygiene Regulation 2009”; Malaysian
Institute of Food Technology Seminar & Workshop – All you
need to know on GMP; The Science and Practice of GMP.
[3] Mike McMullen, Standard for World Food Trade, Asia Food
Journal, June 2009
[4] Ms Samimah Bt Hj Abd Rahman, Principal Assistant Director,
Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health,
Malaysia, “Malaysian Certification Scheme for Good
Manufacturing Practices”; Malaysia at Malaysian Institute of
Food Technology Seminar & Workshop – All you need to
know on GMP; The Science and Practice of GMP
[5] Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Principles and
Application Guidelines; Available: U.S. Food And Drug
Administration Website
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/HazardAnalysisCriticalC
ontrolPointsHACCP/HACCPPrinciplesApplicationGuidelines/
default.htm#execsum
Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore Web pages;
Available: http://www.ava.gov.sg/
a. Legislation under Agri-Food and Veterinary
Authority of Singapore (AVA)
b. Food Traders and Establishments, Licensing of
Other Food Processing Establishments
[6] Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore Web pages;
available: http://www.ava.gov.sg
[7] Legislation under Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of
Singapore (AVA)
[8] Food Traders and Establishments, Licensing of Other Food
Processing Establishments
[9] Symposium on Current & Innovative Approaches to
Microbiological Food Safety Management, Singapore 2007
[10] International Symposium on Revolution in Food Safety
Management, Indonesia 2008