FOOD SAFETY - FOOD SAFETY MANAGER 22 FOOD SAFETY Food Safety Manager Ensuring the safety of food takes a village. It requires a lot of time, technical knowledge and effort for large scale organizations to implement large scale food safety systems. They need understand food safety on a fundamental level but also be able to translate this knowledge into tangible actions. Individuals who perform these roles need to be within the industry for a long time and backed up by a significant amount of educational training. We are lucky that we have food safetymanagers who are up to the challenge to execute these duties. For simplicity of this article we will classify food safety managers as those that coordinate food safety system at a facility level. If you want to learn more about a Director of Food Safety (the food safety manager’s boss) then flip to that profile in this book! 1. Food Safety Managers Ensure Food Safety A food safety manager develops and oversees all food safety regulations, policies and procedures at manufacturing facilities. They develop, implement and enforce food safety standards, policies and programs including Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), Safe Quality Foods (SQF) and Global Safe Food (GSF). Food safety managers work closely with departmental managers like operations, research and development and sanitation to address any food safety and quality assurance issues. For example, supporting research and development when new products, line extensions and continuous quality improvement projects occur. In addition, these professionals oversee the management of the quality department. They ensure that their department keeps up with their daily, weekly and monthly tasks. If a quality assurance technician addresses a concern during a facility audit, it is up to the food safety manager to resolve this concern. Overall, food safety managers have important roles where their decisions could have a catastrophic impact to consumer protection and brand image. 2. Food Safety Managers are Effective Leaders Change cannot happen with just one person alone and it takes an individual with a certain set of characteristics to lead an effective team. Leadership is the foundation of what happens in a food plant and it’s the food safety manager who sets the tone for food safety issues. Food safety managers are effective leaders because they stay current with new quality systems and certification programs. Staying current allows them to train new (and old!) employees on these newest changes on quality systems. Finally, they set high quality standards and ensure that workers adhere to them. Managers also help to create a supportive culture that puts food safety above all other concerns of a company (ex. productivity and profitability). This encourages individuals to speak up if they have a concern about food safety without the fear of getting in trouble. 3. Food Safety Managers Have Scientific Degrees It’s essential that food safety managers have degrees inchemistry, food science, engineering or a related technical field such as quality assurance. Some professionals do have a MSc or Food Safety Manager Overseeing food safety plans and ensuring they are adhered to What is food safety? Food safety refers to handling, preparing and storing food in a way to best reduce the risk of individuals becoming sick from food-borne illnesses. Photo by NiseriN/iStock/GettyImagesPlus
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