Documenting your Food Safety Culture is now an auditable requirement, mandated by GFSI and the FDA. But how can culture be assessed? What elements can be measured, and how must they be documented to satisfy governing & certification bodies? Liliana Casal-Wardle, Ph.D. from TAG explains

1. FSMA Fridays Webinar Series
Monthly Industry News, Updates & Trends for Food, Beverage, & CPG Manufacturers
Building an Auditable, Measurable
Food Safety Culture
with Liliana Casal-Wardle, Ph.D., The Acheson Group
February 26, 2021

2. Monthly Industry Update:
✔ FSMA Related News
✔ Regulation Changes & Updates
✔ Industry Trends
✔ Q&A with TAG
What is FSMA Fridays?
FSMA FRIDAYS

3. Casual but Professional Format
✔ Ask questions! (Q&A at end)
✔ Only panelists are displayed
✔ Recording link will be shared
✔ Audio issues: use call-in number
Watch prior FSMA Friday recordings at
safetychain.com > Resources > FSMA Fridays
Before We Get Started
FSMA FRIDAYS

4. Featured Panelists & Host
FSMA FRIDAYS
Aaron Bolshaw
VP Marketing
Liliana Casal-Wardle, Ph.D.
Senior Director Food Safety
● 25+ years of experience in private industry
● Held technical and global leadership roles managing
food safety and product quality at The Hershey
Company (2002 to 2019).
● Expertise in Food Safety, Food Safety Culture, Food
Science, Food Defense, Cleaning & Sanitation
Practices, Environmental Microbiological Monitoring
Programs, GFSI requirements and Quality Assurance
● Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry (University of Buenos Aires)
● Certified SQF Practitioner and a FSMA Preventive
Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI)

5. FSMA FRIDAYS
Four core elements:
1. Tech-enabled Traceability
2. Smarter Tools and Approaches for Prevention and Outbreak Response
3. New Business Models and Retail Modernization
4. Food Safety Culture
4.1 Promote Food Safety Culture Throughout the Food System
• Review literature and conduct and support research on challenges, barriers, and
opportunities.
• Develop an FDA food safety culture social marketing plan
• Encourage influencers
• Ensure FDA education, training, and inspectional tools
• Enhance food safety culture and behavioral science principles
• Support the development and harmonization of tools that companies can use to assess their
food safety culture
FSMA Review: New Era of Smarter Food Safety

6. FSMA FRIDAYS
“The way we do things around here”
Culture is patterned ways of thought and behavior that characterize
a social group, which can be learned through socialization processes
and persist through time (Coreil, Bryant & Henderson, 2001).
How Do We Define a Food Safety Culture?
In a GFSI position paper on a Culture of Food Safety, TWG
defines food safety cultures as:
“...shared values, beliefs and norms that affect
mindset and behavior towards food safety
in, across, and throughout an organization.”
http://www.mygfsi.com/news-resources/news/news-blog/1419-a-culture-of-food-safety.html

7. FSMA FRIDAYS
“Provide staff with a common sense of food safety purpose”
.
Food Safety Culture: Creating a Behavior-Based Food Safety Management System (Food Microbiology and Food Safety-
F. Yiannas, Food Safety Culture, DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-72867-4_2, Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009
Food Safety Culture: Behavior-Based System
● Risk awareness
● Understand associated risks in products
● Understand associated risks in process deviation
● Manage risks through established Plan
● Use variety of tools, consequences, and REWARDS
● Positive reinforcement; incentives

8. FSMA FRIDAYS
.
The Culture Paradigm
TASK-BASED
Matrix driven by Work
Collaborative
Equal visibility among all departments
QA/QC is the Gatekeeper
Solutions Driven
Findings Seen as Opportunities
Equal Ownership
Empowered employees
“It’s OUR problem”
ROLE-BASED
Hierarchy/Driven by Title
Conflicting Agendas
Unbalanced representation & diminished
capacity
QA/QC is Police Officer
Problem focused
Blame placed on findings
No ownership of tasks
Powerless employees
“It’s NOT MY problem

9. FSMA FRIDAYS
GFSI TWG: 5 Dimensions of Food Safety Culture
from A CULTURE OF FOOD SAFETY: GLOBAL FOOD SAFETY INITIATIVE PUBLISHES POSITION PAPER
https://dqs-cfs.com/2018/07/a-culture-of-food-safety-global-food-safety-initiative-publishes-position-paper/

10. FSMA FRIDAYS
”
GOOD
Reactive
QA Dependent
GREAT
Proactive
Knowledgeable
Empowered
BEST IN CLASS
In depth proactive
risk management
Continuous
Improvement
mindset
Maturity model is developed based on the development of the five dimensions of FSC
Maturity Model

11. FSMA FRIDAYS
WHAT BEST DESCRIBES YOUR
PLANT’S MATURITY LEVEL FOR FOOD
SAFETY CULTURE?
Audience Poll

12. FSMA FRIDAYS
2.1.1.2 Senior site management shall lead and
support a food safety culture within the site
that ensures at a minimum:
i. The establishment, documentation, and
communication to all relevant staff of food
safety objectives and performance measures;
ii. Adequate resources are available to meet
food safety objectives;
iii. Food safety practices and all applicable
requirements of the SQF System are adopted
and maintained;
iv. Staff are informed and held accountable for
their food safety and regulatory
responsibilities;
v. Staff are positively encouraged and
required to notify management of actual or
potential food safety issues; and
vi. Staff are empowered to act to resolve food
safety issues within their scope of work.
1.1.2 The site’s senior management shall
define and maintain a clear plan for the
development and continuing
improvement of a food safety and
quality culture. This shall include:
• defined activities involving all
sections of the site that have an
impact on product safety
• an action plan indicating how the
activities will be undertaken and
measured, and the intended
• timescales
• a review of the effectiveness of
completed activities.
SQF CODE Edition 9 BRC Issue 8
• The GFSI food safety culture
requirements specify elements related
to employee communication, training,
and performance measurement. Since
the ISO 22000:2018 standard already
covered these topics, the Foundation
has released a guidance document to
demonstrate how these food safety
culture requirements are being met.
• Rather than adding more
requirements to the scheme, FSSC has
published a guidance document on
how to ensure the relevant clauses of
ISO 22000:2018 are implemented with
the development of a strong food
safety culture in mind.
FSSC 22000 Version 5
GFSI Assessments on Food Safety Culture?

13. FSMA FRIDAYS
What will the AUDITOR look for when auditing a site on Food Safety Culture?
• Evidence of a plan with objectives and targets around Food Safety Culture and evidence of the site completing the
activities in its action plan
• Senior management’s commitment and leadership that enables the development and continuous improvement of
the culture
• Management of communication related to food safety behaviors and programs
• Empowerment of the workforce through education and training
• Feedback from employees through interviews across all levels of personnel on an informal basis. They will expect to
find an awareness of food safety culture, how individuals can impact on it, and the company’s objectives.
• Performance measurement on food safety-related activities.
• Evidence of a plan with objectives, and evidence of the site completing the activities in its action plan.
• Rewards and recognition of employees
GFSI: Auditing Food Safety Culture

14. Q & A
FSMA FRIDAY

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Resources & Future Events
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March 26, 2021:
Lily Yang, Ph.D., Food Safety Associate