As recalls attributed to physical contaminants continue to make news, food and beverage manufacturers are checking off their compliance and audit list for this upcoming year. The importance of a strong food safety culture has never been more important.

According to Christy Draus, Marketing Manager for Eagle Product Inspection, companies should be making progress towards a comprehensive food safety culture, one year after the implementation of BRCGS Issue 8. “After the rollout of BRCGS Issue 8 in February 2019 and the first round of audits, food and beverage companies are increasingly aware of the need for a strong food safety culture and are looking for ways to improve it. The best practices include a leadership-driven, company-wide commitment to improve the food safety culture, open communications to foster that engagement, regular food safety assessments and the use of more sophisticated safety tools, such as x-ray inspection systems,” says Draus.

Advanced inspection systems are a two-pronged approach to improving food safety culture and aligning with the requirements of BRCGS Issue 8. “In addition to the primary function of finding and removing potentially hazardous physical contaminants, having an inline x-ray system is a visual sign to employees and customers that preventive, verifiable measures are in place,” Draus says.

Those measures are also a focal point of assessments, including internal and third party audits. “Manufacturers should keep in mind that sites were expected to develop a plan of action to improve food safety culture during their first audit to the Standard in 2019. During their second audit in 2020, they must show that they have verified the effectiveness of the food safety culture actions taken so far, which can include the inspection and verification of products via x-ray technologies,” Draus adds.

Going forward, Eagle Product Inspection, for its part, continues to improve its own technologies, with developments like a new next-generation MDX dual energy detector with intelligent software for poultry inspection, that will be introduced soon.

To learn more from Eagle’s experts about supporting and broadening a food safety culture, view a new webinar on the topic at https://www.eaglepi.com/knowledge-center/webinars/how-to-create-a-food-safety-culture-according-to-the-brc-global-standard-issue-8/ or visit  https://www.eaglepi.com.