A guide to reduce food safety risks

The Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) has released the SQF Food Safety Code for Food Service in partnership with the National Restaurant Association (NRA). The code is a solution for those in the restaurant and food service industry to reduce food safety risks, including grocery retailers.

The SQFI Food Service Code was developed in conjunction with food safety experts from the National Restaurant Association as well as other stakeholders within the food service industry. The code addresses the challenges that foodservice operators face daily and provides them the tools needed to help protect their brand.

“This foodservice program incorporates food safety roles from the top of the corporate chain down to each specific site location with a heavy emphasis on management and creating a thriving food safety culture within the company,” said SQFI Chief Food Safety Assessment Officer Robert Garfield. “The Food Service Code provides structured guidance to make implementation accessible, attainable and easy to understand.”

According to a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration study addressing food safety practices and behaviors at restaurants, the use of a food safety management system along with the presence of a certified food protection manager positively impacts food safety behaviors and practices.

“As we see more industry operators advancing their food safety programs, it became obvious that there needed to be a way for businesses to evaluate the efficacy of their programs across all units,” said Sherman L. Brown, the NRA’s executive vice president of training and certification. “The collaboration between SQFI and the National Restaurant Association to create this code provides the industry a way to evaluate how well their systems work.”

The NRA and SQFI will host a webinar on October 29 at 2 p.m. (Eastern) to present more information about the partnership and this initiative that promotes a strong food safety management system