How Technology is Pushing the Food Safety Culture

Food safety culture must be integrated throughout the food supply chain, from farmer to consumer, as a foundational building block for all other programs.

Fremont, CA: Food safety culture is one of the most talked-about problems in the food industry right now and with good reason. Any food safety system must have a strong culture of food safety. Food safety culture refers to a food organization's attitudes, beliefs, practices, and values connected to food safety, whether it's a farm, processor, distributor, manufacturer, restaurant, or retail site. In a nutshell, these standards direct the organization's members in their everyday roles and obligations. In practice, "what employees and stakeholders do while no one else is looking" might be defined as a food safety culture. While this is unquestionably true, it encompasses all areas of leadership commitments, facility, and organizational design, behavior, rewards, and employee empowerment.

How is technology initiating the food safety culture?

In many ways, a company's commitment to technology deployment and acceptance suggests that it is committed to growth and improvement. During the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, for example, large investments were made in non-traditional retail formats like direct-to-consumer and alternate distribution. Organizations had no choice but to establish new business models in order to stay afloat during this volatile period. Similarly, food safety specialists must continue to learn about and adapt to the latest industry developments, which may include utilizing and upgrading technology to help overcome previously insurmountable challenges.

Many companies haven't invested in technological solutions to strengthen their food safety culture in a long time. In the food business, for example, the use of paper forms and paperwork is still common. Due to a lack of technology tools, there is a duplication of labor, an inability to get meaningful knowledge, and a higher chance of documentation errors and avoidable risk. Organizations that have engaged in technology, on the other hand, have discovered that their teams can automate time-consuming and manual activities, minimize risk, gain more insight into macro-trends, and prevent difficulties rather than merely respond to them. As companies prepare for a future food supply chain, technology that gives actionable insights like these will be critical.