Beef: Having It Your Way and Ensuring Compliance

The last few weeks have been very interesting in the world of
global beef products. Mexico’s agriculture ministry said on Dec.
26, 2008, it could soon resume imports from 30 U.S. meat plants
temporarily suspended because they did not meet joint sanitary
regulations.  The plants fell short on standards like
packaging, labeling and some transport conditions.

So what happened here in a world of global regulations on
ingredients?  Well, let’s first take a look at what goes
on the label from the manufacturer in our average
supermarket.  It’s all there if you just take a few
moments to look closely at the small print.  The meat package
label identifies the kind of beef, the wholesale cut name and the
retail cut name.  It also includes the weight, price per
pound, total price, sell-by date and safe handling
instructions.  However, labeling is evolving, and you may see
labels that include a grade, nutrition information and recommended
preparation information.  Other terms you may see labels
include: branded beef names, grain or grass-fed, natural or
organic.

However, Mexico is not alone.  It turns out that last week the
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it
will now test certain meat and poultry products — including
baby food, hot dogs and chicken nuggets — for the chemical
melamine.  The action by the agency’s Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) comes amid concerns that melamine
contamination in some imported foods — specifically those
that contain milk products imported from China — may have
spread to meat and poultry.

What Manufacturers are Doing to Ensure Global
Compliance?

The food and beverage industry is global in nature, with many
products being offered across the globe by an increasing amount of
companies; however, globalization poses a risk to the quality and
safety of ingredients.  Therefore food and beverage companies
have begun to implement Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)
systems to reduce the risk of defective foods and to keep in
compliance with the food safety laws of each country that a product
goes through.

In the highly competitive food and beverage industry, tight profit
margin and customer-driven demand results in a high volume of new
product introductions and reduced production cycles.  At the
same time, strict regulations from both the FDA and USDA require
that companies implement a GRC system to ensure product quality and
process improvement.  Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
(HACCP) processes and the ISO 22000 standard are currently being
adopted by a growing number of food and beverage manufacturers to
maintain credibility and as a sign of social responsibility. 
HACCP is currently mandated in the production of red meat, poultry,
seafood and juice.  Document Management solutions, Auditing
and Corrective Action within the ERP and MES solutions are all
critical components to the success of such programs.

The bottom line is that globalization of the world’s food supply
has made it increasingly important to have an effective forward and
backward trace capability in place to track the source of defective
products and reduce the risk of tainted products making it into the
marketplace.  Processes such as HACCP and ISO 22000 are
examples designed to incorporate safety into each step of food and
beverage production in order to prevent safety issues from arising
in a proactive manner.