Wal-Mart seeks retailer support of GFSI

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group posted this story that speaks of Wal-Mart's effort to seek retail support of the Global Food Safety Initiative. From that Supermarket News story:

In the wake of this year's high-profile food recalls, Wal- Mart Stores' Vice President of Food Safety Frank Yiannas called upon food retailers to join the retail giant and several other global retailers in embracing the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), an effort to create and adopt uniform food safety standards. The hope is that more retailers and foodservice organizations are going to join us in this effort,” he said. “[GFSI] is our greatest opportunity to create a universal standard of safe food, and advance food safety and the quality of life for consumers around the world.”

TK: Questions remain how appropriate/adaptable the GFSI/SQF audit is for the produce growing community, particularly smaller operators. What is the GFSI? I found a powerpoint on the Web that covers the basics.

Quick hitters

Some notes this morning from the inbox:

PMA Foundation name change
The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Education Foundation announced today that it has officially changed its name to the PMA Foundation for Industry Talent. The name change culminates a three-month long strategic planning process, and more closely reflects the newly refined purpose and goals of the foundation.

“We feel that ‘Foundation for Industry Talent’ conveys our mission more effectively than our former name,” said Cindy Seel, executive director for the foundation. “We are indeed dedicated to education of the produce industry’s labor talent, but more importantly we are dedicated to a broader spectrum of attracting, developing and retaining superior talent to sustain a vibrant, global produce supply chain.”

In recent months, the foundation has been very focused on fulfilling its $5 million goal of its capital campaign, “Our Industry…Our People”. The monies contributed will support the foundation’s 2008-2012 programs, and finance development of new initiatives such as leadership training and education tools to appeal to all levels of industry leaders, visiting professor programs, and information and tools that encourage employee loyalty and retention.

NRA Food Safety - Check out more detail on the Fresh Talk calendar at bottom of the page
The National Restaurant Association today announced that registration is open for its "Food Safety in the 21st Century Marketplace: Best Practices Throughout the Supply Chain" conference in Atlanta October 22-24, 2008. In partnership with the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and the Gerson Lehrman Group, the conference will explore the many facets and challenges of food safety, at all points in the foodservice supply chain.

Goodlatte names new communications staffer
Ranking Member Bob Goodlatte is pleased to announce that Tamara Hinton will serve as the new Communications Director for the Committee. Hinton replaces Alise Kowalski who recently took a new position in a public relations firm in Kansas City.
Prior to joining the Committee, Hinton was a general assignment reporter for WVIR NBC29 News for four years. The television station is based in Charlottesville, but she worked in the Augusta County bureau covering Shenandoah Valley news. During her time there she covered everything from agriculture and politics to major national stories such as the Virginia Tech shootings, the 2006 midterm election, and the five year anniversary of September 11^th in New York.

FSLC and GFSI

One reader comments in a previous post today, and I'll highlight it here as well because I can't provide the answer to his question. As I found in my last story on Wal-Mart's and GFSI, getting a spokesman for Wal-Mart is never as easy as picking up the phone and dialing Bentonville. In any case, perhaps others can provide some illumination to this question:


"Can someone please explain the difference or similarity between the recent Wal-Mart news on GFSI and the FSLC? Are they still adopting FSLC? Haven't heard much about those standards. "

Global Food Safety Initiative

When a sentence starts with "Wal-Mart has become the first nationwide U.S. grocery chain to require suppliers," that clearly implies it may not be the last. And the phraseology seems to suggest a kind of one-upmanship for food safety.Yet if this standard will reduce the number and cost of third party inspections, suppliers will be all for it. I have my doubts...
In any case, here is the release from Wal-Mart:

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has become the first nationwide U.S. grocery chain to require suppliers of its private label and other food products such as produce, meat, fish, poultry and ready-to-eat foods to have their factories certified against one of the internationally recognized Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards.

A group of major international retailers committed to strengthening consumer confidence in the food they purchase, the GFSI now lists Wal-Mart among the companies who have agreed to improve food safety through a higher and consistent auditing standard.

Selected by CIES (http://www.ciesnet.com/), the Food Business Forum, to safeguard and ensure high quality in the international food supply chain, GFSI standards provide real time details on where suppliers fall short in food safety on a plant-by-plant basis, and go beyond the current FDA or USDA required audit process. Under the GFSI program, producers of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club private label and other foods sold in the U.S. must be audited by independently trained, approved and licensed auditors who are experts in their industry.

"The requirement for suppliers to complete these certifications demonstrates our leadership in food safety and our commitment to global safety standards," said J.P. Suarez, Wal-Mart's senior vice president and chief compliance officer, and a board member of the Global Food Safety Initiative. "Food safety has always been a top priority at Wal-Mart. We are taking this additional step to ensure the integrity of our products throughout the entire food supply chain. We encourage other U.S. retailers to follow our lead and to also endorse these standards."

The GFSI requires food suppliers to achieve factory audit certification against one of its recognized standards, which include Safe Quality Food (SQF), British Retail Consortium (BRC), International Food Standard (IFS), or an equivalent such as Global-GAP. Wal-Mart has published a schedule to suppliers requiring completion of initial certification between July and December of 2008, with full certification required by July 2009. Audits will be completed by approved third party auditing companies.

Wal-Mart private label food brands in the U.S. are Great Value and Sam's Choice. Sam's Club private label food brands in the U.S. include Member's Mark and Bakers & Chefs.

"Our customers expect high quality at every day low prices when they purchase any of our private label foods, and we're committed to meeting -- and exceeding -- their expectations," said Andrea Thomas, Wal-Mart's senior vice president, private brands. "The GFSI standards are an added step that will help us -- and our U.S. food producers -- keep our quality commitment."

Internationally, Wal-Mart stores in the United Kingdom (ASDA) and Japan (Seiyu) also require suppliers of food products to comply with GFSI standards.

The Global Food Safety Initiative was launched in May 2000 to establish food safety management systems to ensure confidence in the delivery of safe food to consumers. The initiative has fostered a convergence among food safety standards, achieved cost efficiencies through common acceptance of GFSI recognized standards, and provided a forum for exchange of best food safety practices.