Welcome to the third installment of the Food Packaging Safety Forum. Last month, we began to discuss the challenges faced by facilities that for many reasons may not be aligned with stakeholders or sponsors regarding the extent, type, and requirements of a food packaging safety program. This can include a program in place or, more commonly, a target program that is identified by the customer or supply chain partner, mandated for use by all, and set as the criteria for third party audit scoring.
Whether one is the entity dictating the program (i.e. sponsor) or the partner required to understand, embrace, and implement said program, there is the distinct possibility that certain aspects of compliance and formal requirements may create consternation or, possibly, panic. Unless the partner is already certified and compliant with the mandated program or criteria, he or she will be faced with applying resources and funds in order to achieve compliance. To avoid panic or possible misapplication of unnecessary or misdirected resources to begin compliance assessment, a face-to-face dialogue with the sponsor to discuss scoping of the objectives is strongly recommended.