Saturday, January 18, 2020

What is SQF ?


The SQF (Safe Quality Food) Code
The globalization of the agri-food system makes it difficult for each nation to regulate food safety and quality practices individually where world has created a more globalized mosaic in agri-food safety systems. As a result, there were many private food safety and quality standards have been developed since the 1990s. Private standards can contain a variety of quality attributes which might not be contained in public standards, because most of the consumer forums, marketing forums, food retailers and manufacturers want not only to decrease food safety risk, but also to increase consumer confidence in food safety in their products using private certifications. There are many private certifications and each certification has different aspects based on their key elements, part of the chain involved, and the level of recognition.

In early 1990s, the fresh produce markets had been insisting the growers of fruit and vegetables to develop, implement and maintain an appropriate food safety/quality system due to the raised concerns over food safety out breaks, if they want to secure their place in the domestic market as a supplier, at a time for many such businesses, the system solution let alone its development, implementation and maintenance, is not so obvious.  Thus, SQF initially born as a solution to such deeds in Australia.

Hence, SQF is a a privately owned, voluntary food safety and quality code, which was specifically aimed at primary producers and small businesses involved in the food industry to help them meet consumer demands for safe food of consistent quality at the time of its debut in Australia in 1994. At the time, it was based on a minimum requirements that were derived from ISO 9002 combined with Codex Alimentarius Commission HACCP and required an external, third party audit. Thus, SQF Code incorporates Codex HACCP, and it is also a quality system designed to assist enterprises to meet customer requirements and improve business performance and profitability.

Due to its simple robust structure and available guidance documents with advisory services, it gained quick popularity which was later acquired and currently SQF program is owned and managed by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) since 2003. It was first recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) in 2004, as a standard that meets its benchmark requirements, which gained its popularity in the beginning with the major acceptance by the Walmart for their bench mark as supplier registration in the food sector.

Thus, SQF Codes can be described as; site-specific, process and product certification standards with an emphasis on the systematic application of CODEX Alimentarius Commission’s HACCP principles and guidelines for control of food safety and food quality hazards embedded in to strong GMP practices which encompass all the food safety requirements of any country’s food safety legislation, including FDA, CFIA, EU, etc. Because SQF certification requirements provide a rigorous system to manage food safety risks and provide safe products for use by companies in the food industry. In other words, SQF is a logical, practical and complementary extension of HACCP, with an inherent synergy between the management of food safety risk and the management of quality. Hence, SQF code is a Food Safety Management Certification Scheme, managed by SQF Institute, intended to control food safety risks. To be recognized as a certified site, organization’s food safety management system implemented should undergo an audit and certified by a third-party certification body recognized by SQFI.

Today, SQF code is defined more broadly on the primary production, manufacture, processing, transport, storage, food service, distribution or retailing of food products and food-contact packaging. Nonetheless, the SQF certification is divided into three levels, where level 1 is an entry for new and developing businesses and it covers the basic food elements. Then in the level 2, suppliers have to implement a HACCP system in addition to food safety basics (GMPs), where level 2 complies with benchmark requirements of Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). The level 3 suppliers have to satisfy more than the GFSI benchmark requirements in addition to HACCP and food safety basics to achieve SQF Quality Code.

The companies interested in SQF certification, are required to register in the SQFI assessment database in the SQFI website (www.sqfi.com) where registration is annual, and there is a fee per site, payable at registration and renewal. As to the standard, “the fee scale is dependent on the size of the site as determined by gross annual sales revenue”, and they must be registered in SQFI database prior to achieving certification and must remain registered at all times to retain their certification. Hence, in case of failure to maintain registration, the certificate is invalid until the site is properly registered in the SQFI assessment database.

On the other hand, looking at the SQF database, SQF code can be distinguished as a USA dominant standard. The largest site base is USA (68.3%) and the next major site bases are Australia (12.2%), Canada (8.6%), Japan (4.3%) and Mexico (2.5%). The total number of certified site in the database are 1435, out of them 10 sites are SQF select sites who conducts continuous unannounced annual recertification audits. Out of those 10 sites, 6 sites are US, 3 Mexican and 1 Canadian. Comparing its geographical distribution to other food safety standards, it only dominate in North America, other than that Australia, China and New Zealand has little penetration to their food industry. Nonetheless, by the 04 December 2019, there were 162 sites have been or by themselves have withdrawn the certificates, which might be a clue to its limited spread across the world as well as in food industry, even though it is one of the pioneering food safety standards. Thus, path to successful development and implementation of SQF Code is not an easy task which one should not be taken too lightly. Further, it is a straight forward and manageable standard and organizations can take control of the system by themselves and achieve recognition of their efforts through an external, third party certification process.

The SQF Code 8.1
The SQF Code 8.1 is the current food safety code for all sectors of the food supply chain from primary production through to food retailing and the manufacture of food packaging, which is now available in separate documents depending on the industry sector. This version of the code, became effective January 1, 2018. Companies are expected to begin their transition to the new edition with the renewal of the next certification audit provided that there is an enough period to amend the modified requirements of the standard. The next version of the standard will be SQF Code 9, which is expected to release during 2020 – 2021.

SQF Food Safety Codes 
The SQF Food Safety Fundamentals (for small and developing businesses)
The SQF Food Safety Code for Primary Production
The SQF Food Safety Code for Storage and Distribution
The SQF Food Safety Code for food Manufacturing
The SQF Food Safety Code for Manufacture of Food Packaging
The SQF Food Safety Code for Food Retail
The SQF Food Safety Code for Food Service
The SQF Quality Code

Getting ready for a SQF registration involves building the SQF code based food safety management system, documenting it and implementing throughout the organization, which required an average of 8-12 months to prepare for certification. However the time frame vary depending on the organization's specific circumstances. The major two activities during this period involves:

Say What You Do
Document the SQF System – The food safety team must prepare policies, procedures, work instructions and specifications that meet the system elements and GMP Modules of the SQF Food Safety Code for Manufacturing or other relevant code based on the industry requirement.

Do What You Say
Implement the SQF System – The senior management must take the leadership in implementation of prepared policies, procedures, work instructions and specifications, and keep records to demonstrate compliance to the relevant modules of the SQF Food Safety Code for Manufacturing, primary production, packaging, etc. SQFI recommends that a minimum of two months of records is available before a site audit is conducted.

To help the organizations developing their SQF based food safety systems, there are guidance documents available for some SQF Code modules and food sector categories from the SQFI website (sqfi.com). These documents are available to help the site interpret the requirements of the SQF Code and assist with documenting and implementing an SQF System, which are developed with the assistance of food sector technical experts.

The Site
SQF certification is site specific, where the entire site, including all premises, support buildings, silos, tanks, loading and unloading bays and external grounds must be included in the scope of certification. However, if a site seeks to exempt part of the premises, it must be communicated to the certification body in writing   prior to the certification audit, detailing the reason for exemption. However, all parts of the premises and process that are involved with the production, processing and storage of products included in the scope cannot be exempted. Nonetheless, when activities are carried out in different premises but are overseen by the same senior, operational, and technical management, and are covered by the one SQF System, the site can be expanded to include those premises.

The Products
SQF certification is also product specific, where food sector category/ies, and products processed and handled on site must be identified and agreed in the scope of certification. However, if a site plan to exempt any products processed or handled on site, it must be communicated to the certification body in writing   prior to the certification audit, detailing the reason for exemption. If approved by the certification body, product or site exemptions shall be listed in the site description in the SQFI assessment database and in audit reports.

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