“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Continuous improvement is not just something we preach at SQFI…it’s something we practice. Keeping a diligent watch on the food safety and quality industry and creating relevant and timely updates to our program is the cornerstone of the SQFI mission and vision. That’s why we’ve updated The SQF Code edition 7.2 to edition 8 and have modified our approach to food quality certification. The September Edition of the SQFI Newsletter is focused on the new Quality Code. We decided to modify the Quality Code because we found that the interpretation of quality elements wasn’t being addressed and we wanted to address that concern and find a solution for the suppliers. We also learned suppliers were hesitant to go to level 3 because they didn’t want their food safety certification affected.
The SQF Quality Code provides the opportunity for companies to implement a comprehensive Food Quality Plan, with identified controls to reduce complaints and improve product consistency. Suppliers currently certified at SQF Level 3, will need to be certified in the SQF Quality Code. We encourage all suppliers to consider this certification to improve their food safety and quality systems.
We are also excited to launch our new official SQFI on line Quality Code training class! The SQF Quality Systems for Manufacturing training course is intended for quality, technical and managerial staff working in food manufacturing who seek to understand and differentiate between food safety management and quality management, and who are intending to implement the SQF Quality Code or update their current quality system to Edition 8. A certificate of attendance is issued upon successful completion of the course. The online version eliminates travel costs and gives you 30 days to complete the course.
There are 5 main points to remember regarding our Edition 8 Quality Code:
- Formerly Level 3
- Sites must remain certified to the SQF Food Safety Code related to their industry
- Can be audited as an extension of the food safety audit or stand-alone
- Quality audit is not scored or rated
- Outcome of the quality audit does not affect the score or rating of the food safety audit
