What's on your company's list of business resolutions for 2022? A strong food safety and the quality program should be a perennial part of such lists, but this is a good time to amend your resolutions to reflect the latest changes and challenges.
A recent SQF Unites session, "Food Safety Insights 2022: A Peek into the Crystal Ball," spotlighted trends and potential pitfalls that manufacturers should heed and be prepared to respond to as another year begins. Although it's hard to top 2020 and 2021 in terms of turbulence if the past two years have taught us any lesson, it's that being agile and staying focused on safety and quality in an uncertain operating environment is essential.
"It doesn't matter what segment you're in – as a manufacturer, distributor, processor or retailer – these are ever-changing times, and things are evolving quickly," declared session presenter and global food safety lawyer Shawn Stevens of Food Industry Counsel LLC.
Stevens highlighted critical areas for the year ahead:
As 2022 unfolds and brings expected trends and potential surprises, Stevens underscored the importance of staying on top of whatever is happening. "We've been in the food safety revolution for the past two decades and the pace isn't slowing – it's speeding up and increasing in size and we see the balloon effect of new thinking, best practices, and regulations," he said.
Thinking in extremes isn't such a bad thing, the food safety lawyer added: "What would 12 jurors say? In almost every case, if you think about that, you get to the right decision."
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