Public Private Partnerships Enable Food Safety

At The Coca-Cola Company, we continuously strive to improve our processes and food safety systems. We are committed to working with our partners, suppliers, customers, and communities to strengthen the integrity of the food supply chain. Doing so helps us achieve our slogan of the “Perfect Product Trusted Everywhere” and supports our chairman’s 2020 vision.

To maximize our impact on improving food safety, we collaborate with other leading food businesses, academia, non-government organizations (NGOs), and intergovernmental institutions on pre-competitive issues. In 2009, we joined SSAFE, a non-profit food safety platform that brings together stakeholders to develop science-based strategies, support the harmonization of standards, support capacity building by stimulating education and improving local infrastructures, and provide a safe and open environment for discussion on issues facing the food industry.

SSAFE emerged out of the Avian Influenza crisis in 2004 and formally launched in August 2006 with the purpose of integrating food safety, animal health, and plant health across food supply chains to improve public health and well-being.

As a key member of SSAFE, Coca-Cola works with the other member companies to:

• Understand any value-diverse perspectives on the challenges of food supply globally.
• Support the development and implementation of WTO-recognized standards that facilitate safe trading of foods.
• Facilitate education and training in food safety in developing regions worldwide.
• Collaborate with leading governmental institutions, academia, and industry leaders to address new challenges in food safety.

Collaboration.

SSAFE is made up of nine member companies: Cargill, Coca-Cola, Danone, Fonterra, Kellogg’s, Keystone Foods, McDonald’s, Nestlé, and Zoetis. What makes SSAFE unique is the focus of much of its effort on driving collaboration between the public and private sectors on food safety projects. It achieves this by working closely with and collaborating on major global and local initiatives with a wide range of partners such as:

• Intergovernmental organizations such as the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), World Bank, International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), CODEX, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Federation for Animal Health (IFAH).
• Membership organizations such as Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), International Dairy Federation (IDF), and International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
• Academic institutions such as Michigan State University (MSU), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in China, and National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) in India.

SSAFE’s membership, Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), and strong partnerships help provide scope and reach across the supply chain, which enables member companies to identify and resolve emerging global issues and risks quickly and collaboratively.

Capacity Building.

One excellent example of how such collaboration works in practice has been the capacity-building programs led by SSAFE in India and China to help advance food safety practices.

In December 2012, SSAFE, in collaboration with NIFTEM, GFSI, and MSU, organized its first Global Markets training program. The goal of the training was three-fold. To:

1. Increase food safety awareness and collaboration across industry in India.
2. Build capability using globally recognized, science-based standards to deliver safe food for consumers.
3. Promote the GFSI Global Markets program: “A journey to GFSI Certification.”

The training covered 13 modules of the Basic Level of the Global Markets Program, which is designed to enhance food safety knowledge. It includes an introduction to basic food safety and topics such as personal hygiene, water quality, pest control, cleaning and disinfection, product contamination control, control of food hazards and allergens, incident management, corrective action, control of nonconforming product, and traceability.

The training was such a success that, in 2013, we launched a similar three-year program in collaboration with SJTU, and, in June 2014, SSAFE will return to India for Intermediate Level training of the GMP. We also are working on a program to deliver capacity building in the dairy sector with the World Bank’s Global Food Safety Partnership, to maximize resources from the public and private sectors.

Collaboration in external organizations helps companies to grow and strengthen partnerships with other leaders in food safety, intergovernmental institutions, and academia. Public/private partnerships help protect consumers, customers, and the food industry.

For more information, visit www.ssafe-food.org or email SSAFE Executive Director Quincy Lissaur, qlissaur@ssafe-food.org.