Our Food safety Learning Pathways

Consumers' confidence in producers has been shaken by a succession of food crises, especially in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, where the incidence of foodborne illness is highest. The consequences of a lack of food security are a threat not only to the health of populations, but also to the economies of low- and middle-income countries.

Despite the efforts made by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to review international food hygiene and safety standards; despite the strengthening of national food safety regulations and systems in many countries; and despite multiple corporate and border controls, the latest opinion surveys show that food safety remains at the heart of consumer concerns on all continents.

However, in most cases the perceived risk is much higher than the level of real risk (e.g. for pesticide residues, where non-compliance with MRLs is the exception rather than the rule for the vast majority of plant products on the market).

To ensure food safety and also to restore confidence and give consumers a sense of security, action is needed on several fronts:

• strengthen the regulatory framework and ensure it evolves according to the techniques and results of the risk analyses carried out;
• implement risk control measures for operators based on the principles of the HACCP approach, which the Codex Alimentarius recognises as the only reference method;
• identify the data to be recorded and ensure the traceability of products in order to trace the history, destination or origin of a product;
• ensure the application of these provisions through internal and external controls, control and monitoring plans, and internal and external audits.

In accordance with the objectives of its Charter, COLEAD places food safety at the heart of its activities. COLEAD advocates for carrying out economic activities in compliance with laws and regulations, respecting people's well-being and applying best practices. COLEAD wants food safety, like other aspects of product quality, to be managed systematically and in close collaboration with customers.

To address all these very different aspects, this Food Safety course is structured into four routes. Each route has two levels. The intermediate level allows you to tackle the subject and to understand the main principles, without going into all the details of implementation. Successful completion of a test will give you access to the advanced level, where you can progress in understanding the subject and address the more practical aspects of implementation (details of the steps to follow, planning of operations, procedures to implement, reporting of results, etc.).

All four routes combined will enable you to achieve a very broad level of knowledge about Food Safety; however, each route can be studied as a stand-alone resource.

This thematic is dedicated to all middle managers of ACP companies (operators) responsible for crop production (conventional or organic), protection of the harvest, transport and packaging of exported products. In particular, they are responsible for ensuring compliance with general hygiene rules, monitoring the safety of their production, harvesting and packaging processes, ensuring compliance with specifications and verifying the conformity and traceability of batches placed on the market through the documentation accompanying their products.

Target audience:

• Company managers and executives responsible for the regulatory compliance of product batches (e.g. farm managers, crop/production managers, quality and traceability managers, packaging station managers)
• Leaders of professional organisations

Rationale: in the field of food safety, the primary responsibility is that of the producer (the importer is considered an active operator in the market). Production managers are responsible for selecting control options for contaminants (as well as for pests). The implementation of a surveillance/self-checking system at farm level is complementary to the general inspection activities by the Competent Authorities and requires training on the basic principles of hygiene, traceability and self-checking in production.

Enhanced skills:

• Manage production units in such a way as to meet productivity and efficiency requirements, while taking into account the evolution of regulatory and commercial requirements
• Ensure the continuity of operations, production compliance with hygiene and quality standards, and traceability
• Constantly evolve and improve the means of production and sustainability of practices
• Collect and interpret data to manage the company; measure deviations from the sustainability objectives set by the company's strategy and profitability
• Organise and facilitate internal training to strengthen the skills of production staff

This thematic is dedicated to all agents of the various public services of the Competent Authority responsible for the safety and conformity of food products placed on the local market or exported. In particular, they are responsible for verifying, through inspections, that all operators identified as active in the food chain comply with general hygiene rules and the safety of production and packaging processes. They are also responsible for verifying the nature, origin and conformity of the products placed on the market on the basis of the documentation accompanying batches of products.

Target audience: officers of the various public services of the Competent Authority who are responsible for the safety of food products placed on the local market or exported (heads of department, chief inspectors, inspectors). These inspectors are responsible for verifying compliance with health standards among operators. They are agents authorised by the Competent Authority, who have appropriate and continuous training to carry out control operations to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Codex Alimentarius and food safety regulations.

Rationale: to ensure food safety, the Competent Authority works closely with the operators it controls. The inspection of installations and verification of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), traceability and self-checking are complementary to the product sampling carried out by the Competent Authority. It is therefore necessary for these agents to receive training on the basic principles of hygiene, HACCP, traceability and self-checking in production.

Enhanced skills:

• Carry out inspections on production sites, in companies, in packaging stations, at import and export points
• Carry out inspections in companies in the horticultural sector and detect regulatory non-compliance
• Perform sampling, transfer samples to the appropriate laboratories and transmit the results

Target audience:

• Service providers who provide technical assistance to managers, company executives and/or public service employees responsible for control in companies in the agri-food sector – analysis of company organisation; analysis of a food safety management system (FSMS) or traceability system; implementation of prerequisite programmes (PRP) and HACCP; development of quality procedures or manuals; facilitation of communication; assistance for certification according to voluntary private norms (VPNs)
• Service providers who act as trainers and/or trainers-of-trainers or coaches to these people (training, facilitation, coaching, etc.)

Rationale: training needs to provide technical assistance with both extensive skills in hygiene and food safety, and complementary training skills (coaching and communication) to be able to lead a team around a project. Providing training (or training-of-trainers) requires the mastery of technical and training skills (communication skills, group facilitation, coaching, skills assessment, etc.). In line with COLEAD's cascading training system, ACP experts trained in the field are also needed, for example to strengthen the training skills of middle managers in companies, or inspection service managers for the internal training of inspectors (training-of-trainers).

Enhanced skills:

• Be familiar with Codex Alimentarius requirements and regulatory requirements in the field of food safety
• Master the principles of good hygiene practices, HACCP, traceability and self-checking
• Master the principles of health risk assessment and control in companies (e.g. within the framework of HACCP)
• Develop and/or manage a training programme
• Facilitate a training-of-trainers, coach and evaluate participants