Food-related outbreaks and recalls due to poor sanitation and hygiene standards prevailing in the food industry is not an uncommon occurrence around the globe, including the United States. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year there are about 48 million foodborne illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths due to consumption of contaminated food. These incidences result into annual losses of over $15.6 billion dollars to the economy. Moreover, about one in four of the food safety recalls in the U.S. relate to poor environmental hygiene and sanitation controls, and, if food facilities were to implement appropriate improvements, it could translate into an actual savings of $0.5–1.5 million annually per company. Establishing such food safety controls usually requires food facilities to develop, implement, and maintain a food safety management system, and the SQF Codes can provide a sound basis for developing such a system.
The SQF Code Edition 8 Food Safety Code for Manufacturing has provided the requirements for environmental hygiene and sanitation controls for the food and beverage industry, at least in the following areas (note: technical elements for Module 11 are referenced in the following points):