Tia Glave & Jill Stuber

Despite food safety regulations and processes improving over the last several decades, foodborne illnesses have not significantly declined. This begs a critical question, which the article attempts to answer through a food safety culture lens: Are new regulations and "best practices" actually improving outcomes?

This article takes a look at how whole-being competencies support technical leaders to shift culture through daily interactions and behaviors. As we head into 2024, it is time to move from checking boxes to doing the work of creating and implementing a solid food safety culture improvement plan. Organizations are taking this opportunity to map out how to improve food safety culture in the next year—and, hopefully, over the next several years, as culture shifts are known to take several years to see the impact. 

How would work be different if, instead of focusing on the challenges of working in silos, we built stronger leaders to effectively navigate crowd-sourcing opportunities?

As leaders in food safety, it is our responsibility to develop the influential skills to "manage up" and "train upper management" on food safety risks and opportunities to secure the necessary funding for continued development.

To lead from the local level for food safety, top executives must empower and authorize leaders to solve issues like food safety culture. The technical food safety team is best situated for this task. To build a sustainable food safety culture, it is essential to start with shifting and building the mindset of the technical leadership and honoring the well-being of this team. 

Let's bust the myths that keep food safety and quality professionals from the success they deserve as they start a new job. Learn how onboarding makes sense from a financial perspective and a people perspective.

Strong food safety cultures are often associated with maturity, but they are not developed overnight. Three steps can help develop food safety culture maturity at any organizational level and company size.

You won the role of the Food Safety and Quality leader, and now you're responsible for creating a feature film starring food safety culture. It can be overwhelming to pull everyone together to play their parts. With these tips, you'll have a blockbuster feature film in no time!