The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Stop Foodborne Illness joined forces to present a webinar, titled, “Building a Coalition of Food Safety Culture Champions Across Your Organization.”

On Thursday afternoon of the 2022 Food Safety Summit, industry and regulatory representatives engaged in a panel discussion about how food safety culture and behavior can contribute to modernization of the inspection process.

During the Thursday morning Town Hall at the 2022 Food Safety Summit, top food safety regulators from FDA, USDA, CDC, and AFDO discussed initiatives and advances in food traceability, food safety policy, recalls, pathogen monitoring, food safety culture, and a number of other timely areas. 

Wednesday at the 2022 Food Safety Summit began with a keynote presentation that featured a panel of regulatory and industry representatives who discussed their perspectives on the future, implementation, and importance of food safety culture.

During a Tuesday afternoon workshop of the 2022 Food Safety Summit, regulators and the regulated industry shared suggestions for how to better communicate together and meet regulated requirements while maintaining a sensible level of operational necessity.

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.

This article explores how having respect for people and fully engaging employees can transform a company's culture of food safety.

The authors and collaborating food safety experts have identified four predominant features around food safety culture in European cultures. These features include mixed attitudes toward the adoption of new ideas as food safety management changes, active engagement in food safety and quality, consensual decision-making, and a prevailing dependence on internal drive (as opposed to regulatory dictation) in fostering food safety culture.

This Regional Culture article series will examine the differences and features that prevail and render each global region unique with regard to food safety culture. Ultimately, the goal is to foster understanding and enable better communicate and management of food safety culture.