The cover story for the August/September ‘26 issue of Food Safety Magazine discusses the organization and use of third-party audit data to understand risk and prevent foodborne illnesses. Additional features examine the consideration of food safety at the Board of Directors level, an approach that treats HACCP as an active and evolving management system, and building better food safety decision-making capabilities across the food supply chain.
Most restaurant brands already collect enough third-party audit data to understand risk better, but the data are usually trapped in a compliance framework. The problem is not a lack of data; it is that the data are organized around checklist completion rather than outbreak causation.
To fulfill their governance responsibilities, boards require regular, high-quality reporting that translates technical food safety issues into business risk terms
Food safety, once considered the responsibility of technical and production functions, should be recognized as a company-wide, end-to-end business imperative. At the same time, food safety risk management is becoming increasingly complex and represents a growing threat to food companies, andshould be regularly addressed by the Board of Directors.