Campden BRI and Alchemy in partnership with BRC Global Standards, SGS, SQF, TSI, NSF – Latin America and GMA – SEF has released the results of the fifth annual global survey of food safety training. The survey questioned food and drink manufacturers and processors worldwide to identify the needs, effectiveness and challenges of food safety training in the industry.

The survey revealed some interesting developments:

Survey responses indicate that companies are highly committed to building strong food safety cultures and are investing to continually improve their programs. Specifically:

• 74 percent believe they have a clear vision for improving food safety.
• 55 percent responded that their company is a leader in food safety.
• 83 percent believe they are able to provide the food safety training needed to drive behaviors.

The top three food safety training challenges identified by the survey respondents are:

• Scheduling the time for training employees.
• Verifying the effectiveness of training.
• Organizing refresher training.

And the top three challenges to developing a strong food safety culture:

• Negative employee attitudes.
• High staff turnover.
• Lack of effective communication.

The survey, which is the only one of its kind, questioned food and drink manufacturers and processors worldwide to identify the needs, effectiveness and challenges of food safety training in the industry. There were over 1,400 responses from 20 food industry sectors globally.

Bertrand Emond, Head of Membership and Training at Campden BRI said: “The survey shows a strong management commitment to food safety, but there are execution gaps that need attention like ensuring all employees are consistently following safety procedures on the production floor. It also highlighted the need for the technical and food safety team to work closely with the HR and senior management team to optimize the effectiveness of the training and engagement programs. It was interesting to note that over the last five years, very little progress has been made on improving the effectiveness of training and the take-up of more novel learning and training delivery methods has been slow. The survey is a great tool for companies to benchmark and continuously improve their own food safety training programs.”