Friday, August 31, 2018

Register Now Our November 30th Internal and External GFSI Audits Workshop Taught in Spanish


One Day Course: 
Friday, November 30th, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Napa Valley College 
2277 Napa Vallejo Highway BLDG 3000, RM 3004 
Napa, CA 94558


THIS TRAINING WILL BE TAUGHT IN SPANISH!

In partnership with Superior Food Safety, Napa Valley College is hosting this timely and important workshop.

Attend this one-day course on Friday, November 30th offered by Napa Valley College.

Course Description - What You'll Learn:

Provide and improve the knowledge, skills and abilities required by GSFI auditors, food industry professionals and internal auditors on:
  • Food Safety Management Systems
  • Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Agricultural Practices
  • HACCP Program
  • Review ISO-19011 Auditing Principles
  • Gain understanding of the GFSI schemes (SQF, BRC, FSSC2200, Global G.A.P.) from the auditor point of view
Who Should Attend?
  • SQF, BRC, Global G.A.P., Internal Auditors, Consultants and Professionals looking to register as GFSI-qualified auditors, Quality Assurance Managers and Supervisors, Personnel involved in Production, Purchasing, Procurement, Human Resources, Harvesting, Packing, Transport, Distribution and Sales of Food Products

Oscar Camacho's experience spans the globe and the entire range of the industry. He has over 32 years of experience in the food industry, including ownership of two food processing plants and extensive work with two of the largest food manufacturers in the world. His accounts of food safety successes and failures put accountability into sharp focus. Oscar is a registered FSPCA-Human Foods Lead Instructor and Consultant, PSA-Produce Safety Alliance Lead Instructor, GFCP-Gluten Free Certification Program Consultant and Trainer, SQF Consultant and Trainer, and a former SQF Auditor. He holds a BS in Biology and an MS in Food Science and Engineering from the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia in Spain. He also holds a Certification in International Management and regularly continues studies in food safety and business administration.

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

The Superior Food Safety Difference



Superior Food Safety’s key differentiator is our knowledge of how to organize for success. We don’t just tell you what’s missing in your food safety system, we show you how to make the right managers responsible and accountable for each program. We give you the tools to restructure your chain of command and establish clear responsibilities and timelines, regular follow-up practices and efficient tracking procedures. The result is an efficient and effective food safety and quality program that rewards integrity, reduces associated risks and protects your business and the health of your consumers.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

On-site PRIVATE Classes in English & Spanish and Consulting Services


Classes Available in English & Spanish and Consulting Services

WE OFFER PUBLIC AND ON-SITE TRAINING CLASSES:
  • HACCP Workshop
  • Implementing SQF Training - Version 8.0 - English and Spanish
  • FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Foods
  • FSPCA For Human Food Compliance
  • Produce Safety Rule Training Official Program
  • SQF Quality Systems For Food Manufacturers
  • Internal and External GFSI Audits
  • Crisis Management
  • Gluten Free Certification Program
  • SQF Advance Practitioner Course
  • Prerequisite Programs

WE ALSO OFFER:

  • Food Safety Consulting Services

Please visit our website or send us an email for more information!

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

SQF Advanced Practitioner - A 2 Day Course - October 18 & 19, 2018


DATE AND TIME
Thu, Oct 18, 2018 - Fri, Oct 19, 2018
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

LOCATION
Napa Valley College
2277 Napa Vallejo Highway
BLDG 3000, RM 3004
Napa, CA 94558

PRICE
$125


DESCRIPTION
In partnership with Superior Food Safety, Napa Valley College is hosting this timely and important workshop.

Starting on Thursday, October 18th and ending on October 19th, participants in this two-day course will learn the following:

  • The SQF Advanced Practitioner Course is designed for the current SQF practitioner seeking further information on how to improve and maintain the supplier’s SQF System. Through activity-based instruction, the course provides the tools practitioners need to:
  • Use the internal audit program to manage, maintain and enhance the site’s SQF System
  • Harness the corrective action/preventive action process to identify trends and build continuous improvement
  • Communicate with senior management to fully define the site’s commitment to food safety, and
  • Develop and prioritize key performance indicators to assure continuous improvement of the SQF System.

At the end of this two-day class, Superior Food Safety attendees possess the skill to propose specific strategies by forecasting systemic issues and creating sustainable process improvements within the SQF system.

THE CLASS COVERS

  • Establishing Food Safety and Quality Objectives (Developing SMART objectives)
  • Internal Audits
  • Corrective and Preventative Actions
  • Establishing a Continuous Improvement Program

This workshop has been designed by MSc. Oscar Camacho, who has more than 28 years of experience managing food safety and quality systems. Mr. Camacho’s special insights come from years of first-hand experience in the food industry, and from client weaknesses he identified and solved while providing auditing and consulting services.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Register for Our November Class - Developing and Implementing SQF Systems Edition 8.0 SPANISH - 2 Day


Register HERE

DATE AND TIME 
Wed, Nov 28, 2018 & Thu, Nov 29, 2018
8:00 am - 5:00 pm 

LOCATION
Napa Valley College
2277 Napa Vallejo Highway
BLDG 3000, RM 3004
Napa, CA 94558

DESCRIPTION

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE TAUGHT IN SPANISH!

In partnership with Superior Food Safety, Napa Valley College is hosting this timely and important 2-Day workshop on Developing and Implementing SQF Systems Edition 8.0.

This training will be held on Wednesday, November 28th (8AM-5PM) and Thursday, November 29th (8AM-5PM).

The integrity of the SQF Program relies on competently auditing existing SQF Systems and implementing efficient and effective SQF Systems. Superior Food Safety is a Licensed Center of Excellence that provides added value by giving students:

  • a perfect understanding of Food Safety and Quality Management Systems
  • the steps to follow in order to implement and maintain a solid program that reduces or eliminates risks
  • examples of the most common industry mistakes and how to avoid them for success, and
  • custom made templates of key procedures detailing how to write the documentation required by the program

The goals of the Implementing SQF course are to:
  • Promote an understanding of the SQF Code
  • Create a knowledge base to facilitate the successful implementation of an SQF System
  • Show how the HACCP-based approach manages food safety and quality hazards in an operation.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
  • Personnel in Harvesting, Packing, Transport, Distribution & Sale of Food Products
  • Quality Assurance Managers & Supervisors of Food Establishments
  • Food Establishment Personnel in Sr. Management, Production, Purchasing, Procurement, and Human Resources

Oscar Camacho's experience spans the globe and the entire range of the industry. He has over 32 years of experience in the food industry, including ownership of two food processing plants and extensive work with two of the largest food manufacturers in the world. His accounts of food safety successes and failures put accountability into sharp focus. Oscar is a registered FSPCA-Human Foods Lead Instructor and Consultant, PSA-Produce Safety Alliance Lead Instructor, GFCP-Gluten Free Certification Program Consultant and Trainer, SQF Consultant and Trainer, and a former SQF Auditor. He holds a BS in Biology and an MS in Food Science and Engineering from the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia in Spain. He also holds a Certification in International Management and regularly continues studies in food safety and business administration.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

FSMA Food Safety Preventative Controls For Human Food - August 28-31 - Register Today!


Wednesday, August 29, 2018 - Friday, August 31, 2018

Cost: $125

Napa Valley College
2277 Napa Vallejo Highway
BLDG 3000, RM 3004
Napa, CA 94558

Register HERE

DESCRIPTION
In partnership with Superior Food Safety, Napa Valley College is hosting this timely and important workshop.

Starting on Wednesday, August 29th and ending on Friday, August 31st, participants in this three-day course will learn the following:

  • Meet the requirements for training under Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations Part 117.155 for the Preventive Controls “Qualified Individual”
  • Learn and understand the responsibilities of a preventive controls qualified individual
  • Learn How preventive controls build on established food safety principles
  • Understand and identify the Components of a Food Safety Plan
  • Learn how to conduct Food Safety Plan activities such as developing and reviewing a food safety plan
  • Provide the necessary skills for validating preventive controls, verifying and validating process controls among others 

Please note that this training event will be held at the following times:
Wednesday, Aug 29th from 8AM-5PM
Thursday, Aug 30th from 8AM-5PM
Friday, Aug 31st from 8AM-12PM

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
SQF, BRC, Global G.A.P. Internal Auditors, Consultants and Professionals looking to register as GFSI-qualified auditors, Quality Assurance Managers and Supervisors, Personnel involved in Production, Purchasing, Procurement, Human Resources, Harvesting, Packing, Transport, Distribution and Sales of Food Products.

This workshop has been designed by MSc. Oscar Camacho, who has more than 28 years of experience managing food safety and quality systems. Mr. Camacho's special insights come from years of first-hand experience in the food industry, and from client weaknesses he identified and solved while providing auditing and consulting services.

Monday, August 13, 2018

Would Your Team Know How to Handle a Crisis?


In 1993, Jack in the Box put foodborne illnesses and food safety “on the map” when their undercooked burgers led to an E. coli outbreak that infected more than 700 people. 171 people were hospitalized and four children died.

Unfortunately, this infamous outbreak wasn’t an isolated incident. Foodborne illness outbreaks are on the rise in the United States. The CDC reports that 48 million Americans become sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases each year in the United States.

A string of unprecedented outbreaks at Chipotle occurred at multiple locations, beginning in 2015. Recently, there was widespread concern when romaine lettuce tainted with E. coli was shipped, served and sold at restaurants, stores and institutions nationwide. Earlier this year, approximately 2,000 7-Eleven customers at a Utah location were exposed to hepatitis A due to an infected employee who worked (and handled the convenience store’s food) while sick. The state’s local health department announced that anyone who used the restrooms, drank a fountain drink, ate fresh fruit or any item from the store’s hot food case was at risk for infection from the highly contagious illness.

Keep in mind that a crisis isn’t necessarily a foodborne illness. Think about other unexpected crises that could impact your organization, staff and customers, like natural disasters (hurricanes, blizzards, tornados, etc.) What if there’s a robbery, shooting or bombing at your venue? What if a guest chokes and dies? Perhaps there’s an unexpected power outage or a fire? Yes, unfortunately, these are all real possibilities.

If a crisis were to occur at your establishment, would your team know what to do?

As the saying goes, if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail. It’s extremely important to be prepared for every type of crisis imaginable—before anything bad actually happens.

When developing a crisis plan, consider and implement the following:

  • Form a crisis management team. Assign roles and responsibilities. Ensure all designated crisis team members understand what’s expected of them in the event of a crisis. For most food businesses, the crisis team will consist of a corporate attorney, company leadership, food safety team, crisis management consultant, a public relations expert, a trained media spokesperson and applicable government agencies.
  • Know how your local health department operates. The role of the local health department varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, so get to know your local inspectors. Work with your regulatory agencies, who will want to help.
  • Create honest, authentic and apologetic messaging. This will, of course, need to be developed to meet the specifics of your situation. Regardless of what happened, honestly describe the situation and explain the solutions-focused plan you’ve created to move forward. Transparency is important, otherwise key audiences (customers, employees, media, investors, advertisers, etc.) will lose confidence and trust in your company.
  • Work with the media to disseminate information about the incident. The media want to report what has happened, and it’s in your best interest to be straightforward with them. If there was a breakdown in your process, identify it, whether you received tainted merchandise from a vendor or experienced an error in the kitchen. Explain the concrete steps you’re taking to fix it and prevent a reoccurrence (e.g., selecting different vendors, re-training your staff, adjusting your food allergy protocols, etc.).
  • Train (or re-train) your staff on food safety protocols. Be certain that everyone is knowledgeable about food safety (e.g., how to prevent cross-contamination, how to properly prepare allergy-friendly meals, how to cook foods to proper temperatures, etc.) to avoid similar crisis situations in the future.
  • Use social media wisely. Monitor social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and respond to negative and/or erroneous comments. Messages on social media (as well as in real life) should always be positive, professional and honest. Don’t get defensive and don’t allow yourself to get sucked into toxic, negative message spirals.
  • Communicate with your customers, employees and other key stakeholders to win back their trust. Be honest, sincere and apologetic. Explain how/why their loyalty is so important to you, and vow to earn their trust again.
  • Change vendors, if necessary. Did a vendor mislabel ingredients, causing an allergic reaction in one of your guests? Did they source tainted products and sell them to you? Change vendors, and be clear in your communications (to media, via social media platforms, etc.) that you identified the vendor as the source of the problem, explaining that you’ve cut ties to them to eliminate similar events in the future.
  • Thank the responders that helped. Perhaps your crisis wasn’t a foodborne illness –it was a customer dying of natural causes, a bomb threat, a weather emergency, or an electrical fire. Use the media and social media platforms to thank the police, fire department and/or paramedics—whichever responders helped defuse the situation.
  • Designate a media spokesperson. When facing a serious crisis, your restaurant’s CEO/owner/president should be the spokesperson. The public wants the head of the company to speak authoritatively about the incident and the concrete plans to resolve the problem. Practice your messages before going in front of the cameras, anticipate the most challenging questions you may receive, and determine how you’ll respond professionally, politely and non-defensively.
  • Stay calm. While it’s upsetting (and terrifying!) to be in a crisis situation, remain calm as you work to recover from the incident. Follow your crisis plan and communicate your key messages. Make certain that important audiences (including customers, prospects, employees, the media, vendors, health inspectors, etc.) recognize how hard you’re working to prevent similar incidents in the future.
  • Debrief after the crisis is over. Regardless of what happened and the severity of the situation, after any kind of incident, get the crisis management team together and debrief. Review your plan and see if there is any room for improvement.

It is critical to have a plan established just in case a crisis occurs. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use it, but it’s always wise to be prepared. A crisis can hit any business at any time—how well you handle the situation could make a monumental difference in the court of public opinion.

Article Souce: https://foodsafetytech.com/column/would-your-team-know-how-to-handle-a-crisis/

Friday, August 10, 2018

A Fantastic Turnout for Our "Understanding SQF Food Safety Management System" Class


Thank you to all that were able to join us for the "Understanding SQF Food Safety Management System" class on August 6 and 7! 

To see what other classes Superior Food Safety will be offering in the future, please visit our website: 

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Upcoming Courses Available for Registration


All SQF classes are official, advertised by SQF, and provided by Superior Food Safety a SQF Licensed Training Center. 

All Food Safety Preventive Controls for Human Food classes are authorized and posted by FSPCA, and provided by Oscar Camacho a FSPCA Lead Instructor.

The fees to attend these classes are subsidized through a joint venture between Napa Valley College-Superior Food Safety and funded by ETP-Employment Training Panel Program of California.

PRICE PER CLASS $125

August 8

August 29, 30, 31

September 20, 21

October 18, 19

November 7, 8, 9

December 6, 7

January 23, 24, 25, 2019 (Coming Soon)
SQF Edition 8.0 +

January 25, 2019 (Coming Soon)
Internal and External GFSI Audits Workshop

Saturday, August 4, 2018

SQF Advanced Practitioner - A 2 Day Course - October 18 & 19, 2018


DATE AND TIME
Thu, Oct 18, 2018 - Fri, Oct 19, 2018
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

LOCATION
Napa Valley College
2277 Napa Vallejo Highway
BLDG 3000, RM 3004
Napa, CA 94558

PRICE
$125


DESCRIPTION
In partnership with Superior Food Safety, Napa Valley College is hosting this timely and important workshop.

Starting on Thursday, October 18th and ending on October 19th, participants in this two-day course will learn the following:

  • The SQF Advanced Practitioner Course is designed for the current SQF practitioner seeking further information on how to improve and maintain the supplier’s SQF System. Through activity-based instruction, the course provides the tools practitioners need to:
  • Use the internal audit program to manage, maintain and enhance the site’s SQF System
  • Harness the corrective action/preventive action process to identify trends and build continuous improvement
  • Communicate with senior management to fully define the site’s commitment to food safety, and
  • Develop and prioritize key performance indicators to assure continuous improvement of the SQF System.

At the end of this two-day class, Superior Food Safety attendees possess the skill to propose specific strategies by forecasting systemic issues and creating sustainable process improvements within the SQF system.

THE CLASS COVERS

  • Establishing Food Safety and Quality Objectives (Developing SMART objectives)
  • Internal Audits
  • Corrective and Preventative Actions
  • Establishing a Continuous Improvement Program

This workshop has been designed by MSc. Oscar Camacho, who has more than 28 years of experience managing food safety and quality systems. Mr. Camacho’s special insights come from years of first-hand experience in the food industry, and from client weaknesses he identified and solved while providing auditing and consulting services.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Industry Resources on Third-Party Audit Standards and FSMA Supplier Verification Requirements


The FDA released new tools intended to help importers and receiving facilities to be able to compare standards used in third party audits to FDA food safety requirements “Industry Resources on Third-Party Audit Standards and FSMA Supplier Verification Requirements” Three check list were released.

  • AUDIT STANDARDS COMPARISON TO THE FDA PREVENTIVE CONTROLS FOR HUMAN FOOD RULE
  • AUDIT STANDARDS COMPARISON TO THE FDA PREVENTIVE CONTROLS FOR FOOD FOR ANIMALS RULE
  • AUDIT STANDARDS COMPARISON TO THE FDA PRODUCE SAFETY RULE