The Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI), a division of FMI – The Food Industry Association, has released the SQF Code Edition 9 for audits, effective May 24, 2021. Edition 9 aligns with the latest Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarking requirements, helping food producers meet and exceed all industry, customer and regulatory requirements to remain competitive across sectors.
“Companies using SQF Code Edition 9 to achieve the highest level of food safety management practices are proven leaders in the industry and trusted trading partners among retailers and their shoppers,” said Gigi Vita, chief food safety assessment officer and SVP of SQF. “We listened to our global community to ensure this edition better reflects the reality of their current business operations. Our goal was to simplify the SQF Code architecture to improve learning, understanding and implementation of the code requirements so that SQFI continues to be a trusted partner in achieving success.”
The new edition architecture includes, in part:
- Simplification of audit duration guidance, supporting Certifying Bodies and SQF sites.
- Improved efficiencies and accuracies to reduce time and cost.
- Recommendations for flexible technology in order to foster confidence in a modern food safety system.
- Remote activity guidance to address times of extraordinary circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In an effort to continue to make the SQF food safety management process as straightforward and understandable as possible, we collaborated with more than 300 stakeholders and global professionals to further streamline the Codes, considering more than 800 comments to Edition 9,” said LeAnn Chuboff, VP of technical affairs with SQF.
To assist sites with understanding Edition 9 and the enhancements for the site audits, SQFI has a series of training available, including:
- SQF Global;
- SQF Edition 9 Conversion Primer;
- SQF Edition 9: The Changes You Need to Know About; and
- A free Edition 9 Recorded Webinar Series covering the topics of Overview & Highlights, Remote Audit Activities, In-House Lab Requirements, Quality Code Changes and Food Safety Culture.
The SQF (Safe Quality Food) Institute is a division of FMI, and was established to administer the SQF Program, a leading, global food safety and quality certification and management system. While we are most famously known for our globally benchmarked food safety and quality program, we do so much more writing and maintaining this standard. The SQFI mission is to deliver consistent, globally recognized food safety and quality certification programs based on sound scientific principles, consistently applied across all industry sectors and valued by all stakeholders.
