contents · 2017-08-07 · ifs logistics simpleshow 05 ifs app // conferences 07 ifs academy:...

02 | 2017

IFS Food 7Dear Sir or Madam,

As the technical director of IFS I am thrilled to share the first news about the revision of our IFS Food Standard.

We are in a middle of a journey that in-volves our main stakeholders – from retail, industry or certification bodies in the different countries. The members of our internal, national and international working groups are striving with commitment and passion to develop this new ver-sion of IFS Food. We want it to be simpler, clearer and more precise, – by means of a much better integration of the recent trends in food safety. The require-ments of our standards have always rec-ommended a risk based approach that should be reinforced in the new version. We want IFS Food version 7 and its guid-ance documents to help manufacturers of all sizes to master the supply chain chal-lenges of today and tomorrow. The focus is laid even more on the operational pro-cesses, food quality and food safety.

As framework setting IFS stakeholders have higher demands on a certification than ever before, an IFS certification should reflect the company´s ability to produce qualitative and safe products in a greater detail. Due to that and by supporting the

development process of IFS certified companies, the level of product quality and safety will improve further.

When will it be published?Our objective is to present our new version for consul-tation end of this year. The publication is planned in ear-ly 2018. After publication, all

stakeholders will get the time to be trained and to adapt these new requirements. The certification according to the new version will start in the second half of 2018. We will of course update you soon on the main changes to come. We wish you a good start into the summer 2017 and are glad to provide you with this interesting newsletter. Yours

Bruno Séchet IFS Technical Director, IFS Paris

NEWS: FSMA

CONTENTS

02 Testimonial Vion: ”Embarrassingly frank” // Interview Bert Urlings

04 New Gudeline // IFS Logistics simpleshow

05 IFS App // Conferences

07 IFS Academy: Webinars // E-Learning

08 Facts and Figures // In touch with IFS // IFS Insights-Glossary

Since June, IFS users have the chance to integrate the notice of their success-ful implementation of the FDA FSMA requirements into the IFS Database and the audit report the hint that they suc-cessfully implemented the FDA FSMA requirements. What is to do? Interested companies have to contact their certifi-cation bodies and ask them to check the FSMA requirements during the audit. By writing the audit report the certification body should include this information in the designated box. All entitled data-base user get the possibility to access this information.

Photo: © Romolo Tavani/Shutterstock

What is insideOn the following pages we will give you an insight in some relevant topics during the IFS Food review process as food fraud and traceability. Addition-ally you will get detailed information on how Vion is handling transparency and which feedback they get for the new campaign.

On page 5 we inform you about our worldwide activities.

We want IFS Food 7

to be simpler, clearer

and more precise.“

http://www.ifs-certification.com

MF2IFS International Features Standards IFS International Features Standards

02 // IFS INSIGHTS 02/2017

“Embarrassingly frank”TESTIMONIAL: VION

INTERVIEW

Photos: © Vion

TESTIMONIAL: VION

The company has now taken a next step within Germany. All pro-cessing locations are made visible, using videos, texts, photos and info-graphics to depict facts about slaughtering and butchering of pigs and cattle in a clear and simple language. Real figures of all German production sites of Vion are posted since that moment. This includes genuine data, recent scientific research results and independent audit reports on animal welfare and food safety such as summaries from IFS audit reports. “This means that customers, stakeholders and consumers are able to create their own inde-pendent and objective opinion about the quality of the processes and of our meat,” explains the Vion’s Corporate Director of Quality Assurance, Bert Urlings. The information portal also has an inter-active forum on which we respond to all questions that are posted including those from consumers.

A veterinarian, Derk Oorburg, who is leading in the Dutch Vion Quality department describes the process of pig slaughter using

the example of a Dutch pork slaughterhouse. There is a similar video from a German beef slaughtering facility. This one pre-sented by Anne Hiller, a veterinarian leading the German Vion Quality department. These two videos show all processes openly and frank, from the arrival of the animals, through to the stunning of the animals, the slaughter process itself and finally the cutting and deboning process.

The impact of the website in the first days after its launch, par-ticularly in the food and agricultural sectors, was impressive. The responses even reached as far as national television. Since the site went online in November 2016, just over 16,000 users have visited the homepage, with around 50,000 page views. In total, the videos have been watched over 12,500 times.

www.vion-transparenz.de

In early November 2016, meat producer Vion released its new German transparency website. Two years after the successful launch of the Vion Transparency initiative in The Netherlands in which Vion was offering our stakeholders and the society the opportunity to gain more insight in meat production.

After the successful launch in Germany, Vion’s Corporate Director Quality Assurance, Bert Urlings gave an initial assessment in this interview with IFS Insights.

What is the background of this transparency initiative?People want to know what they eat. At least they want that this in-formation is available, so that they can check it whenever they want. We have always taken this seriously and we were transparent, for example by inviting all stakeholders, such as customers, journal-ists and NGOs to visit our facilities. Now we took transparency to a next level. In 2014 we started in The Netherlands to post all results from the official meat inspection, audit reports, and meat and an-imal quality control online on our website with regular updates. It immediately resonated well with our stakeholders and provided our own people with easy accessible information that facilitates them to speak with pride about their own job.

When implementing transparency in Germany, these discus-sions must have been helpful…Indeed, because after all, we are the first in the sector to seek to implement a comprehensive transparency policy. After extensive analysis, we decided to define transparency on a three-pillar basis, because transparency is more than just publishing our audit results. So Vion transparency 2.0 was born. Firstly, we decided to publish video’s and pictures that covers our whole production process without any compromise; Secondly we publish our audit results; Thirdly we provide a forum for anyone who has questions about our process. This could relate to the product itself, but also to animal welfare and hygiene. This forum provides room for everybody who is puzzling with an issue concerning their meal on the plate.



The initial response in the media and from the food authorities was positive, wasn’t it?Yes, which was quite a surprise (although a pleasant surprise). Taking this initiative with an uncompromised and frank communica-tion strategy that really shows all details of a slaughter process made us a little nerv-ous. So we were happy with the positive response of our stakeholders. The agricul-tural sector responded also very positively, which is very interesting because they are an important pillar of our business, they own us actually.

How have end consumers responded?I have to commit that there is definitely a genuine interest: 50,000 views since the start clearly show that. And the forum is used by many different stakeholders. Even vegans have posted questions on the site. We are getting quite some engaged feed-back, on a website we have initially set up for a more technical audience like our cus-tomers and colleagues in the industry and not for end users per se. But, the responses have been very stimulating, no doubt there will be more to come, because we have

only just begun. “Actually we are very pleased with the engagement of all the different stakeholders with e.g. animal welfare and food safety. We ourselves are likely engaged and that stimulates a good debate,” admitted Bert Urlings.

So you are you satisfied with this additional interest?Very much. The reactions could have been quite different, after all. The videos on our site show uncompromised all stages of the pro-cess within the business. These might be very normal to us, but they could have been met with quite some different responses from the public. We understand that there is a difference between inviting people to join us for a physical tour through one of our abattoirs and engaging them at the spot or showing them a video online while they are on their own. The key here is to only show the facts as they are. Striving for the highest possible level of “openness”.

Next steps: what’s next for Vion and the wider business?First we will update the Dutch transparency site to match with the im-provements made in Germany. This process will undoubtingly lead to new ideas and insights. But we are of course open to ideas and suggestions from all our interested visitors, to help us to improve our website.

So – justifying that you do things right?That is not intended. What matters to us is that we provide objective information (e.g. audit reports, meat inspection data) to enable anybody to make their own judgment. This includes also that we respond to questions and remarks that are post-ed on our website. “We care what consumers and other stakeholders think about their food.”

It sounds like a lot of effort. Which departments are involved?Actually it is quite simple, just say what you do. The process is led by the Quality Assurance Department, working closely together with the Communications Department. Our colleagues take care of the text and the visuals. Publishing the audit re-ports, such as IFS and findings of meat inspection are already availa-ble. In Germany we simply post the summary of the IFS audit online. IT helps us with our quarterly test re-sults. Creating graphics from the results is another task for the com-munications team. We have been using the data for a long time already, and therefore it is only about summarizing, formatting, and publishing the data.

Do you see your initiative as a good model for other businesses to follow?It is up to others to follow this initiative. Showing your achievements in a factual way, meat inspection findings, which audits took place and when: this gives all stakeholders a good overview of the entire production process, across all production facilities. It also creates clarity, for everyone both internally and externally as well as creat-ing pride with our own people.

Does this website serve as a model for your business in other countries or is it only for domestic consumption?The German website has built upon the first achievements of the Dutch website. And additionally new items were added. This leads of course to new initiatives on the Dutch website. Communication with our stakeholders is dynamic and therefore we need continu-ous revision of our communication tools and adapting the messag-es to the contemporary discussions in the society.

Photo: © Vion

INTERVIEW

New documents • IFS Global Markets Logistics in French

• IFS Foreign Body Management Guideline in English, French, German and Spanish

• IFS Image brochure in Italian, Portuguese and French

• IFS Global Markets Food 2 Program in English, French, German and Spanish Visit IFS at Retail Forum: Boulevard



IFS NEWS

NEW GUIDELINES // IFS LOGISTICS SIMPLESHOW

New Guideline

IFS Logistics simpleshowWhat is IFS Logistics and who can be certified against the second Standard in the IFS portfolio?

The answer can be easy and short, but enough to get a gen-eral overview. Within three minutes, IFS explains the essen-tial aspects of an IFS Logistics certification in the second IFS simpleshow.

Supported by Mr. Miller who wants to become IFS Logistics certified you learn what is essential for a successful audit. This short video helps interested persons to understand the cer-tification process and some of the most important aspects in IFS Logistics.

But please find out for yourself! Check the video on YouTube or on the IFS website and find out if your company could also benefit from an IFS certification.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=38L5XJaPGyM

Photo: © simpleshow

1

2

4

3

Do you know the answers? You can find the solutions on the last page.

Test your knowledge: Which are the IFS Standard and

IFS Program that have recently incorporated the fraud require-ment in their corresponding checklist?

How many IFS auditors are auditing around the world?

Which color presents the IFS Wholesale/Cash & Carry?

The best scoring for an IFS requirement is?

1

15

A

D

Considering the health risk for consumers, the num-ber of recalls and the impact on image of producers and retailers the IFS, together with stakeholders from different parts of the supply chain, decided to publish the IFS Foreign Body Management Guideline. With the aim to support all affected players in the food supply chain in improving their foreign body manage-ment system. IFS published the new guideline with a practical questionnaire, an introduction to different technologies and recommendations for an effective supplier management. The document, available since May 2017 on the IFS website, aims to deepen the understanding and improve the daily work in regards to the risks of foreign bodies in foods.

One of the most seen failures in IFS Food is an ineffective foreign body management.

Get additional information about the content and prices here: www.ifs-certification.com/index.php/en/shop?product_id=54



IFS APP // CONFERENCES

IFS APP

CONFERENCES

IFS App – the next steps

4th IFS conference in Romania: IFS certification, the ticket to Export

Second conference “What do we eat” (Šta jedemo)

In February, IFS launched the basic version of the IFS App “IFS Audit Manager” which was meant to support internal auditors by preparing, conducting and analyzing their audits. No more copying of your handwritten notes or searching for the latest documents. With the app you find everything collected on your smartphone.

In autumn 2017, the IFS will offer additionally a PRO and Cloud- Version for those users who want to benefit from extra options. Both versions will be available for Apple iOS and Android.

PRO VERSION

Users of the PRO-version have in addition to all basic functions the possibility

• to create an own audit schedule • take pictures and connect them with relevant requirements • add corrective actions to follow up on your audits • add customer specifications • export the audit report into an IFS auditXpressX file

Scan with a QR code reader or ckick on the icons:

CLOUD VERSION

• use the audit information on all your mobile devices • share the information with colleagues and consultants

It is almost tradition that each year IFS organizes one conference in Bucharest together with INAQ Consulting to keep interested parties from the whole supply chain updated about IFS and export related topics. Over 180 participants took the chance to get informed about changes in IFS safety and quality standards and to get a first glance of the upcoming IFS Global Markets HPC and the reviewed stand-ard IFS Food 7.

“The IFS certification is the ticket to export”, said Ionuț Nache, Gener-al Manager of INAQ Consulting. “European partners require this cer-tification if Romanian companies would like to export their products.”

Besides other guests such as HAMILTON laboratories, RUCODEM, CRIS-TIM and manufacture representatives, Oana Barna from Penny-REWE Group presented the retailers’ requirements for their private label producers and showed the positive effects of an IFS certification. IFS is glad to support the 200 certified and interest-ed companies with the information and the network opportunities the event is offering. A yearly increase in the number of partici-pants by 25 % shows the efforts IFS and its regional partner Ionuț Nache expended.

The second international conference on food safety “What do we eat” was held on May 11th in Belgrade, organized by the certifi-cation and control body TMS CEE doo. More than 200 participants from the biggest Serbian and various international food compa-nies attended the event supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of Serbia, the German-Serbian Chamber of Economy (AHK), the Economy Chamber of Serbia and of course the IFS, International Featured Standards.

Experts from different parts of the supply chain took the chance to present the relevance of food safety for Serbia. One of these experts Marek Marzec, IFS representative for Central and Eastern Europe, explained the reasons and benefits for “big players” to implement product safety and quality standards.

Marco Berutti from TÜV SÜD presented another relevant and newsworthy topic: food fraud in the food industry and how to detect it. The conference was well presented in the national and local media.



The first kick-off training for 80 Carre-four suppliers was organized in Sao Paulo and was a great success. Caroline Nowak trained the attendes on IFS Global Markets Food and general aspects of food safety and quality. „IFS is glad to support interested companies on their way to a suc-cessfull IFS assessment and later IFS certification. “, explained the IFS representative for Brazil.

More than Coffee

The IFS is happy to announce that IFS is supporting the Starbucks global distribu-tion management program. Sandra Schulte, IFS Technical Project Manager, trained the responsible quality managers in Beijing, China in February 2017. General aspects about IFS such as the scoring system, prod-uct and process audits. The IFS database as well as IFS Logistics related topics and case studies were explained and discussed to facilitate the start with IFS. The IFS is glad to accompany them on their path to a success-ful certification. Good luck to all of them!

Kick-Off supplier training

Brazil, 30. June 2017

This time the conference didn’t end after the presentation. Au contraire – the stage was given to the audience who got the chance to participate in two interactive break-out-sessions discussing standards and food authenticity. Both sessions were accompanied by experts such as Mr. Dr. Lüdeke from GlobalG.A.P., Mr. Riehle and Dr. Boner together with the speakers from the morning sessions.

Berlin: IFS Conference Fruit and Vegetables

CONFERENCES

CONFERENCES

It was a great exchange, highlighted by insightful experience reports and interesting results of short surveys during the two sessions.

Sandra Schulte, IFS Technical Project Manager, presented the second version of IFS Wholesale/Cash & Carry standard and Dr. Carolin Kollowa-Mahlow (ARS Probata), certification body managing director, re-ported the practical implementation audi-tors experience during IFS Wholesale or IFS Cash & Carry audits. After a networking break, Thies Claussen from Global Fruit Point, an IFS-certified Broker, shared his experience with standards in the daily busi-ness. The IFS is happy to include his feed-back into its optimization processes. Dr. Ulrike Busch-Petersen presented the Fruit Monitoring Database. She explained how producers and retailers can benefit from the use of the database. The IFS and its partner Quant would like to thank all experts for the insights and feedback.

Parma: FOOD INTEGRITY 2017 CONFERENCE

companies in their fight against food fraud. http://goo.gl/wpevGb

IFS Food version 6 already contains re-quirements related to food authenticity. The food industry needs guidance to con-trol these threats and what´s more to avoid making further and costly mistakes in their facilities. The most recently updated pro-gram, IFS Global Markets Food Version 2 and the IFS Standard “Wholesale / Cash & Carry”, includes requirements directly re-lated to Food Fraud and product authenticity, intended to strengthen the company´s product safety management system. For the next version of IFS Food, the topic of food fraud/authenticity will be strengthened even more.

“Companies need to guarantee the au-thenticity of food and maintain consumer confidence”, said Beatriz Torres, IFS Sen-ior Quality Assurance Manager, during the Food Integrity Conference in Parma (May 10 -11). She presented how the IFS supports

70 participants from different parts of the supply chain took the chance to dis-cuss together with IFS and experts developments, challenges and standards in the fruit and vegetable sector.

Photo: © RoBeDeRo/iStockphoto



to hear our take on it? No problem: We’d be happy if you contacted us with your sug-gestions future webinars. We were glad to receive a very positive feedback, yet we are striving to improve our webinars further. If our schedule doesn’t fit with your plans, we will provide you the recording.

So far the IFS offered already webinars about: Unannounced audits, the new IFS Global Markets Logistics and Global Markets – Food Version 2 Program, reviewed Stand-ards as IFS Wholesale / Cash & Carry and HPC and the latest one IFS Foreign Body Management Guideline. As participants only need 30 minutes of time, a computer

Has the IFS published a standard review or a new guideline? Has a new program launched or are there some questions of general interest? Digital tools were always an essential part of the IFS to meet the needs of its users worldwide. Therefore, in September 2016 the IFS decided to start offering webinars or so called “online sem-inars”, available on smartphones and com-puters. Since then, users are able to easily access the newest information and updates on IFS from all over the world.

Our webinar platform “Adobe Connect” al-lows a detailed, insightful and interactive presentation of the topic at hand, placing the emphasis on including the participants into the discussions. Is there a topic you are particularly interested in and you would like

WEBINARS

IFS ACADEMY

Get informed wherever you are and whenever you want

Since 2008, the IFS Academy supports companies to implement IFS Standards. Case studies, expert presentations and working groups make it as easy as possible to understand and deal with the respective requirements. In order to give users world-wide adequate support, the IFS will offer additional E-Learning courses from August on. Starting with an HACCP-from the IFS point of view course. Others will follow. Curious?

E-Learning: Coming soon

Would you like to learn more about IFS-specific topics? Send an e-mail to:

Julia Deroche [email protected]

06.09. 2017 Food Defense (Bucharest, Rumanian)

11.–12.09.2017 Internal Audits (Paris, French)

11.–15.09.2017 IFS Lead Auditor Course (Berlin, German)

19.09.2017 IFS Food Version 6 (Prague, Czech)

25.–29.09. 2017 IFS Lead Auditor Course (Berlin, German)

19.10.2017 IFS Logistics (Milan, Italian)

22.–24.11.2017 FSMA PQI (Berlin, English)

28.11.2017 Machinery and Equipment from IFS perspective (Berlin, German)

IFS Academy Dates

In September 2016 the IFS decided to start offering webinars available on various devices.

Efficient way of communication. Thank you!”

Short and compact information“

That was interesting, short enough. Probably a webinar for each standard!”

or smartphone and an interest in IFS top-ics, the reactions to this tool are extremely positive.

Don’t miss the chance to participate in one of the next webinars. Dates and further information are available in our newsletter or at our website.

Find out more here: www.ifs-certification-academy.com

Photo: © wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock



IFS INSIGHTS-GLOSSARY

EDITOR

IFS Management GmbH Am Weidendamm 1 A 10117 Berlin, Germany

Phone: +49 (0)30 72 62 50 35 Fax: +49 (0)30 72 62 50 79

www.ifs-certification.com

EDITORIAL STAFF

Stephan Tromp Anne Kathrin Gönner

PHOTOS

If not marked differently: IFS

IMPRINT

IFS IN TOUCHFACTS & FIGURES

LANGUAGES

Spanish, English, German

TASKS IN IFS

Quality assurance, Food Fraud topics,Spanish Market

PERSONAL CAREER

• Studied Agricultural Engineering (Valencia), Master in Biosystems Engineering in Dublin (Ireland) & Master in Business and Administration (Paris & Valencia), Food Scientist

WHY AM I WORKING FOR THE IFS

To work with the stakeholders from different countries to improve the food safety along the supply chain.

FAVORITE MEAL

Fideuà

CONTACT

[email protected]

Beatriz Torres Senior Quality Assurance Manager

LANGUAGES

German, English

TASKS IN IFS

Standard Management for IFS Broker, IFS Logistics, IFS Wholesale/Cash & Carry and special projects

PERSONAL CAREER

• MA Sustainability and Quality Manage-ment, Dipl. oeco. troph (FH)

• Working as junior consultant for an organic association in terms of food safety management systems for their members

• Working as head of quality management and IFS responsible for a wholesaler specialized for bakery, confectionary and ice cream manufacturers

WHY AM I WORKING FOR THE IFS

Supporting stakeholders improving supply chains in regard to product safety and quality. Gaining experiences and expertise in intercultural supply chain management.

FAVORITE MEAL

Bulgogi Barbeque (Korean food)

CONTACT

[email protected]

Sandra Schulte Technical Project Manager

HAZARD | A biological, chemical or physical agent with the potential to cause an adverse health effect.

RISK | A function of the probability of an adverse health effect and the severity of that effect, consequen-tial to a hazard

ADULTERANT SUBSTANCE | A fraudulently added component of a finished product

FOOD AUTHENTICITY | Consists of ensuring that food and raw material purchased and for sale, are of the expected type, content and quality

FINAL PRODUCT SPECIFICATION | Written statement encompassing all relevant parameters of the final product, taking into account parameters of the entire production process. The specification is used to demonstrate the compliance of the finished product compared to a specification given by the client.

FORMULA | Exhaustive description of quantity and quality of raw materials to be used to process the products, as required in customer specifications.

PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS | Includes: product safety, product quality, product legality, process parame-ters and customer specification.

PRODUCT WITHDRAWAL | Any measure to prevent the distribution, display and offer of a product out of specification and/or dangerous to the consumer.

MONITORING | The act of conducting a planned sequence of observations or measurements of control parameters to assess whether they are under control

IFS Fact & Figures // IFS in touch8 // IFS INSIGHTS 01/2017

The IFS Team speaks

10 languages

62.5 % conference participants evalu-ated the safety of the food supply chain as safe or very safe, approx. 70 % think that unannounced audits would make the supply chain safer

More than

1300 persons are auditing or assessing the IFS Standards and Programs

cases of fraud are linked to adultera-tion/substitution

44 % more oregano is exported than is produced

35 %

62.5 % 70 %

Correct answers page 4: 1. IFS Wholesale/Cash & Carry and IFS Global Markets Version 2; 2. 1041 auditors; 3. lime green; 4. A

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