The Applications and Uses of GFSI-Benchmarked Food Safety Schemes in Relation to Retail

Abstract

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) was established in 2000 with the main purpose of reducing audit costs, time wasted and unnecessary duplication due to multiple food safety audits, whilst still ensuring a supply of safe food. Through international collaboration, requirements for bench-marking food safety schemes were developed against which these schemes could be evaluated and recognised, thereby creating equivalence across the schemes applying for recognition.

However, small as well as less developed businesses were faced with enormous challenges in implementing the GFSI recognised food safety schemes. The GFSI Global Markets Capacity Building Programme was launched in 2011 to offer small and less developed businesses a step-by-step approach to implementing food safety requirements from a low knowledge base up to a position where full scheme certification can be achieved.

The GFSI, through a collaborative approach, offers international recognition of established food safety schemes, which facilitates the trading of safe food across the globe.