PwC is planning to aid governments and food companies to address the major issues of food safety, security and quality by declaring open its global food supply and integrity services business—established, developed and run from New Zealand—on April 7, commemorating World Health Day.
With macro-economic forces jeopardising the world's food supply, the World Health Organisation has made 'improving food safety' as this year's campaign theme. As per PwC, this is a responsibility that has to be shared by the government as well as industries alike in order to get people to have more faith in the food they buy.
PwC's Global Leader for Food Supply and Integrity Services, Craig Armitage, declared: "Enhancing trust in food is a growing concern in a climate where public confidence has been rocked by food safety failures. Governments and food companies both here in New Zealand and globally are being challenged like never before as basic fundamentals of trade and food supply are transformed. It's a growing problem of risk we're seeing across industries, but unfortunately food is an area where supply chain failures can be fatal."
Food Trust: From Compliance to Competitive Advantage, a PwC report that was released today revealed that governments have started taking the help of regulatory frameworks to strengthen sanctions in an attempt to see that safer food reaches the people.
Armitage said: "Trust in food is a public health concern, a significant political issue and a substantial risk for food companies and governments that get it wrong. Legislation only sets minimum standards, yet customers expect food companies to go further in ensuring food is safe and high quality."
Food safety issues have been increasing alarmingly in recent months, the most notorious one being the suspected swapping of cumin seeds with peanut and almond shells. There were also fears of hepatitis A contamination from frozen berry products, as well as infant milk formula being threatened to be poisoned by 'eco-terrorists'.
Armitage averred: "It's not just small or unsophisticated or maturing economies feeling vulnerable to threats. Best practice companies are transforming their approach to ensure they have more control and visibility over their supply chains from the farm to the supermarket shelf. They're investing in technological solutions to improve traceability and recall management, focusing on food safety culture and going well beyond compliance to improve standards."
AsureQuality, the food safety and biosecurity company owned by the New Zealand government, has a formalised Alliance with PwC. Through this model, PwC has begun offering New Zealand and China its food supply and integrity services.
