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Food safety audits: two views |
01.27.2012
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As food safety continues to make headlines, USA Today published an editorial on Wednesday calling for food safety auditors to be more independent of the industry.
"The system has an inherent conflict of interest: While retailers generally require audits before buying from a supplier, the suppliers often hire and pay the auditors who evaluate them. It's like authors hiring their own book reviewers," stated the editorial, which drew similarities between the audit system and the U.S. financial crisis in 2008.
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Clickable on the same page is an opposing view, contributed by industry group the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), working with the paper's editorial staff. Titled "Food safety is about more than audits," the response is by PMA's Chief Science and Technology Officer, Dr. Bob Whitaker. Whitaker calls for a more comprehensive approach, and notes that in some cases it is the buyers who select the auditors for a prospective grower.
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