LRQA Warns: Swift Changes to Raw Material Sourcing Could Cause a Food Safety Crisis
Global assurance partner LRQA is urging manufacturers to ensure heightened focus on change management to ensure supplier approval processes remain effective, following reports that one in three vegan products in the UK contains egg or milk.
Inspectors from Hampshire and Kent Scientific Services found 24 (39%) out of 61 products marked as vegan contained egg or dairy, including 13 dairy alternatives and 48 meat alternatives. In total, 90% were found to be unsatisfactory – meaning they failed for traces of dairy or inaccuracies in their labeling and nutritional information. The items analyzed included vegan equivalents of chocolate truffles, pizza, burgers, muffins and wraps.
The story, which led to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute warning of the potentially tragic consequences caused by an allergic reaction, is the latest indicator of heightened risks arising from a long line of challenges facing the food manufacturing sector, warns LRQA. Climate change, severe weather events, ongoing geopolitical issues and the cost-of-living crisis are all having an impact on the availability of raw ingredients, forcing many manufacturers to seek new suppliers.
According to LRQA, the likelihood that manufacturers will be experiencing change is not going to decrease anytime soon, meaning more due diligence is required when seeking new suppliers. However, with multiple stakeholders involved in the supplier process, including quality, food safety, procurement and research and development teams, this could further complicate the process of appropriately vetting new suppliers to meet short production timelines.
As well as facing the need to replace ingredients due to the supply shortages, more manufacturers are beginning to adopt near sourcing – moving away from a single global supply to multiple suppliers at a regional level. This move further complicates supply chain assurance, Kimberly Coffin, Global Technical Director for Supply Chain Assurance at LRQA, explains: “When changing ingredients, it’s highly unlikely that the material will be a like-for-like substitution, meaning some level of recipe redevelopment, process revalidation and verification of existing labeling compliance will be required. Any change to supply sources opens a whole host of food safety threats, and to proceed without effective change management controls can have an unintended adverse impact on consumers.”
“Unfortunately, there are so many drivers for change and there is added pressure to ensure margins are optimized. Making sure every box is ticked is therefore hugely challenging, especially if resources are stretched. As such, the role of food safety specialists has never been more important.”
LRQA supports global food manufacturers by providing a variety of supply chain verification services. From supplier approval program management to supplier qualification and maintenance via independent audits using a brand’s own standard or third party certification schemes, its services cover the entire food and beverage supply chain.