The conference, hosted by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), brought together more than 1,000 leading food safety specialists from more than 60 countries around the world.
Participants, including food retailers, manufacturers and government officials, discussed food safety best practices and other issues to ensure the quality of the world’s food supply.
Jorge Hernandez, senior vice president of food safety and quality assurance, US Foods, contributed to a panel discussion titled ‘Advancing Global Food Safety through Collaboration.’
“Sharing food safety best practices with global leaders leads to innovative thinking and global food safety solutions and US Foods is pleased to share what we’ve learned with others in the industry,” said Hernandez. “Collaboration and collective learning in the food safety realm is paramount to its success. Food safety is not the responsibility of one organisation, but the duty of every link in the food chain.”
Hernandez, who is also the chairperson of the storage and distribution working group for the GFSI, also contributed to a seminar titled, ‘Fresh, Healthy and Natural – Consequences of Food Safety.’ This seminar focused on the food safety challenges the foodservice industry faces to provide fresh and natural food to customers.
“Fresh and healthy are not always synonymous with safe,” said Hernandez. “We must do a better job to educate consumers on seeking products that are fresh, healthy and safe, and ensure that in the foodservice industry, the products are grown, stored, distributed, handled and prepared safely.”
In January 2012, US Foods announced that it expects to be the first national foodservice distributor in the country to be certified in food safety and quality to the International Featured Standard (IFS), a globally recognised standard for safety and quality.
Source: US Foods
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