Chocolate should be celebrated
Every year on July 7, citizens across the globe come together to celebrate International Chocolate Day – there are literally hundreds of international and U.S. ‘official event days’ – for emojis, personal chefs, vanilla ice cream, mushrooms and whole grains, just to name a few.
Some are quite fun and whimsical, like International Chocolate Day; others raise awareness for medical maladies, self-care cognizance, health and auto insurance professionals and several forms of personal safety experts as a way to recognize employees who work hard behind the scenes to provide the support that makes an organization successful.
Best practices in most industries include a standard-bearer to make sure that the organization follows rules, guidelines and regulations, and remains in compliance with both contracts and the law. Successful c-suites know that it is imperative to have expert compliance professionals on your team.
But ethically and legally complying with laws, rules, regulations and guidelines is often a challenge. Cutting edge business practices include identifying the appropriate processes for your business and using the most up-to-date software, as well as properly organizing workflows and production. These processes require significant knowledge, an innovative mindset, hard work and meticulous organizational skills – particularly within the food and beverage industry.
Many companies choose to hire internal compliance officers or chief ethics officers to fill these crucial roles. Compliance team members are not only responsible for company-wide compliance, they are charged with protecting the company from any type of regulatory issues that may arise – quite simply, they make a significant contribution to overall compliance with food and beverage-related regulations.
Regulatory compliance involves exemplary attention to detail, fast reaction times and ethical conduct in a constantly changing environment.
Regulatory compliance in the food and beverage industry
The first and most basic rule for any business is that the customer is always right. Consumer demands and the ability of business owners to quickly pivot and provide for the needs of their customers is key to determining the level of success of any organization.
Compliance plays a crucial role in how business operates, particularly with growth cycles. Clean labels and the demand for comprehensive product specifications influence the purchase of a product more often than any other factor – including price.
These are a few of the benefits of a comprehensive compliance strategy:
- Alignment with international laws and guidelines
- Meet consumer demands for clean labels
- Increase speed to market
- Eliminate or mitigate risk
- Reduce cost of data
Tools for success
In order for food and beverage manufacturers to ensure market position, remain competitive and guarantee long-term customer retention, compliance requirements must be a priority.
Compliance determines whether all products brought to market meet country-specific regulatory requirements in accordance with respective local legislation – including voluntarily implementation of enterprise-specific codices. The driving factor behind comprehensive compliance is always the wellbeing of consumers, safeguarding public health and safety and preventing false advertising and misinformation.
While the FDA and the USDA have not been as proactive in some areas of regulatory compliance, they are quickly catching up to European standards. Since 2014, rules and regulations have been in place in Europe to simplify product data management in the food and beverage industry. Drafted by the European Food Safety Authority, the European Food Information Regulation 1196/2011 (LMIV) requires manufacturers to give customers access to all relevant information when purchasing food and beverage products. Europe-wide standards are intended to make product labeling easier to understand and less confusing for consumers.
Recognition of essential contributions
Lighthearted recognition for chocolate lovers is one thing – acknowledgment of one of the most important members of any corporate team is quite another.
Compliance and ethics officers are crucial to the success of your organization – compliance team members support company-wide efforts to provide transparency and traceability, so that customers can make informed buying decisions for their family. Celebrating National Compliance Officer Day on 26 September is one small way to honor their contributions to your company, and to the food and beverage industry.
Supporting regulatory compliance with PLM
Innovative PLM software guarantees compliance by tracking global regulatory requirements while managing massive volumes of information – allowing business owners to employ their data as a strategic asset.
In 2018 and beyond, there is simply no way for a company that relies on manual processes to remain competitive.
Manual processes contribute to issues like:
- Stagnancy or slow growth
- Increased cost
- Increased risk
- Increased data entry errors
- Inability to innovate and provide rapid product rollout
Food safety, compliance and customer satisfaction
PLM solutions empower food and beverage manufacturers to manage product specifications within an innovative integrated system. End-to-end specifications are updated in real time across all departments – from ingredients to finished product, the right PLM system compiles a reliable report with all essential data, elevating consistency and providing accurate, reliable regulatory compliance for international legal guidelines, as well as making sure the data is adjusted to the respective market where the product is launched.
SpecPDM, is the ultimate PLM process solution – it supports comprehensive, accurate labels in the required language and ensures that all essential data is processed, and compliance requirements are met.
Compliance guide for food safety
Compliance Guide supports PLM and simplifies the entire compliance and food safety process. Using an integrated compliance management system, the Compliance Guide compares product formulas with worldwide regulatory standards, taking into account food products that have been flagged with the “traffic light” symbol.
The Compliance Guide also compares, analyzes and/or merges different product formulations for specific recipes. It provides a comprehensive overview of all the additives, allowing manufacturers to quickly identify which substance is allowed, in what quantities in each country – worldwide.
Proper compliance makes it easier for companies to ensure the safety and wellbeing of consumers, protect public health, and prevent misinformation and false advertising, at all times – in every market.
Featured Image: © ImageFlow/shutterstock.com
