NRF LP CONVENTION

Dana Dubbs

SAN DIEGO -- To ensure the safety, integrity and wholesomeness of food in stores, retailers should have a written policy and procedures, extensive training at all levels of the business and a self-inspection process, Kmart's director of food safety said.

Bill Jones described components of an effective food safety program during his session, "What do loss prevention executives need to know about protecting the food supply?" last week at the National Retail Federation's 2005 Loss Prevention Conference & Exhibition at the San Diego Convention Center.

Jones emphasized the need to be proactive and to have a food safety program that focuses on prevention. "Safe food sells," he said. "It causes repeat business." Kmart, now part of Sears Holdings, Hoffman Estates, Ill., continues to run supercenters that stock a full complement of food.

He said stores need a written policy and procedures, developed with input from legal staff. "Even if [the policy] is violated, that doesn't mean the company was wrong," he said. "It means there was a failure in the system. If you don't have a policy in place, it means we didn't care." Procedures should cover everything from how to dispose of damaged pet foods to how to clean and sanitize coolers.

Jones puts great emphasis on training. Employees throughout the company have a role in keeping food safe and must be trained to understand their roles, he said. Training must be ongoing, particularly given the high rate of turnover in retail.

"When I train, I like to start at the top," Jones said. "At Kmart headquarters two years ago, with the CEO, we had a food safety symposium for our senior management -- eight hours in the auditorium." A key way to gain chief executive officer support during training, he said, was to show the return on investment in food safety -- returning customers, increased sales and prevention of public liability claims. Like everything else in retail, Jones said, "If the management team's not behind it, nothing will work -- including a food safety program that's required by the law."

ASSOCIATE TRAINING

Other levels -- operations, field management, store and department managers, store and warehouse associates -- all need to understand their role in keeping food safe, particularly employees at the stores. "We have a computer-based training program that each one of our associates has to go through so they'll know what their part in food safety is," Jones said.

A cashier, for example, needs to understand how to bag products to prevent cross contamination. The person who receives merchandise needs to know how to inspect inbound loads and what to do about loads that may be contaminated. Store and warehouse managers need to know about effective pest-control programs. Merchandisers need to understand which items can't be shelved next to one another because of potential contamination.

A self-inspection process is also a useful tool for management to monitor a food safety program, Jones said. Self-inspections should be ongoing. They should result in honest evaluations of store conditions, so managers can identify issues and take corrective action. Although Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) laws target food manufacturers and processors, retailers should have HACCP-based programs in place to prevent food safety problems, Jones said.

Jones urged retailers to find out what their peers are doing to promote safety in addition to looking within their own companies. It's also a good idea to stay in touch with regulatory agencies to learn of their expectations, he added. He has one employee who searches the Internet daily for food safety news related to other retailers and the industry at large, and keeps Jones aware of any reported E. coli infections at restaurants and stores, as well as other food-related health issues.