Safeway Targets Prepared-Food Departments in Safety Checks

MICHAEL GARRY

WASHINGTON — Safeway, Pleasonton, Calif., conducts quarterly food safety compliance checks using a third-party service to examine the practices of its prepared-food departments, among other areas, according to Mahipal Kunduru, group director, consumer protection for the retailer.

Kunduru explained Safeway's in-store hygiene program Thursday in a session at the Global Food Safety Conference, sponsored by The Consumer Goods Forum, Paris.

The unannounced audits, conducted by National Everclean Services, Agoura Hills, Calif., "mirror health department inspections and take into account Safeway requirements," Kunduru said during the session, held here at the J.W. Marriott. The focus is on "critical violations" in an effort to "reduce repeat violations," he said.

As a result of an audit, a store manager will develop a "critical action plan," which must be approved by a district manager; a field manager then verifies that the plan was implemented.

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