Raising the safety bar for Kenya’s food businesses

Food safety management systems (FSMS) are sometimes erroneously only associated with food manufacturers, with many food business operators hardly implementing even rudimentary food safety processes.

This has contributed to the cases of food poisoning and food-borne illnesses we are all familiar with in Kenya.

Any responsible operator needs some form of a food safety system. The only way to protect your customers, your business and yourself from any hazards is by investing in robust food safety systems and continuous food safety education and training for your staff.

Investing in FSMS and training protects the consumer from harm, protects your brand and reputation, prevents negative reviews and customer complaints, reduces operational costs related to food wastes and other reactive processes and helps to avoid costly fines and business closures.

In more advanced countries, well-enforced food safety laws and an aware and demanding public drive the food enterprises to invest in FSMS. In Kenya, this has not been the case. But with the expected enactment of the Food and Feed Safety Coordination Bill, 2021, things will have to change.

Whether you own, operate, manage or work in the food industry, there will be an expectation by the coordinating entity that your enterprise complies with this and other food laws that govern quality and safety.

You will be held to the highest standards that the food you are handling is safe for consumption, and that you understand the consequences of not handling food safely.

An FSMS is a systematic approach to controlling food safety hazards within a food business in order to ensure that food is safe to eat. It may be as simple or as comprehensive as the business’s operations and resources allow.

A comprehensive FSMS has several layers or components, and different food enterprises will have different objectives and implementation strategy. However, the fundamentals of an FSMS are the same.

The first step as a food business operator is to formulate a food safety policy for your enterprise that outlines what you want to achieve with your FSMS.

Secondly, you need to put in place prerequisite programmes — which are processes used to control hazards associated with the food production or service environment.

These will address things like the layout of the premises, water supply, personnel hygiene, supply chain management, storage and transportation, waste management, pest and animal control as well as management and supervision.

For the food service industry there will be additional specific prerequisite programmes covering processes like thawing of food, preparation and cooking, portioning, food reheating, cooling and storage, freezing, transport, food service and identification and hygiene control systems.

The other key component of the FSMS is the hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP). This is an internationally recognised food safety preventative tool that helps to identify, evaluate, and control biological, chemical or physical food safety hazards.

It is widely used in the food manufacturing industry but also in the food service industry as the anchor of an FSMS

The prerequisite processes provide the foundation for effective HACCP implementation and should be in operation before it. While the prerequisites address the food service environment, HACCP is used to control hazards associated directly with food handling processes, that are deemed significant after risk assessment.

Once you have implemented HACCP, you may then implement an international food safety standard like ISO 22000 or FSSC 22000 among others, and get certified. These international standards allow you to be recognised globally as having an FSMS.

However, just like any system, the FSMS will require monitoring, which may be done through internal or external audits to ensure it remains effective and is continuously updated and improved. Documentation and recording keeping is key to an FSMS.

Food business operators will need to verifiably demonstrate what they are doing to make and sell safe food.

In my opinion, the food safety coordinating entity envisioned by the food safety Bill should enforce the law judicially cognizant of the wide range of food business operators with varying capacities and resources to implement food safety systems in the country — from street food vendors to high-end restaurants, five star-hotels and supermarkets,

But whatever the size of the operator the common denominator must be safe food for the consumer. As the regulations are developed and rolled out there will be need for food safety training for enforcement agents and county governments.

But also, in anticipation of the challenges micro, small businesses may face implementing food safety processes, there may be need to develop tailor-made capacity-building programmes and tools to support them to be compliant.

Dr Liavoga is a researcher and food safety expert. [email protected]