6 | Sourced | july — october 2022
Q&A with QA (Quality Assurance)
What is SQF? What is SQF? The Safe Quality Food (SQF) program is a rigorous food safety and quality plan that is globally recognized and respected. It meets the needs of all suppliers in the food industry through a certification system that emphasizes the systematic application of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) and FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) for control of food quality hazards and food safety.
What are some of the elements of the SQF program? Auditing This means we do what we say we’re going to do, and we check that we do it, and look at areas where we can improve. Risk Assessments We look at specific areas and determine what could possibly go wrong. Then we create additional plans to mitigate customer and business risk. Corrective and Preventative Action This ensures that we correct something that needs to get fixed in a way that prevents it from happening again. The only way to check our corrections is to review what we implemented. Food Safety Culture This is very important at AMC and Market Cuts. Here, all employees individually know their
Norma Calderon
Senior Director of Quality Assurance
responsibility to food safety and quality, and together, as a company, we understand the big picture.
Why is SQF important to the produce industry? The SQF program was created to establish solid food safety programs that can be implemented within a facility. It’s a training, monitoring, and review process that ensures AMC and Market Cuts can be trusted to provide safe and quality produce.
Root Cause Analysis When a problem occurs, we investigate to find the root cause and correct what may have happened to cause it. Approved Supplier Program This is how we establish which suppliers we partner with based on how their product is farmed, stored, and distributed based on SQF standards.
