ALERT
Did you know that the FDA has created a defense tool to prevent to the deliberate contamination of food? It is called ALERT and it stands for Assure, Look, Employees, Reports, Threat. At one point I thought this was an excessive, boring concept to learn and teach, but then I did a little research.
In the fall of 1984, the single largest bioterrorist attack in the United Sates occurred. It was carried out by members of a cult who had hoped to influence the turnout of a local election. They sprinkled a liquid containing Salmonella Typhimurium on salad bars at 10 local restaurants. As a result, over 750 people got sick, with 45 being hospitalized. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.
What the actual…. ?
Can you believe that? After reading about this one incident it became clear to me why this topic must be taken seriously. So, here is what it is all about.
ALERT is a tool to stop people from deliberately contaminating food. Possible people who could contaminate your food include terrorists or activists, disgruntled current or former staff, vendors, and competitors. Keep in mind that attacks can occur at any point in the food chain, but they are often focused on a specific food item or business.
In order to protect your food, you need to make it difficult for someone to tamper with. One way to do this is to create a food defense program. ALERT was created to help you identify areas of your operation that may be at risk. Here is what it is all about:
A - ssure: Make sure that products you receive are from safe sources.
Supervise product deliveries.
Use approved suppliers who practice food defense.
Request that delivery vehicles are locked or sealed.
L-ook: Monitor the security of products in the facility.
Limit access to prep and storage areas. Locking storage areas is one way to do this.
Create a system for handling damaged products.
Store chemicals in a secure location.
Train staff to spot food defense threats.
E-mployees: Know who is in your facility.
Limit access to prep and storage areas.
Identify all visitors, and verify credentials.
Conduct background checks on staff.
R-eports: Keep information related to food defense accessible:
Receiving logs.
Office files and documents.
Staff files
Random food defense self-inspections.
T-hreat: Identify what you will do and who you will contact if there is suspicious activity or a threat at your operation.
Hold any product you suspect to be contaminated.
Contact your regulatory authority immediately.
Maintain an emergency contact list.
Now that you have a set of guidelines for creating a food defense program you can begin to think about what areas of your operation may be the most vulnerable. While it is easy to think, “Something like that won’t ever happen to me.” It does happen, and when it does, you want to be prepared.
Comment below with what else you’d like to know about ALERT and what questions you have regarding applying this concept to your day to day operation.