Brilliant Brains elevates food safety culture

One way of ensuring food safety is to clean and disinfect properly, using the right means and equipment. But that’s not enough, a good food safety culture is essential. How do you achieve such a shared mindset within your company?

The essence of a food safety culture lies not merely in adhering to rules; it is much bigger than that. A culture is about shared values, beliefs, and norms that influence the mindset and behaviors concerning food safety across every individual in the organization. Addressing this challenge often requires expert involvement, which can lead to highly beneficial outcomes. Brilliant, in collaboration with Fresh Quality Support, assists in elevating your company’s food safety culture.

Extensive evaluation

We sit down with two seasoned professionals: Dirk van Loon, Food Safety Expert at Brilliant, and Daniel Zwiers, owner of Fresh Quality Support. Their eyes light up when discussing the food industry in relation to topics such as hygiene, cleaning and disinfection, safety, lean practices, workplace setup, and training.

Dirk explains that he often visits companies where dirt accumulates in corners, crevices, and drains. “It’s due to poor cleaning,” he states plainly. “It’s not more complicated than that. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, as the causes vary widely. Sometimes it’s due to poor construction, or perhaps past constructions no longer fit well due to expansions, making it hard for cleaning to be effective. Equipment might be misused due to lack of clear instructions, or cleaning plans may not be properly followed.” His list goes on.

Dirk van Loon (left) and Daniel Zwiers

Areas for improvement

“Through a hygiene or food safety scan, we observe operational and cleaning practices, and engage with employees and management,” Dirk says. “Our assessment leads to a report outlining steps for improvement. Sometimes, it’s necessary for operators and cleaning staff to enhance their knowledge of the materials they use, or to receive better cleaning instructions. Clients can address these points internally with their quality service team.”
“Or they can engage us for follow-up projects,” adds Daniel.

“We are not a consultancy firm,” Dirk emphasizes. “Therefore, we often collaborate with external partners in areas beyond our expertise. That’s why we’ve partnered with Daniel. Within ‘Brilliant Brains,’ we offer short guidance programs, services, and e-learnings. If a company requires more in-depth, sustained support, Daniel steps in.”
“One client in the catering industry was at risk of losing their BRC certification,” Daniel shares. “We initially extinguished the fire so the threat to their certification was mitigated. Afterwards, we launched a process involving an extensive internal audit and interviews. It had been a long time since any physical training had been conducted within this organization. They opted to continue with our ‘Think and Act’ training.”

Getting Started

Fresh Quality Support assists food processing companies with quality and food safety issues. Daniel first meets with clients to understand their needs and observes their operations. “Based on specific queries from management, the quality department, and operators, as well as my findings, we create tailored training materials. In training sessions, small groups primarily practice with real-life situations, supported by necessary theoretical knowledge. Getting people actively involved is our primary goal, as it truly embeds the food safety culture into the DNA of employees at all levels of the organization. After that, we let them take it from there; there’s no need to become overly attached to the client.”

Bootcamp

Both emphasize the importance of motivating people to learn and apply new skills. Daniel notes, “Making the theory tangible and getting hands-on with it increases the chance of success. For example, trainees might practice with protein tests to understand exactly how they work and learn about cross-contamination—when it occurs and how to prevent it.” Dirk agrees, “That’s the game we play in the ‘Brains Bootcamp,’ our online learning environment. The term bootcamp should give you an idea that you’ll be actively engaged.”

“Brilliant is also setting up an escape room!” Daniel reveals. Dirk adds, “And an experience center here in our facility. We’ll be taking people through the world of the food industry and hygiene in an interactive way.” At this, both their eyes sparkle with enthusiasm. Such passion and shared mindset are bound to lead to great results.

www.hygienepartner.nl
www.brilliantgroup.nl
www.freshqualitysupport.nl 

Photos ©JTD Producties