RESHAPING REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS Why Prevention is Essential for Continuous Improvement By Sonia Salas, Associate Vice President, Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs
In food safety, regulatory frameworks are critical for setting the baseline for compliance, defining clear expectations and ensuring accountability. However, true progress requires fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Frameworks must evolve beyond lists of requirements that encourage a checklist mentality—one that often falls short in driving meaningful, preventive food safety practices. Prevention is often an afterthought in regulatory discussions, where compliance and enforcement tend to be reactive and focused on what went wrong, after the fact. In contrast, prevention asks, “What could go wrong?” and plans ahead to avoid it. A prevention-based food safety framework is forward-looking, drives lasting Prevention-driven food safety necessitates a shift in mindset. When companies operate with a mindset that prioritizes prevention above compliance, they move away from just checking boxes to asking, “How can we improve tomorrow, next week/month/year compared to today, this week/month/year?” Just like other business metrics, measuring performance in food safety is foundational for a strong food safety culture—one that looks beyond compliance to continuous improvement. Before the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was enacted in 2011, produce safety lacked the regulatory focus given to other food sectors. Yet the industry had already taken the initiative with its first food safety guidance for fresh produce in 1997 and has made significant progress since. Still, food safety is a journey of continuous improvement—one that requires tracking performance. Without knowing where we’ve been or where we are, we can’t measure progress. Food safety performance can be measured using leading and lagging indicators. Leading indicators are proactive and predictive, for example, tracking the frequency and thoroughness of worker hygiene training (e.g., proper handwashing, glove use or cross-contamination prevention) and adherence to best practices. Well-trained workers are more likely to prevent contamination, making this a leading indicator. Lagging indicators, such as the number of recalls or outbreaks, reflect what has already happened. They show what went wrong by assessing whether the food safety failed, but only after the fact. A regulatory system focused solely on lagging indicators assesses safety based change and fosters continuous improvement. A Shift in Mindset from Compliance to Continuous Improvement
on what went wrong, and a company focused solely on lagging indicators assesses its food safety program by a passed or failed audit. Unlike lagging indicators, leading indicators are forward-looking and give companies a proactive edge. Both leading and lagging indicators provide valuable insight into long-term strategies, but leading indicators are essential to guide prevention strategies by informing This brings me to a crucial point: The number of outbreaks alone is not a sufficient measure of success. Though important, it is a snapshot from the past, not a panoramic video of what is out ahead. A genuine culture of food safety should be evaluated on broader criteria: Are risks being identified early? Are companies adequately investing in training and innovation? Is data being employed to inform decision-making rather than just reacting to failures? When data is transformed into actionable insight, its true value is realized. Data-driven prevention has the power to reshape food safety by enabling smarter technology use and fostering stronger collaboration between public and private sectors to drive continuous improvement. At Western Growers, we are committed to advancing prevention and data science to transform information into action because continuous improvement isn’t just possible, it’s essential. We believe regulatory frameworks must embed prevention at their core, not treat it as an afterthought. That vision is attainable through a system that supports ongoing improvement, rewards proactive practices, leverages leading indicators and embraces prevention as a foundational strategy for protecting public health. industry and regulators of potential issues. Rethinking Success—Looking Ahead
19 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com May | June 2025
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