Extending Food Safety Across Every Link in the Supply Chain

The Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI)  has introduced two new certification standards: the SQF Code: Agents and Brokers, Edition 9, and the SQF Code: Food Safety Services, Edition 9, that extend SQF’s reach to parts of the supply chain that can significantly impact food safety.

By Rachel Anderson, Vice President, Business Development & Strategy, SQFI

Food retailers know that food safety does not begin or end at the store. It depends on every organization that touches a product or supports its journey, from sourcing and manufacturing to transportation, distribution and sale.

That is why the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI)  has introduced two new certification standards: the SQF Code: Agents and Brokers, Edition 9, and the SQF Code: Food Safety Services, Edition 9. Together, they extend SQF’s reach to parts of the supply chain that can significantly impact food safety, even when they do not manufacture or physically handle food.

What Food Retailers Need to Know about the SQF Code: Agents and Brokers

Agents and brokers play an important role in sourcing products and connecting suppliers with retailers. Yet retailers may have limited visibility into how these businesses approve suppliers, manage product specifications, maintain traceability or respond when something goes wrong. The new Agents and Brokers Code establishes a consistent framework for managing those responsibilities. It gives food retailers added assurance that the companies facilitating trade have documented systems to support food safety, regulatory compliance and an effective response when an issue arises.

What Food Retailers Need to Know about the SQF Code: Food Safety Services

The Food Safety Services Code addresses another critical part of the system: third-party providers whose work directly affects the safety of food facilities and products. Services such as sanitation, pest management, product testing and other technical support must be delivered with the same discipline and accountability expected of the sites they serve. The Code provides risk-based requirements to help service providers demonstrate that their people, processes and controls are capable, consistent and reliable.

Key Considerations for Food Retailers

For food retailers, the value of these Codes is practical. They support stronger supplier oversight, better traceability and greater confidence that food safety expectations are understood across a complex, global network. They also create a common language that can help food retailers and their supply chain partners identify risks, set expectations and resolve concerns more quickly.

The introduction of these Codes reflects SQFI’s continued commitment to responding to the needs of the food industry. With more than 14,000 certified sites in 55 countries, SQFI delivers consistent, globally recognized food safety and quality certification programs grounded in sound science.

As a division of FMI, SQFI also supports FMI’s mission to work with and on behalf of the entire industry to advance a safer, healthier and more efficient consumer food supply chain. Expanding food safety expectations beyond traditional facilities strengthens that mission and recognizes a simple reality: keeping food safe requires commitment and accountability from every link in the chain.

Learn more and access the new SQF Codes in the SQF Code Library.