Don't let your HACCP procedures let you down

A leaking pipe at the Cadbury's Marlbrook plant in the UK was blamed for contaminating its chocolate crumb mixture with salmonella. The company ended up recalling more than one million chocolate bars in the UK and Ireland and being charged by the Birmingham Council for selling unsafe chocolate products, failing to report salmonella immediately and for failing food hygiene and hazard controls.

Cadbury's originally said that it estimated that the scare would cost the firm $47 million but recently raised this to $70 million to reflect higher manufacturing and facility rectification and redemption costs.

Not only is this incident costing Cadbury a lot of money, it has damaged its reputation all over the world. While the media are not allowed to name local restaurants which are in gross breach of even the most basic food safety requirements, there is no hesitation in naming food processors. Cadbury's leaking pipe made the company a headline internationally for the worst possible reason.

Don't think these things don't happen here - the Garibaldi Smallgoods company in South Australia went into liquidation after an E. coli 0111 food poisoning event in 1995 and Mexican Express has suspended all production of its Nachos to Go after an alleged Clostridium botulinum incident earlier this year.

If you want to ensure that your plant meets all its food safety requirements, you should consider attending the Australian HACCP Conference Series.

The series is the premier discussion forum for all food industry professionals involved in food safety and involved in the development and maintenance of food safety programs.

On August 2 and 3, Advancing Food Safety will convene the 14th Australian HACCP Conference on the Gold Coast, Australia. As a continuation of the Australian HACCP Conference Series, the conference once again will drive forward the food safety issues that face the Australasian food industry every day.

Each year the overall focus of the conference program addresses issues that have affected the industry resulting from a wide range of events including regulatory change, international policy implementation, foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls.

The program looks at specific sectors in an annually rotating fashion such that all delegates can participate in the knowledge exchange and apply the principles discussed in their own business environment.

The conference attracts a dedicated audience consisting of professionals and individuals employed in:

• Food manufacturing organisations
• Fresh food organisations
• Ingredient and service suppliers to the food industry
• Food service sector including healthcare, aged care and commercial catering
• Retail sector
• Private sector providers including consultants, risk management specialists and insurance providers
• Training providers
• Academia
• Government sector including research and development

For more information on the conference and its associated workshops visit www.haccptown.com.au

You can even register online at http://www.haccptown.com.au/AFS/Conference/registration.aspx,
call 02 9898 0344 or email conference@haccptown.com.