Food Safety Quality Policy 2024
This policy defines South Bakels direction, intention, and commitments in relation to its Food Safety & Quality Management System. This policy applies to South Bakels Johannesburg site – manufacturer, and supply of ambient-stable bakery ingredients such as bakery premixes, baking aids, chocolate, vermicelli, icings, and confectionary. This includes but is not limited to NPD, purchasing, quality, supply chain, regulatory, warehousing and distribution.
Responsibility: National Technical Manager and top management are responsible for ensuring the FSQMS is established, implemented, maintained, and continuously improved.
Procedure
South Bakels is committed to the manufacture, distribution and sale of safe, high-quality foods and ingredients that satisfy customer needs and meet all relevant regulatory requirements. South Bakels is committed to live by our core values being integrity, dedication, and respect. To be a technically based company whose objectives is to assist our customers develop, produce, and sell more bakery products. To operate as a dynamic and successful organisation while providing best-in-class services to become the customers first choice for bakery ingredients. Commitment is delivered through quality culture and engagement, people development and on-going training programmes. South Bakels is committed to continuous improvement, which is measured, evaluated, and validated for effectiveness through internal food safety system audits and external customer audits such as Tiger Brands, Premier Foods, AIB, certification audits, and customer requirements. Top management believes that the responsibility for achieving quality and food safety commitments lies with every single employee of South Bakels. Leadership teams are responsible for ensuring that the site adheres to below regulatory guidelines.
Regulation 638 General Hygiene Requirements for Food Premises and the transport of Food Related Matters, ISO 22000:2018, ISO TS 2002-1:2009 requirements,
SANS241-1 & 241-2 2015, R146 Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972; R214 Regulations relating to the Reduction of Sodium in Foodstuffs (Amendment R1071, 06th Oct 2017); Consumer Protection Act No. 68 of 2008; R1452 Regulations relating to Miscellaneous Additives in Foodstuffs), R146 Food labelling, Allergen legislation health Act 63 of 1977, Heavy metals R588, Pesticides R246 for pesticides residues, R.1054 of 6 November 2009: Regulations relating to maximum levels for melamine in foodstuffs, SEDEX, Rainforest alliance (Environmental, Social, and economic requirements),etc.
Food Safety and Quality Objectives – 2024:
- Obtain FSSC 22000 v6.0 certification.
- Zero(o) product recalls on account of food safety.
- Reduce foreign object related customer complaints by 10% on previous year.
- Annual Internal GMP training to be conducted as per training matrix.
- To complete 80% of scheduled audits on suppliers that do not meet the South Bakels minimum quality and food safety standard (SQA).
- Reducing internal Quality product rejects by 5% on previous year.
- Successfully implement a waste tracking system to monitor and categorize waste produced during processing, within 12 months.
Food Quality and Food Safety are based on sound policy and commitment. We deliver on this commitment through:
- Achieve a right first-time, quality culture.
- Engagement through people development.
- On-going training programmes.
- Leverage cross-functional ways of working to ensure quality is designed in at New Product Development Stage.
- Optimise and standardise testing capability through validation, and trend analysis.
- Drive continuous improvement by benchmarking, auditing, and monitoring performance to targets.
Communication & Review Frequency:
This policy is communicated to staff through training, awareness and placed on notice boards throughout the site (internal). External communication of this policy is also done regularly with suppliers, contractors, customers, service providers, through audits, South Bakels website, information video and inductions.
South Bakels Management shall review this policy annually to ensure that it continues to reflect the aims and aspirations of the company and keeps up to date with legislative and customer requirements.
Management Commitment:
Through the application of the FSSC 22000 v6.0 standard, and sound financial management, South Bakels is committed to developing, implementing, and improving the Food Safety and Quality Management System. Management of South Bakels will ensure that all staff understand and acknowledge that the success of this policy requires the involvement and commitment of all employees at all stages throughout the supply chain. Food safety and quality is our focus.
Scheduled and ongoing training will be done externally and internally to meet optimum food safety & hygiene standards and to empower the personnel to carry out Food Safety and Quality control responsibilities.
