Woolworths food handling requirements compliance vendors: food safety for Woolworths fresh produce compliance and fresh produce handling. Audit, recall, inventory FIFO. 1. INTRODUCTION
Here at Woolworths we are committed to working closely with our suppliers, to provide our customers with a fantastic range of products they can trust to be safe and have consistent quality for them and their family. In the development of the Supplier Excellence Program, we have listened to the feedback we have received from our suppliers and endeavoured to develop a program that:
* reduces audit time whilst ensuring more focus on factory practices
* reduces duplication in system and procedure development
* provides greater benefit focus and value in food safety and quality outcomes
* is more specific to your business and the products you provide us with
* focuses on preventing customer complaints, withdrawals and recalls
* provides and delights our customers with safe and consistent quality product every day.
We will continue to build and improve our program based on emerging issues, audit outcomes and feedback from our supply base.
2. SUPPLIER EXCELLENCE PROGRAM &STANDARD STRUCTURE
Suppliers will need to maintain each level of the Supplier Excellence Program, and be audited to:
Level 1: a GFSI* benchmark standard or Supplier Excellence Base Standard.
❖ if your business is audited to one of the GFSI Standards below, you may not need to be audited to the Supplier Excellence Base Standard
❖ if your business does not have a GFSI certification, you will need to be audited against the Supplier Excellence Standard and maintain a satisfactory (minimum Amber) grade ongoing.
Level 2: includes any applicable Industry Standards and Codes of Practice (COPs) - See Appendix 1at the end of this document.
Level 3: Woolworths authorised product specifications are required for all Woolworths branded products, exclusive and fresh products. These have to be current and agreed prior to first production of any product.
Woolworths food handling requirements compliance vendors: food safety for Woolworths fresh produce compliance and fresh produce handling. Audit, recall, inventory FIFO.
*GFSI standards for suppliers (excluding Asian and Indian Subcontinent Suppliers) that Woolworths currently recognise:
❖ BRC
❖ SQF (Food Safety + Quality code)
❖ IFS
❖ other standards will be considered dependent on products supplied and scope. Please contact your Woolworths Quality Specialist if you would like to discuss consideration of another standard.
The above relates to current and valid GFSI certification. If there is an interruption (eg. natural disaster) in your manufacturing site GFSI certification, or it ceases, or is downgraded, then you must contact your Woolworths Quality Specialist immediately at the point change occurs.
Additionally we need to have visibility of how you are performing in your certification scheme so you are required to upload your GFSI Audit report and Initial CAR summary followed by uploading your GFSI certification upon closure of the CARs onto the Woolworths PLMS system. This must be completed within 1 month of receiving accreditation and prior to the certificate expiring.
If your GFSI certificate is going to expire for any reason, prior to your next audit, suppliers must contact their Woolworths Quality Specialist prior to the certification expiring.
For more information on which Codes of Practice and/or Industry Standards that may be applicable to your business please refer to Appendix 1 - Code of Practice and Industry Standards Guide Matrix on Food Co Supplier Portal or www.wowlink.com.au.
Woolworths food handling requirements compliance vendors: food safety for Woolworths fresh produce compliance and fresh produce handling. Audit, recall, inventory FIFO.
3. AUDIT FREQUENCY
Your audit frequency will be based on the risk of your product, audit performance, and overall quality performance, and needs to be agreed with your Woolworths Quality Specialist. Your Woolworths Quality Specialist will assess your performance and advise you of the audit frequency.
As a guide the first diagram below shows the audits needed if your business is required to have 2 audits per year, and the second diagram shows what would be needed if an annual audit is required.
Note: The Woolworths Production Focus Audit will take place no later than 6 months after the GFSI audit or Supplier Excellence Standard audit.
4. PRODUCTION FOCUS AUDIT
The Supplier Excellence production focused audit includes the following:
❖ a vertical traceability test including mass balance (the mass balance exercise must be completed within 4 hours)
❖ a product assessment will be carried out on the Woolworths product used in the trace
❖ a factory assessment minimum of 4 hours: auditing of Safe, Clear & True initiatives that are relevant for the site
❖ an assessment of Food Fraud (VACCP) risk assessment.
Whilst we all enjoy fresh food it's important to be mindful of food safety.
Below we've listed some quick and easy tips on how to get the most from your fresh food experience. We tell you how to buy, store and prepare and cook your fresh food to ensure it stays safe, healthy and delicious for you to enjoy.
Woolworths Quality Assured
When it comes to the quality and reliability of our fresh food, our stringent processes are second to none. This is exemplified in our fresh food promise, with all of our growers and suppliers being certified through our Woolworths Quality Assurance Standard (WQA). Our WQA Standard and Woolworths Quality program is benchmarked against global product safety standards and international retailing best practice.
So you can be confident that any Woolworths branded product you see on our shelves has met our strict quality assurance standard. Some of these requirements include:
All suppliers' facilities must pass a stringent Woolworths Quality Assurance Audit.
All ingredients are approved and must adhere to Australian and New Zealand Government food regulations and standards.
All products must be approved by our Customer Sensory Panel (nothing goes on our shelves before passing consumer sampling).
All products go through stringent chemical and microbiological testing at NATA certified laboratories.
It's how we guarantee the highest quality products. If you're not 100% satisfied, we'll refund your money as part of our Money Back Guarantee.
At Woolworths, we are committed to providing our valued customers with safe, quality products. We put our customers first including keeping them informed of any issues with products resulting in withdrawals and recalls.
Product Safety Requirements
We take our compliance with the product safety requirements of the Australian Consumer Law seriously.
For our own brand products this includes ensuring that:
the products we supply comply with the product safety standards and Australian Consumer Law requirements;
we have appropriate policies that describe when and how we:
recall goods; and
compensate you for loss caused by goods with a safety defect;
we promptly withdraw and recall products that may cause injury to any person;
we report product safety incidents as required.
More detailed information about the ACL product safety requirements can be found at the following websites: Product Safety Australia or ACCC.
Woolworths Product Safety Policy
This policy applies only in respect of products sold by Woolworths Group Limited (“we”) on Woolworths Online, and does not apply to Everyday Market from Woolworths products.
We are committed to ensuring that all products we sell are safe and of the highest quality across all our Woolworths' businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
Together with our Suppliers, we have a responsibility to provide high quality products and services to our customers.
To support this responsibility, we have in place a clear and defined product approval process. This process includes:
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