McDonald’s Highlights the Importance of Food Safety to Mark the UN day
From Traceability to Digital Food Safety and Hygiene, food safety never stops
World Food Safety Day, which was held June 7th marked an exceptional time as countries, businesses, and communities around the world deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This day, created by the UN in 2018, was a great opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of making food systems more resilient and robust, so they can withstand increasing volatility and climate shocks while delivering decent livelihoods for all.
McDonald’s Saudi Arabia joined the celebration of the second annual UN World Food Safety Day to mark its continuous commitment to food safety as it places concerted efforts into every aspect of its operations to deliver safe food for all, from farm to fork.
The slogan of UN World Food Safety Day, “Food safety, everyone’s business,” is also the foundation of McDonald’s approach to food safety – from suppliers that grow the food, to restaurant owners and employees.
Starting with its robust Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) food safety management system, which is consistently maintained and verified, to its stringent hygiene practices, land use assessment, and water irrigation validation, McDonald’s addresses food safety needs and requirements at every step.
When it comes to food traceability, which is the ability to follow the movement of a food product and its ingredients throughout the supply chain, the restaurant chain has always ensured that all products along with their packaging are fully traceable. Traceability exercises are done periodically at McDonald’s to validate that the system is always working effectively, eliminating incidences of foodborne illness from along the supply chain to the restaurant.
Another key element of food safety is hygiene. In fact, in the wake of COVID-19, McDonald’s had elevated all its hygiene practices and programs by increasing the frequency of cleaning and dosage of cleaning chemicals and sanitizers, intensifying the cleaning of all contact points. Moreover, these measures were also applied at every step in the supply chain. Additionally, when it comes to distribution, cleaning and disinfection of vehicles is done after each and every delivery to include crates, trolleys, hands, while cleaning, sanitation, and pest control management programs are also in place.
As McDonald’s always works on improving and enhancing its practices for the better, it rolled out Digital Food Safety across its restaurants. As part of its efforts to digitize food safety and capture the benefits this entails, McDonald’s has implemented an advanced restaurant food safety management system. Its data analysis accuracy in terms of all food products enables the company to continuously track and record product storage and ensure optimal storage temperatures at all times. This is applicable to fresh produce, quality products, and meats, leading to higher quality burgers in every instance.
Food safety never stops at McDonald’s, and its journey to serve safe and quality food to all customers from around the world continues.