QS-Report-Fleisch-Fleischwaren-1-2020-EN-Gesamt

QS-Report Meat and Meat Products The necessity for further education and training within the value chain is high because of the indus- try‘s ever-changing challenges. QS has been active in the industry for more than 15 years with auditor train- ing, information events and a larger number of prac- tice-based workshops. And now, we are offering our experience and expertise from a single source: The QS Academy (QS-Akademie) – the new knowledge portal for all aspects of fresh food – will be launched in the next few days. We spoke with Sabrina Melis, responsi- ble for the QS Academy at QS, about what topics will be offered, who will they be offered to and in what form. WHY DOES QS, AS A KEY PLAYER IN FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS, ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF FURTHER EDUCA- TION? Sabrina Melis: We communicate daily with our scheme participants across all industries on topics related to food quality assurance. We know what current topics and challenges are causing problems. And we want to use this knowledge for our current offering. The train- ing courses and events that we have been offering our partners for many years now are very popular and con- sistently fully booked. QS has been offering qualified training courses (such as training for auditors) for quite some time now, we have the knowledge, know the ex- perts and are well networked within the industry. We are putting this network to good use and, with the Acad- emy, we are now making it available to the industry even more comprehensively. We are convinced: “Knowl- edge ensures quality.” The time has finally come: The QS Academy The knowledge portal for all aspects of fresh food HOW ARE THE NEW REQUIREMENTS REGARDING CLEAN WORKING CLOTHES AND CLEAN FOOTWEAR BEING RE- CEIVED AND IMPLEMENTED? Kirchmaier: The extended requirements concerning clean working clothes and clean footwear have been well received. The members of the catching crews work very carefully and are applying the new requirements in accordance with the regulations. The “Checklist for the use of persons that are assigned to destocking/chang- ing sheds”, which must be completed for each load- ing process in order to list the individual members of the catching crew by name and confirm that they have received instruction, among other things, addition- ally supports the hygiene measures and helps ensure greater acceptance during implementation. HOW DOES THE QS SUPPORTING DOCUMENT, THE “CHECKLIST FOR THE USE OF PERSONS THAT ARE ASSIGNED TO DESTOCKING/CHANGING SHEDS”, HELP TO IMPROVE HYGIENE MEASURES? Kirchmaier: With its additional inquiry into hygiene measures and aspects, the supporting document sup- ports, establishes and enhances the awareness of bio­ security and hygiene when loading animals. The checklist contains all the information concerning the load- ing process. In addition to naming the operation at which the loading takes place, the catching crew as well as the number of people in- volved is listed. By providing his sig- nature, the team leader must confirm that he has a proof of competence in handling poultry. On top of this, all those involved must certify that they have been instructed in handling slaughter poultry by the team leader or the livestock owner. Hygiene dur- ing loading is also taken into ac- count. In addition, information on the type of work clothing used is requested separately, so that infor- mation is available for each loading process, even retrospectively, mak- ing it possible to draw conclusions about hygiene during loading. This helps to achieve a more conscious implementation and application by the catching crews. AS A MARKETING ORGANISATION, ARE YOU ALREADY ABLE TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS ABOUT ANY IM- PROVEMENTS IN TERMS OF HY- GIENE? Kirchmaier: The health status among farms is continuing to re- main at a high level. One of the ways we can see this is that we are currently still slaughtering only a small proportion of salmo- nella-positive flocks. All in all, we confirm that hygiene awareness has improved and we are pleased with the commitment of the load- ing companies to maintaining the health status on the farms at a high level and implementing the QS re- quirements. WHAT CAN THE INDUSTRY EXPECT FROM THE QS ACADEMY? Melis: We are initially concentrating on the core QS topics of “quality” and “safety”. These are fields in which we see ourselves as a 360-degree knowl- edge portal for all aspects of fresh food for the entire value chain. This involves practical training courses on current and industry-relevant topics. This includes topics such as animal welfare, feed safety, biosecurity, mi- crobiology, pest control and monitor- ing as well as the proper labelling of goods. Depending on the topic, we offer the courses as workshops, on- site seminars or webinars. E-learn- ing modules are currently also in the making. On 16 June 2020, for exam- ple, we are organizing a webinar on the subject of slaughter diagnostic data. At the end of September, we are planning a QS seminar for slaughter, cutting and processing operations. All of our current offers can be found in our webshop at www.q-s-akade- mie.de (so far only available in Ger- man). Come and take a look every now and then: We are constantly ex- panding our range of services. WHO IS THE OFFER SPECIFICALLY AIMED AT? Melis: We address each of our scheme participants at every stage of the value chain – from livestock owner to slaughter and deboning to food retail. We provide training offers for those responsible for quality man- agement in the companies, samplers and specialist consultants as well as for auditors, laboratory staff and spe- cialist retailers in the food retailing industry – basically for everyone who Do you have any suggestions as to which topics we should include in our Academy program? Then please contact us at akademie@q-s.de . QS-Report Meat and Meat Products | Issue May 2020