Digitalization of official food safety control procedures
Electronic compliance checklist of official food safety control procedures
Description
This good practice describes the experience of the Public Health Agency of Barcelona (ASPB) in its transition from a fully paper-based system to a digital-based system, bringing consistency and transparency to official food safety controls. As reported in 2021, the digital system comprises an electronic standardized compliance checklist that can be accessed via a web-based application and hardware devices (e.g. smartphones or tablets). The digital system records, analyses and facilitating communication among private and public food actors. The electronic standardized compliance checklist comprises up to 228 possible compliance questions (depending on subject), and the results of the inspection are shared immediately with the food business, along with any corrective actions required for non-compliances and action deadlines. The inspection results are stored on the cloud-based servers of the ASPB and can be analysed to support monitoring operations, thus contributing to the continuous improvement of the Barcelona food safety control system.
Technology
Digital tools (e.g. apps or programs) and devices (e.g. smartphones or tablets) are used to record, analyse and transmit information and to facilitate communication. The digital tools offer the following paper-free functionalities: 1) the systematic identification of non-compliances through a checklist; 2) the collection of information about official samples taken for laboratory analysis; 3) the attachment of pictures to the inspection reports; 4) the automatic generation of quantitative inspection results, including any detected non-compliances; 5) the automatic setting of deadlines for the remediation of non-compliances; 6) the automatic assignment of appropriate enforcement measures on food businesses for non-compliances; and 7) the automatic generation of digital inspection reports based on a template document that is shared immediately with the inspected food businesses in a PDF format. All data and information gathered and recorded during inspections are stored automatically on a cloud-based server, from which they can be downloaded and revised using interactive data visualization software, bringing standardization and transparency to the analysis and monitoring of control activities.
Target
The main beneficiaries of this good practice are food businesses subject to food safety controls, as well as ASPB inspection officers.
Business model
The digital system was developed with public funding support and ASPB inspectors can access it free of charge.
Impact
FAO reports that the digital system has improved the consistency of controls, has increased communication between the food businesses and ASPB inspectors, and has contributed to an atmosphere of trust. The automation of processes based on pre-established rule-based instructions helps minimize errors, leading to savings in time. Furthermore, the problems encountered in understanding the handwriting of officers have been eliminated with the elimination of hand-written reports. Access to inspection reports has been made much easier than under the previous inspection system, supporting evidence-based analysis, monitoring, application and planning control activities. The transparent disclosure of inspection results benefits both food businesses and consumers in providing them with access to control-related information and data.
Four Betters
Better production
Better nutrition
