Food safety culture

From a management concept to a legal duty

"Food safety culture" originates as a concept in management science and private standards. With Regulation (EU) 2021/382 it became binding law: that regulation inserted the new Chapter XIa into Annex II of Regulation (EC) 852/2004, applicable from 24 March 2021 Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2021/382. It is no longer merely a recommended good practice: it is a requirement whose absence can be challenged during an official control Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.

What Chapter XIa requires

Chapter XIa requires food business operators to establish, maintain and provide evidence of an appropriate food safety culture, by fulfilling five requirements Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point a of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004:

• commitment of management and employees to the safe production and distribution of food Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point a of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004;
• leadership towards the production of safe food and engagement of all employees Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point b of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004;
• awareness of hazards and of the importance of food safety and hygiene by all employees Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point c of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004;
• open and clear communication between employees, including communication of deviations and expectations Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point d of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004;
• sufficient resources to ensure the safe and hygienic handling of food Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point e of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.

The text then details management commitment, which must include: clearly communicating roles and responsibilities Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point a-2 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004; maintaining the integrity of the hygiene system when changes are planned and implemented Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point b-2 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004; verifying that controls are performed timely and efficiently and that documentation is up to date Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point c-2 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004; ensuring appropriate training and supervision of personnel Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point d-2 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004; ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point e-2 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004; and encouraging continual improvement of the management system, taking into account developments in science, technology and best practices Annex II, Chapter XI bis, point f of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.

As with the rest of self-monitoring, proportionality applies: implementation of the food safety culture must take account of the nature and size of the business Annex II, Chapter XI bis of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. A small business needs no elaborate programme: clear roles, effective communication and consistency between stated procedures and actual behaviour are enough.

Origin: Codex 2020 and GFSI

The EU provision transposes an international development. The 2020 revision of the Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene (CXC 1-1969) introduced food safety culture as a founding element of management systems, requiring management commitment and staff engagement. On the private-standards side, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) had already produced a reference position paper ("A Culture of Food Safety", 2018) that influenced both the Codex and voluntary certification schemes. Chapter XIa turns this content into a directly applicable legal duty: in our view it is the clearest point of convergence between EU public law and the private standards, which make the same principles a pillar (see the obligations and voluntary certifications).

Relationship with HACCP and training

Food safety culture does not replace HACCP: it presupposes it and ensures its effectiveness. A perfect documentary system disregarded by staff is precisely what Chapter XIa aims to prevent. That is why the chapter is closely tied to the training of Chapter XII, which requires staff to be trained and supervised Annex II, Chapter XII, point 1 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, and to the food safety management manual, whose procedures must actually be applied Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. The evidence required by Chapter XIa is behavioural, not merely on paper: training records, safety meetings, and documented management of non-conformities and corrective actions.