A new survey by Campden BRI and Alchemy Systems, in partnership with BRC Global Standards and SQF Institute, questioned 649 food and drink manufacturers and processors worldwide to identify the needs, effectiveness and challenges of food safety training in the industry.

While companies recognized improved product quality and higher employee morale as the greatest benefits of effective food safety training, more than 70% of those surveyed said finding the time for training was the greatest challenge. Other barriers cited included verifying the effectiveness of training (43%), dealing with language issues when delivering a consistent training program across global sites (28%), resource problems (24%) and keeping the training curriculum up-to-date (24%).

The companies surveyed represent a cross section of the industry, drawn from around the world. They ranged in size from less than 50 employees to more than 1,000 and cover many sectors including cereal and baking, dairy, meats, fish and poultry and packaging.

Almost 85% of food companies use on-the-job training, which was closely followed by reading policies, refresher courses and traditional classroom-based learning. It is worth noting that e-learning and interactive training were used by 39% and 14% of companies, respectively. However, with only 66% of companies stating they are very satisfied or satisfied with the quality of training undertaken there is clearly room for improvement. The biggest deficiencies identified were a lack of employee understanding and incomplete training records.