We all aspire to high levels of food safety and, at the same time, recognize the need to manage resources and focus on areas of greatest risk;
This story is a reflection on the aspiration to high food safety standards and an experience that spoke to the very core of food safety culture.
It is inspired by time we recently spent in Singapore at one of the Shangri-La Hotels and our encounters during the stay with the hotel staff. To some, the name Shangri-La conjures an aura of perfection, but many may not know from where the name is derived … read on to find out.
The story begins on the second day of our stay at the Shangri-La when management held a reception for the guests. I typically avoid such events since they are usually a little too contrived " but something made us go to this one. I am glad that we did.
Upon arrival at the reception, we were greeted by a member of the hotel management " that was their role after all: to engage with the guests and make them feel welcome. So this encounter was expected in principle but totally unexpected in outcome.
A glass of wine was served, and we were greeted by the hotel’s Director of Sales, who immediately engaged us in conversation about what we do for a living and why we were in Singapore. After explaining that we were there to speak at a conference, we got into the nature of the conference and the type of work we do.
I explained to the Director the work that The Acheson Group engages in, and she became very intrigued. She was quickly engrossed and asked about the areas of the world in which we work and the type of clients. She was very interested in the whole notion of managing risks with regard to ensuring safe food, and immediately pointed out the importance of food safety to the Shangri-La hotel chain and its guests. Clearly we both recognized that making guests sick was both bad for the guests and bad for the brand.
She then went on to tell us that the hotel group puts resources into food safety and has an onsite QA person to oversee food safety in the hotel. She continued to explain how they use HACCP and recognize that supply chain risk control is one of their biggest risks. Now keep in mind that we are talking to the Director of Sales and not the head of food safety. So I was a bit surprised, and very impressed, by her depth of knowledge on food safety issues.
As we were having this conversation, the hotel’s General Manager joined the conversation. He was on his rounds of the various groups, and it was our turn for a brief encounter with the leader of the property. My new friend from sales immediately told the GM about our business and role in global food safety.
The GM responded right back with reiterating the importance of food safety, how they use HACCP across the whole hotel chain, and that they have a full-time QA person on staff just to keep track of food safety. He then said to the Director of Sales, “Organize a tour of the kitchens for these guys " show them what we do.” We all agreed that would be a wonderful opportunity, and we would love to do that if it could be arranged.
The little party broke up with agreement that further contact would be made to set up time for the tour. While all those involved seemed very genuine, I have to say the skeptical part of me wondered if it would actually happen. It did.
The tour was arranged; we were to meet one of the senior chefs at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning in the breakfast area. On the nose of 9:30., we were greeted by the Director of Sales who took us into the back area to find the Chef. The Chef was waiting for us right by the entrance armed with hair nets and disposable smocks to ensure we did not enter the kitchen without proper attire.
The Chef then proceeded to take us on a tour. He started out in the raw-meat preparation area of which there were three " one for meat, one for seafood and one for poultry. Each had separate color-coded knives and chopping boards and was adjacent to its own walk-in cooler stocked from one end and accessed at the other in the meat prep area to control people traffic flow in and out. The first impression of these prep areas was that of cleanliness and organizational efficiency, as well as that food safety was top of mind and very much in control.
Prepared meat was placed on trays, then stored in a two-door cooler " one door gave access from the meat prep side and one gave access from the kitchen side where the meat/poultry/fish would be cooked. All this to control risk and to ensure hygienic zoning between the high- and low-risk areas of the kitchen.
As the tour continued we were shown wall charts that laid out the CCPs and how to monitor them. We were shown numerous records of temperatures of coolers, freezers and the food to ensure it had reached adequate cook temperatures. We were told how the thermometers are calibrated on a regular basis and records kept. We were shown how each day’s food is color coded to ensure it is used by a certain date or discarded.
We next spoke of allergen control, and one thing I have observed during visits to Asia is that most Asian countries do not have a very high recognition of allergen risk. When asked about this, it was clear that the Shangri-La attempts to find out if guests have specific food allergies before they ever arrive at the hotel. If a guest lets the hotel know that they have a food allergy, the protocol is that one of the chefs will meet with the guest to discuss menu options and what to avoid. If necessary, the kitchen will prepare special meals to cater to a guest’s allergen needs. Through this approach, they are engaging with the customer; they are coming across as a caring organization; and they are controlling risks to both the guest and their brand.
As one would expect in a large hotel, there is a vast amount of food that arrives and has to be prepared and stored. We were shown the separate baking kitchen, which is in a separate room from the rest of the kitchen; the vegetable preparation area; the coolers; and the dry goods storage areas for incoming food. Again, the impression was one of cleanliness, close observance of food safety, the need to keep accurate records and the positive food safety culture.
Finally we spent time in the receiving area where all food is checked upon arrival for both temperature and quality. A designated team, which includes a chef, has that responsibility; all temperatures are recorded and food is rejected if it is out of acceptable temperature range. If a driver shows up that is unexpected or not the normal delivery person, the load will be turned away " some good thinking there around food defense as well as food safety.
The hotel’s supply-chain risk management is controlled at a central corporate level, where suppliers are approved through on-site audits and testing programs, and are the only allowed suppliers. An ongoing testing program also operates at the hotel level, whereby certain foods are tested upon arrival for a variety of agents. This testing program is augmented by the hotel’s own daily environmental monitoring program.
This was an impressive program, not only because of what we saw but because of what we felt from the team’s pride and enthusiasm for food safety. When it comes to food safety culture, the Shangri-La has it right.
The name Shangri-La comes from the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by English novelist James Hilton. The novel describes an idyllic settlement in the mountains of Tibet; but even those who have not read the book often equate Shangri-La with paradise. I don’t think there is such a thing as a food safety paradise, but I certainly have a profound respect for the food safety culture at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. This operation was not only state of the art, but was open and proud of what they were doing in food safety and willing to share it all with strangers from the United States " even ones they knew had knowledge about food safety and could call them out on it if we saw something out of line. That is what they wanted!
With all the debate of unannounced audits and many seeing them as unwanted, we were welcomed with open arms and nothing to hide. Maybe when you have your food safety culture “right” there isn’t anything to fear. When we asked how " or why " everyone from the Director of Sales and Head Chef all the way to the dishwasher seemed to achieve this positive food safety culture and were smiling and doing things right, the GM was given the credit " “He believes,” we were told. “He runs this hotel like it’s his own business and his own family.”
I think we all can learn from this as we look at how well the Director of Sales understood food safety, and whether we would be as comfortable inviting any food safety professionals into our facilities for a tour. Maybe management commitment is food safety’s Shangri-La? Maybe it’s training? I may not have the answer, but I believe I gained a peek into a bit of food safety culture “paradise” if only for a day; and these certainly were some of the key ingredients.
Dr. David Acheson is the Founder and CEO of The Acheson Group.
Dr. Acheson brings more than 30 years of medical and food safety research and experience to the firm. www.achesongroup.com
David graduated from the University of London Medical School and practiced internal medicine and infectious diseases in the United Kingdom until 1987 when he moved to the New England Medical Center and became an Associate Professor at Tufts University in Boston, studying the molecular pathogenesis of foodborne pathogens.
Prior to forming The Acheson Group, David served as the Chief Medical Officer at the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service and then in 2002 joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the Chief Medical Officer at the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). After serving as the Director of CFSAN’s Office of Food Defense, Communication and Emergency Response, David was appointed as the Assistant and then Associate Commissioner for Foods which provided him an agency-wide leadership role for all food and feed issues and the responsibility for the development of the 2007 Food Protection Plan, which served as the basis for many of the authorities granted to FDA by the Food Safety Modernization Act.
Since founding the food safety practice within Leavitt Partners in July 2009, David has used his regulatory insight, food safety knowledge, and expertise in crisis response to advise food industry clients around the globe on how to best manage risk in a global supply chain and evolving regulatory landscape.
David has published extensively and is internationally recognized both for his public health expertise in food safety and his research in infectious diseases. He is a sought after speaker and regular guest on national news programs. He serves on a variety of boards and food safety advisory groups of several major food manufacturers. Additionally, David is a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians (London) and the Infectious Disease Society of America, and a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and International Association for Food Protection (IAFP).
