MPCO examines the connection between food safety and sustainability efforts
Producing products that are safe for consumers has long been a basic requirement for food companies. In recent years, as conversations about climate change take center stage and awareness of the food industry’s impact on the environment increases, food companies have taken meaningful steps to reduce their operations’ impact on the planet. Food safety and sustainability initiatives go hand in hand, as both center on risk management and harm prevention. Both require a science-based approach and must be incorporated into all aspects of the supply chain to achieve successful results.
For poultry production, food safety begins on farms and is initially achieved through biosecurity measures. These strict procedures help ensure bird health, as well as human health, by reducing the number of pathogens that enter the supply chain. Without attention to food safety, it is impossible for a company to prevent waste of valuable resources. In fact, healthier chicken requires less electricity, water, feed, and other resources to grow to a market weight. A successful company will have both food safety and sustainability as core tenets of its corporate responsibility programs. These are the cornerstones of MPCO approach to poultry production.
Both food safety and sustainability factor into MPCO’ biosecurity program.