Tariffs, Testing, & Trust: How Economic Pressures Are Changing Food Safety

05/02/25 • 32 min

Inflation and economic policies, like tariffs, can force manufacturers to adjust their sourcing strategies that may lead to increased food safety risks.

Dr. Ben Miller, Executive Vice President of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at The Acheson Group, discusses how food companies can re-evaluate their food safety programs - from supplier quality to workforce management - amidst rising costs and regulatory shifts.

In this episode we review:

• Where economic disruptions can weaken food safety
• What control points should be reviewed and updated
• How to strengthen supplier evaluation, testing, and verification programs
• The role of customers in setting food safety expectations

Related Resource:

A Guide to Supplier Quality Management: Benefits, Processes, and Measurement

FSMA Friday is a collaboration with SafetyChain and The Acheson Group.
Want to join the conversation? Register for the next live FSMA Friday webinar for your chance to ask the food safety experts at TAG your questions directly.

Inflation and economic policies, like tariffs, can force manufacturers to adjust their sourcing strategies that may lead to increased food safety risks.

In this episode we review:

Related Resource:

A Guide to Supplier Quality Management: Benefits, Processes, and Measurement

Previous Episode

Beyond Trust: How to Hold Suppliers Accountable for Compliance

Food & beverage manufacturers are under increasing pressure to obtain needed supplier data to meet regulatory, certification, and customer requirements. With many long-established supplier relationships, how should manufacturers be collaborating with suppliers to help reduce food safety risk, and establish proof of end-to-end food safety?

Cameron Prince, Executive VP of Regulatory Affairs at The Acheson Group, joins us to share tips to help you not only receive timely and accurate compliance data from across your supply chain, but also proactively monitor supplier food safety risks.

In this episode we cover:

Recent FDA guidance on supplier control management
How to improve supplier data access for compliance requirements
Best practices for supplier training and ongoing monitoring
Steps to ensure FSQA has a voice in supplier selection

FSMA Friday Unpacked - Tariffs, Testing, & Trust: How Economic Pressures Are Changing Food Safety

Transcript

00:12 Jim Albright: Welcome, everyone, to the show. It is a splendid day for Fizzle Friday, don't you think? My name is Jim Albright, and today we are going to check in on how your food and beverage peers are paddling through the choppy economic waters we've all been sloshing around in, and how the recent regulatory shifts are putting supplier programs and risk mitigation strategies under the microscope. Now, if you're new to the show, Fizzle Friday's mission is to bring food safety enthusiast