PCQI, The Heroes of Your Food Safety Plan
A PCQI or (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual) is your best friend when it comes to being compliant with FSMA Regulations. When the Food Safety Modernization Act was signed into law in 2011, the goal was to make the food supply in the USA safer by shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to contaminations to preventing them in the first place. Since September 16, 2016, the majority of food processors were required to have a Food Safety Plan that is prepared by a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI). Today, almost all facilities are required to have someone in this role.
This might have you wondering: what does this almighty PCQI do exactly? Under the Preventive Controls for Human Food rule, the four basic responsibilities of the PCQI are the preparation of a food safety plan, validation of preventive controls, records review, and reanalysis of the food safety plan. Their tasks operate in a cyclical pattern to evaluate the efficacy of the current food safety plan and are then repeated to build the best food safety plan for the facility. Also, the plan must be revised and updated at least once every three years. The PCQI also handles other activities that are relevant to food safety in the facility. This includes sharing food safety plans with other employees through meetings, presentations, and one-on-one sessions. Do keep in mind that the PCQI isn’t the only person responsible for a company’s food safety.
Now that you know what they do, you might want to know if you need to have a PCQI around. The answer to this is usually yes! The FSMA Preventive Controls Rules necessitate the guidance of a PCQI for almost all facilities. There are a few exemptions to this rule, most of which are foreign suppliers for importers, in which case they would have to go through the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs — but that’s an entire blog post of its own.
Your next question may be: how does one qualify to be a PCQI? There are a few different ways to become qualified as a PCQI, the most common of which is the completion of a training course offered by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) and taught by a “Preventive Controls Lead Instructor”. This is an instructor that has applied to the FSPCA, been accepted, and has completed the Lead Instructor training course. They are able to register the class with the AFDO (Association of Food and Drug Officials) and students will receive an AFDO certificate if they successfully complete the class. However, there are other options as well. The reliability of a PCQI and their qualifications can be determined based on the FDA’s assessment of their facility’s food safety plan. If the evaluation of the plan results in a less than satisfactory report, additional training may be needed by the PCQI. A full list of qualifying curriculum, certificates, and training can be found on the FDA’s website.
All of this- the regulations, responsibilities, and specialized training- boil down to one thing: a big pot of change in government regulation of the food supply industry focused on prevention over containment. Long gone are the days where food safety was a voluntary practice and recalls of contaminated food were the only tools being regularly used. The PCQI is just one of the many the steps that the FSMA have taken to keep consumers safe.
Speaking of ways to keep consumers safe (and keep the FDA happy) QWerks helps your business meet all these regulations. QWerks’ goal is to make it easier for quality teams to exceed regulations and provide PCQIs with the tools they need to continuously improve food safety and quality. Find out how QWerks can help your business today.
