Food Safety Success Story

McDonald’s as we know is the world’s largest restaurant chain by revenue and has been serving more than 69 million customers every day. It has more than 38,000 locations in almost 100 countries and has managed to stay the leading quick-service restaurant chain in the United States for years. In the year 2020, McDonald’s was able to generate around 40.5 billion US dollars which are about 19 billion dollars more than Starbucks which we believe is its closest rival.

In this article, we shall talk about how seriously McDonald’s follows food safety protocols and this has led to its success at all times.

Following Food Safety Protocols Each Day

Whenever you are craving for good, fresh, and delicious food McDonald’s is the first name that comes to the majority of people’s minds. So what makes their food so special and everyone’s favorite? Well, it is mostly because of the outstanding food safety protocols that they follow. McDonald’s makes sure that the food we eat is of the best quality and reaches us in the safest possible way. They have a team that is specifically tasked with keeping a track of their everyday work.

They usually follow strict food safety standards and the latest protocols are embedded in everything they do. From food and product sourcing to menu development, packaging, distribution, and even running of our restaurants, everything is tracked carefully and the highest food safety standards are followed.

Now let us dive deep into the different strategies and food safety protocols being followed by Mcdonald’s.

1. Following an Efficient Strategy

McDonald’s is serving safe and healthy food each day by closely following a carefully designed food safety strategy. The team at McDonald’s works day and night to source and serve safe food and beverages thereby gaining the trust of the customers and achieving food safety excellence. Their strategy is based on three major principles;

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a. Customer Obsessed

The safety of the customers is non-negotiable and the first priority for McDonald’s and that is why they make sure to deliver fresh food.

b. Better Together

Their food safety systems are based on the latest science and technology which are then validated by external third parties.

c. Committed to Lead

McDonald’s leads the advancement of food safety from farm to customer and deploys different processes to anticipate risk.

Note that McDonald’s has strict standards and policies driving the implementation of their strategy. They also hold annual reviews where they identify different opportunities that can help them improve their current food safety science and industry best practices.

2. Always Listening to the Customers

McDonald’s value customer feedback and make sure their customers are heard and that is why they are operating multiple global social media accounts and a toll-free number that allows customers to share their experiences. McDonald’s carefully uses this feedback for identifying where the problem lies and how the quality and safety of their products and services can be improved. They look at the customer reports regularly to make sure all their programs are in place and address issues instantly.

3. Partnering with Experts

This is another strategy or way that has led McDonald’s to maintain its food safety standards. By partnering with experts, they work for the advancement of their food safety practices and standards. McDonald’s has a Global Food Safety Advisory Council that includes food safety and public health professionals and leaders from North America, Asia, and Europe. The council meets with the Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer each year and discusses the progress and even gives recommendations for advancement.

4. Meticulously Engaging with Supply Chain

McDonald’s commitment to food and safety goes far back to the production of its raw materials. They try to maintain strict standards through embedded supplier policies and procedures. All these procedures are reinforced through in-person training for the suppliers, farmers, and local government agencies.

Recently in 2021, McDonald’s collaborated with their suppliers and stakeholders to update their SQMS standards. This led to improved food safety culture assessments and environmental controls among all the other enhancements they made. Gain insights into environmental health in tourism as we discuss the findings of a Sustainable Tourism Course Review, underscoring the interconnectedness of public health and sustainable travel practices.

With that, they also conduct annual independent, third-party food safety audits for their suppliers to verify their compliance with their strict food safety and quality standards. The audit performance is generally reviewed by their Global Supply Chain Leadership team on a quarterly basis. 93% of their audited suppliers were able to completely meet their SQMS requirements. They were also able to identify areas that needed improvement with a supplier and corrective action plans were implemented to act on the issue. These actions were implemented efficiently to prevent any type of noncompliance from reoccurring.

5. Daily Checks Against Food Safety Standards

McDonald’s has set food safety and quality management procedures that are integrated into its operations and training program. These procedures are entirely based on their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles and the management makes sure that every restaurant is following these principles. Even daily checks against all these food safety standards are conducted in all restaurants. As this is the only way to make sure that everything is followed by the book. Third-party audits are also held that verify the facts that all these standards are implemented.

6. Embedding Technology

McDonald’s even though is considered to be the best fast-food restaurant and everyone’s favorite. Yet they don’t rest and always seek ways to integrate their food safety requirements into equipment designs. They use modern technology which helps them support automation. And this improves both food safety and quality and even facilitates the integration of data into their operations.

Final Thoughts:

From the above details, it is clear that McDonald’s has set the highest food safety standards and procedures and has a huge team behind making sure that all their restaurants are delivering high-quality and safe food every day. It is these efforts by McDonald’s that have allowed them to stay on top and will continue to stay this way if they keep their food safety standards the way they are.