If you walk through any of our three warehouses today, or in six months, you’ll notice some differences in the food amounts and varieties we have on hand. What you won’t see are any differences in cleanliness and food safety.
In January and March, AIB International conducted separate audits of our three facilities—the Pasco Distribution Center, the Spokane Distribution Center and the Wolff Family Child Hunger Solution Center. As has been the case for more than a decade, we received scores of 930 or higher, out of a possible 1,000. Anything above 900 is considered exemplary.
Jaime Ordway oversees the work we do to keep our facilities up to par for safe food storage and handling. Food safety, overall safety and cleanliness all are under her purview. Jaime is more than pleased that once again Second Harvest’s facilities all were given more than clean bills of health this year. But, Jaime points out, “While receiving high scores from AIB is important, I’m equally proud of the fact that any day of the year, our team is always working to keep our buildings clean and our food supply safe. This speaks to the strong food safety culture we have here at Second Harvest. The people who donate food to Second Harvest trust that we are good stewards of what they give, and the people who receive food via our distribution partners need to be confident the food is safe and nutritious.”
And while perfect scores of 1,000 are the goal for Jaime and all of us here at Second Harvest, Jaime points out that minor observations made from an auditor are helpful and contribute to the continuous improvement of our food safety program. For example, one demerit was the result of the AIB auditor finding a small amount of dust on the lip on the underside of a metal table.
“Some people may see that as nitpicky, but knowing that the auditors are looking for even the slightest smudge keeps us on our toes,” Jaime said. “The slightest misstep or oversight by us could lead to less-than-wholesome food going out our doors, and we won’t stand for that.”
AIB International is the pre-eminent food safety organization. It is based in Manhattan, Kansas, is affiliated with Kansas State University and was founded in 1919. An AIB audit examines each facility in more than 70 categories, ranging from allergen and microbial control programs to air makeup and the condition of roofs. And of course, it looks at personal hygiene and what’s termed “food defense,” meaning the steps taken to ensure food isn’t exposed to anything that might make it unsafe.
