Tools for the performance assessment and improvement of food safety management systems

Food business operators are challenged to combine requirements from different stakeholders (e.g. government, retailers) into a company specific Food Safety Management System (FSMS). Tools to diagnose the performance of an implemented FSMS (diagnostic tools), tools to help a selection process (selection tools), and tools to improve the FSMS performance (improvement tools) are presented. These tools have been validated in European food processing industries (meat and dairy chain). They are organised towards an on-line freely available FSMS support application which can be used for the internal auditing process. These tools should empower food business operators to improve the performance of FSMS and to produce safer food products.