Singapore has launched the world’s first food safety standards for the e-commerce industry.
A working group comprising representatives from Food Industry Asia (FIA), Singapore Food Agency (SFA), Singapore Manufacturing Federation, local food e-commerce and food delivery platforms, as well as supermarkets, has established the world’s first comprehensive set of food safety standards in e-commerce.
The guidelines focus on key stages and activities critical to food safety along the supply chain, namely: food business operators (FBO)/retailer onboarding process, at the point of e-commerce sale, last mile delivery, at the point of delivery and traceability, and product recall.
The guidelines focus on key stages critical to food safety along the supply chain.
By putting these standards into practice, the food e-commerce industry will gain clarity on the standardization data shown at points of sale and delivery, as well as ownership of handling potential issues including customer complaints, food safety issues, and recalls. The guidelines also encourage businesses in the e-commerce supply chain to exercise due diligence with proper implementation of food safety practices as part of their daily operations.
The implementation of these standards will direct business operators to improve transparency, traceability, and accountability when selling food online. This will instill greater confidence among consumers who will be better informed to make wise purchasing decisions.
The standards aim to improve transparency, traceability, and accountability for selling food online. (Photo: Labels & Labeling)
As Singapore is the first country to develop a comprehensive set of voluntary guidelines, the standards could be adopted across the world to guide best practices for the food e-commerce industry.