Entecom Food Safety

04/09/2026

September’s focus in our 2026 Food Safety Calendar is Food Fraud & Defence Reassessment.

This month, the key question is not only: 𝐷𝑜 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛?
It’s also: 𝐷𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦?

Food fraud risk can increase when suppliers change, product availability becomes strained, commodity prices rise or geopolitical events disrupt supply chains. Food defence risks can also shift when staffing patterns, visitor controls or physical security arrangements change.

We recommend taking a market-aware approach:

• Review high-risk ingredients and suppliers
• Check whether supplier verification is still strong enough
• Consider current pricing and availability pressures
• Reassess site access, vulnerable areas and security controls
• Update your food fraud and food defence plans where needed

Because fraud and defence risks don’t stand still, and your system shouldn’t either.

02/09/2026

You're invited to our next complimentary food safety webinar!

📝 Topic: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 & 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞
🗓️ Date: Tuesday, September 15
⏱️ Time: 9:00 - 11:30

In this webinar, we cover:

*Traceability made simple - what do you actually need to trace, and how far?
*Beyond compliance - what auditors, consumers and customers really expect
*The recall race - can you trace it, account for it, and act fast enough when something goes wrong?

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/traceability-recall-webinar

01/09/2026

We’re in the last stretch of Q3 ~ which makes it the perfect time to ask: what training still needs to happen before the Q4 rush begins?

: Our Training Calendar includes workshops that help food safety professionals like you build the necessary knowledge to strengthen food safety systems and move into the final quarter with greater confidence.

See what's coming up in September and reserve your seat today: www.entecom.co.za/training/national-training-calendar/

31/08/2026

Women play a major role in food systems, often across the full chain from production and processing to preparation, distribution, quality and household food security.

A 2026 FAO report notes that 76% of working women in sub-Saharan Africa are employed in agrifood systems, the largest share globally. It also highlights that women’s contribution extends beyond formal employment and into unpaid and informal food system work. In South Africa, Stats SA has also highlighted persistent gender gaps in the labour market, with women concentrated in lower-skilled and semi-skilled roles and underrepresented in management.

As we close out Women’s Month, it’s worth asking:
How can food businesses better recognise, support and develop the women who keep our food systems moving?💬

Because safer, stronger food systems depend on people - and women are central to that work.

27/08/2026

HACCP is often spoken about in terms of the 7 principles, but the process is commonly applied through 12 structured stages.

The first five preparation stages matter more than many people realise... If the team is incomplete, the product description is weak, the intended use is unclear, or the flow diagram does not match the real process, the hazard analysis that follows may be flawed.

Remember: Strong HACCP starts before the first hazard is even listed.

25/08/2026

Your HACCP system lives across spreadsheets, emails, binders and handwritten records. The information is there somewhere, but audit preparation still feels stressful and trend analysis takes far too long.

Imagine walking into an audit feeling confident and prepared, with real-time visibility from one central dashboard.

You can spot trends earlier.
You can track actions more clearly.
You can manage HACCP, standards, sites and processes from one secure platform.

Entecom EO is a paperless food safety solution designed to make compliance easier, smarter and more manageable.

With EO, you can:
• Convert your current food safety system to digital
• Manage HACCP and other food safety requirements more easily
• View real-time data from a single dashboard
• Track trends and issues before they become bigger problems
• Support your team with tools that are simple enough to use consistently

Learn more and request your free demo today: www.entecom.co.za/compliance-software/

24/08/2026

𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐬 & 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞: 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐒𝐒𝐂 𝟐𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟕 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬

Our latest eBook is designed to help Food Safety Managers move beyond general awareness of food loss and waste (FLW) and build a clear, structured, and measurable programme that satisfies the requirements introduced by the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements 2024 and FSSC 22000 Version 7.

Access the eBook here: https://www.entecom.co.za/reducing-food-loss-waste-understanding-what-the-fssc-22000-version-7-now-expects/

21/08/2026

When food insecurity is the problem, the answer is usually: grow more. But a region that already loses a third of what it grows does not need more production. It needs better processing.

"The problem is not at the farm. It is everything that happens after: the processing gaps, the storage failures, the logistics breakdowns that consume food long before it reaches anyone."

Read more:

This clarion call – why investing in processing infrastructure is the key to beating hunger – comes from Tetra Pak Southern Africa MD Wael Khoury…. Southern Africa grows enough food, but loses 30% to post-harvest waste. We do not have a food production problem; we have...

19/08/2026

HACCP is one of the most valuable skills a food safety professional can build. As food manufacturers face increasing regulatory oversight, evolving customer expectations and growing demand for preventive food safety systems, HACCP knowledge supports stronger decision-making across operations.

Whether you’re new to HACCP, supervising food safety controls, or working in meat processing, Entecom offers practical HACCP training to help you understand the system and apply it with confidence.

Explore our HACCP training & sign up for the session that meets your needs.

*𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐏: www.entecom.co.za/courses/introduction-to-haccp/
*𝐇𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐏 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬 (𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝): www.entecom.co.za/courses/haccp-for-supervisors/
*𝐇𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐏 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬: www.entecom.co.za/courses/haccp-for-meat-processors/

17/08/2026

Wondering when to review your HACCP plan? 💬

For HACCP to stay effective, it must keep up with reality. And so, if your products, suppliers, people, processes or evidence change, your HACCP plan may need to change too.

This month, use a trigger-based review to ask:
What has changed since our last review, and what does that mean for risk?