Help with the Supplier Assessment section of the Vulnerability Assessment Helper.

Supplier name

There is no need to enter information about a supplier more than once.

1. If you are using the spreadsheet as a starting point for a complete supply chain map you should add supplier names for every raw material or ingredient.  You only need to add the name a second and subsequent time, there is no need to enter all the information more than once.
2. If you do not intend to create a complete supply chain map then just enter the name and details of each supplier once.

The summary sheet will tabulate the results for each supplier in a sortable and printable format.

Likelihood

This column is populated with the results of the raw material assessment.  If a raw material is very unlikely to be affected by adulteration or substitution you may wish to give the suppliers of that material a lower priority and assess  suppliers of more vulnerable ingredients first.

Supplier Risk Profile

The supplier risk profile is calculated from the information added to this table and from the user estimate of risk.  The results are presented on the left hand side of the table to make it easy to find later.   The result returned here is either the calculated risk profile or the manually entered risk profile if one has been entered.  The user estimate always overrides the automatic calculation.

When it comes to supplier risk, no matter what answer the Helper calculates, you should seek advice from other experts within the business and together you should carefully consider the vulnerabilities and strengths of each supplier, and make your own estimate of risk.

Broker or Trader

A broker or trader is a person or business who purchases large lots of materials on the open market and sells them to many purchasers.  Brokers and traders often do not handle the actual materials at all.  Prices of good purchased from brokers and traders typically experience larger and more frequent variations than those from other supplier types.

Transport and Storage

Answer ‘yes’ to these questions if the supplier is using transport and storage facilities that contain only their products and are not used to transport or store products that belong to other businesses.

Food Safety Management Systems

Does the supplier have a certified food safety program? And does the scope include all relevant ingredients?

1. Answer ‘yes’ if your business has a copy of the supplier’s food safety management system certificate and it is current and has been verified as valid.  The facility address on the certificate should match the site from which your materials are shipped.

Does the supplier’s food safety program include vulnerability assessments and fraud/tampering prevention?

1. Answer ‘yes’ if the food standard to which the supplier conforms includes requirements to assess vulnerabilities and to take action to prevent and mitigate risks associated with deliberate tampering, adulteration, substitution and dilution, whether economically motivated or otherwise.
2. Answer ‘no’ if the supplier is operating a food safety management system that does not include vulnerability assessments and fraud/tampering prevention.
3. Answer ‘not applicable’ if there is no food safety management system or if the scope of such does not include the material being purchased or if the system is not currently certified.

Have you reviewed the food safety program and/or the audit report and is the program robust and implemented properly with respect to the supplied ingredient/s?

1. Answer ‘yes’ if someone from your business has reviewed the supplier’s food safety management system or a recent audit report from the food safety management system certification body.  Also answer ‘yes’ if your business has conducted a supplier audit.  Choose ‘yes reviewed and robust’ if the program is satisfactory, seems to be implemented well and includes good materials traceability and measures to prevent and mitigate fraud and malicious tampering.  Choose ‘yes reviewed but not completely satisfactory’ if the program and its implementation require improvements or the program does not include robust traceability of materials and measures to prevent and mitigate fraud and malicious tampering.
2. Answer ‘no not reviewed’ if the supplier has a certified food safety management system but your business has not reviewed the system or a recent audit report.
3. Answer ‘not applicable no program’ if the supplier does not have a certified food safety program.

Other certifications

Answer ‘yes’ here if there are special criteria for this raw material or ingredient such as halal, organic, non-GMO, grass-fed, free-range and if the supplier has provided valid certifications for such.  Answer ‘no’ if the supplier is providing a material that has a special criteria but no certification for such.  Answer ‘not applicable’ if this material does not have any special criteria.

Likelihood Rating – Raw Material or Ingredient (Calculated)

A result is calculated by the Vulnerability Assessment Helper using the answers that you provide in the raw materials and ingredients table. The result returned is an indicator of how likely it is that the raw material or ingredient will be affected by economically motivated adulteration, substitution or dilution.

This calculated result does not consider the characteristics of the supplier(s) of this raw material or ingredient.  After you have completed the supplier assessment for all the suppliers of this material you can add your own estimate of likelihood based on the Vulnerability Assessment Helper’s calculated result plus the results of the supplier assessment(s).   If every supplier of that material is low risk you may wish to downgrade the likelihood rating for the material.

Likelihood Rating – Raw Material or Ingredient (User Rating)

No matter what likelihood the Helper calculates, you should seek advice from other experts within the business and together you should carefully consider the information and make your own estimate of vulnerability for each material.  Add your estimate to the ‘User rating’ column.  The results table on the Results (printable) page is populated with the user rating of likelihood if one has been entered.

Direct Sourcing

Answer ‘yes’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Helper if this raw material or ingredient is purchased by your company directly from the manufacturer or grower.  Answer ‘no’ if it is purchased from a distributor or importer, wholesaler or retailer.

Form of Ingredient

Answer ‘yes’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Helper if this raw material or ingredient is purchased by your company in individual pieces which can be visually identified as such.  Examples include chickpeas, whole peppers, chicken wings, bananas, frozen berries, rolled oats, coffee beans, whole cloves.  If this ingredient is purchased as a powder, liquid, mince, paste, pre-mix, slurry or blend then answer ‘no’.

Purchasing Specification

Answer ‘yes’ in the Vulnerability Assessment Helper if there is a formal specification for the raw material or ingredient.  This should be separate from any supplier invoice, certificate of analysis or purchasing contract.  Although it is common to base a purchasing specification on information provided by a supplier, a proper purchasing specification should be created ‘in-house’ and should work as a stand-alone description of the raw material or ingredient that could be used when purchasing it from any source.  Click here to read more about purchasing specifications.

Inspection and testing

Inspection means: does a designated person formally receive the shipment of this raw material or ingredient into your facility by

1. checking that it is in good condition, undamaged and complete,
2. checking that it is accompanied by proper paperwork, such as a certificate of analysis and
3. does that person record the details of the incoming material including the batch number and
4. is there a documented process for what to do if the shipment does not meet expectations?

Testing means: does a designated person take a sample of the shipment when it is received and perform physical, chemical and/or sensory tests to check that it meets criteria defined in the raw material specification?  If you do not have a raw material specification answer ‘no’ for testing.

Trading properties

Raw materials traded on specific properties are those for which the price paid for this raw material is based upon the content of water, dairy fat, nitrogen (protein), cocoa solids or some other key component. Answer ‘yes’ here if

• the price your business pays is dependent on a specific property of this raw material or
• if any of your suppliers’ suppliers price this material according to a specific property, even if your business pays a flat rate.

If you are unsure, speak to your purchasing officer.

Special criteria

Answer ‘yes’ here if there are special criteria for this raw material or ingredient such as halal, organic,non-GMO, grass-fed, free-range or if there is a specific country of origin or grade of produce required for this material.

Micro Ingredient

Answer ‘yes’ here if this ingredient is used in very small quantities and/or is present in the finished product at very small quantities.  If the limit of 1% is not useful for your product type, then choose more appropriate limit and amend the column heading.

The answer you provide for “Micro Ingredient” does not affect the calculated likelihood of adulteration or substitution for an individual ingredient or raw material; any ingredient can be vulnerable, no matter how small the amount used in a food product.  The answer to the Micro Ingredient question is used when combining the results from all ingredients to calculate the overall vulnerability of the finished product.

Compositional Standards

Examples of products with compositional standards in some jurisdictions: ice cream (requirements for milk fat content) and chocolate (requirements for cocoa butter content).

Country of Origin

Country of origin is included in the Vulnerability Assessment Helper because problems with origin can affect regulatory compliance and consumer trust as well as damaging your brand.  Examples of country of origin claims:  Made in USA, Italian Tomatoes, Brewed in Germany.

Regional provenance

Examples of regional and/or provenance claims: Made from Tasmanian apples, Pure spring water bottled in the Rocky Mountains, Topped with Sicilian olives.

Allergen-related claims

Examples: Nut Free, Low in lactose, Contains no soy, No sulphates, Made from corn not wheat, Dairy-free.

Different jurisdictions have different requirements for allergen claims and allergen warnings as well as different declared allergen lists. Include anything that is relevant to your product group and legal jurisdictions.  Allergen claims that should be included here are claims that the product is friendly to allergenic or intolerant consumers such as being low-in or free-from various allergens.  Do not include warnings such as May contain traces of nuts or manufactured in a facility that also processes soy; these warnings reduce the risk to allergenic consumers, whereas the intention is to capture claims that increase the risk.  Visit the Allergen Bureau for more information about allergens.

Special status

The special status question should capture any markeing or labelling claim about your product or product group that has not been captured in the earlier questions.  Answer ‘yes’ here if any products in the group are marketed with any special status such as being kosher, halal, non-GMO, organic, sustainably fished, grass-fed or free-range.  The type of claim, the definition and the certifications of such are not important to this process, but any problems in your supply chain that affect the accuracy of these claims can impact on regulatory compliance and consumer trust as well as damaging your brand.

The Vulnerability Assessment Helper includes an allergen warning because any product that claims to be safe for people with food allergies is particularly vulnerable if an incident of adulteration or substitution occurs in its raw materials or ingredients.  An allergenic adulterant, such as a peanut flour can have deadly consequences for consumers with allergies.  Read more about peanut contamination of cumin here.

The Vulnerability Assessment Helper can help you to understand out how severely a product or product group would be affected by economically motivated adulteration, substitution or dilution of the raw materials or ingredients used to make your product.  No matter what answer the Helper calculates, you, with advice from other experts within the business should carefully consider the impact/s, including those listed below, and make your own choice.  Add your own choice to the column labelled ‘User rating’.  The results table and matrix on the Results (printable) page is calculated using the ‘User rating’; if one has been entered it will override the calculated result.

Possible impacts:

Food safety risks: Any adulteration, substitution or dilution of an ingredient should be treated as a serious food safety issue as a first priority.   There can be direct food safety risks to consumers from contaminated adulterants, allergenic adulterants or unhygienic handling of the ingredient during any adulteration or substitution.  There can also be an indirect food safety risk to consumers from adulterants that cause chronic disease, or are carcinogenic or are lacking in nutrients that would be present in an unadulterated product.

Loss of consumer trust: Any problem with your product or product group can be catastrophic for your brand.

Indirect risks: Adulteration, substitution or dilution of an ingredient indicates a flaw in the traceability of your product, which means non-compliance with the requirements of food safety standards and regulations.

There are financial risks associated with any incidence of food fraud.  If your company has a Risk Officer or an Enterprise Risk Management Plan the relevant persons should be informed of the results of your vulnerability assessment and consulted about how to prioritise the prevention and mitigation planning that comes after each vulnerability assessment.