The goal of this book is to show how to build and manage a food safety department that is tasked with ensuring food safety within a food retail business.  The experiences of the author as the head of Food and Product Safety at Chick-fil-A will be used as the model. Specifically, the book will discuss the specific components of a food safety program, the tactics needed to establish these components (forming the majority of the chapters), how to measure the success of each component, and how to influence the organization to ensure resources to support the program. The book will also focus on how to choose and work with the appropriate partners, validate the value to the business, and initiate the new component throughout the organization, including how to sustain the component within the program.

Five features of this book that make it distinctive are:

• Most current “How to” book on leading a food safety department from the perspective of a respected national brand
• Provides the proper organization and methods to manage the work necessary to ensure food safety within the organization
• Provides the means to utilize risk-based decisions linked to business practices that accommodate a business analysis model
• Demonstrates step-by-step examples that can be used for continuous improvement in sustaining food safety responsibilities
• Provides examples on how to gain influence and obtain resources to support food safety responsibilities