Root cause analysis: Putting it to work for you

Authors: KANE, DEB - J & J Snack Foods; BUTTS, JOHN - Foodsafetybydesign Llc; DYENSON, NATALIE - International Fresh Produce Association; JACKSON, TIM - Food And Drug Administration(FDA); KING, TIM - Quality Matters; Niemira, Brendan

Submitted to: Food Safety Magazine
Publication Type: Trade Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/10/2023
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: To develop truly effective solutions, the first step is to properly understand the problem one is trying to solve. Unfortunately, this is not always as straightforward as it might seem. In the context of food safety assurance in a production environment, a superficial analysis of a problem – a contamination issue, a compliance failure, or some other shortfall – may result in a work team mistakenly developing a solution that doesn’t address the real source of the trouble. This “fix that doesn’t fix it” represents lost time and effort, and worse, a problem that is still a problem. At the 2023 Food Safety Summit, a dynamic workshop brought together leading experts to introduce the concepts, methods, and tools of root cause analysis (RCA). In that hands-on session, participants learned how to dig into systems, how to sort the meaningful data from the distractions, how to identify the root causes of performance issues, and how to develop impactful, efficient solutions that prevent problems from recurring.

Technical Abstract: To develop truly effective solutions, the first step is to properly understand the problem one is trying to solve. Unfortunately, this is not always as straightforward as it might seem. In the context of food safety assurance in a production environment, a superficial analysis of a problem – a contamination issue, a compliance failure, or some other shortfall – may result in a work team mistakenly developing a solution that doesn’t address the real source of the trouble. This “fix that doesn’t fix it” represents lost time and effort, and worse, a problem that is still a problem. At the 2023 Food Safety Summit, a dynamic workshop brought together leading experts to introduce the concepts, methods, and tools of root cause analysis (RCA). In that hands-on session, participants learned how to dig into systems, how to sort the meaningful data from the distractions, how to identify the root causes of performance issues, and how to develop impactful, efficient solutions that prevent problems from recurring.