Technologists inspector in masks at food factory.

By Lisa Robinson, Vice President, Ecolab Inc

Key takeaways:

  • SQF Edition 10 requires a documented, measurable food safety culture assessment, combining perception surveys with behavioral indicators like issue-reporting speed, corrective-action follow-through, and repeat findings.
  • Culture gets built or broken in small moments, like whether an employee flags a hazard because they trust it’ll actually get investigated. Leadership’s follow-through on raised concerns matters more than the policy itself.
  • Four concrete steps to start now: put food safety in leadership routines, close the loop when employees raise concerns, tie training to real roles and hazards, and treat culture measurement as ongoing.

A strong food safety culture is no longer optional. It’s an essential component of an effective food safety management system and, when embedded across an organization, a powerful driver of prevention, operational discipline, and business performance.

SQF Edition 10 raises the expectation

SQFI released Edition 10 in 2026, with audits anticipated to begin no earlier than January 2, 2027. The new edition places greater emphasis on measurable food safety culture, management commitment, and risk-based thinking. For food and beverage organizations, the opportunity is larger than preparing for the next audit. Edition 10 creates a framework for understanding how food safety is experienced across a facility and how that experience can be strengthened over time.

At its core, food safety culture is about prevention. The strongest organizations create environments where risks are recognized early, concerns are raised quickly and action is taken before an issue becomes an incident. Culture influences thousands of choices made long before a pathogen is detected, a consumer complaint is received, or a recall occurs.

Culture is built in everyday decisions

Food safety culture can feel like an abstract concept, but it comes to life through everyday behaviors. It is reflected in what leaders prioritize, what supervisors reinforce, and what employees do when no one is watching.

Consider an operator who notices water pooling near a potential harborage point during cleaning and sanitation. The technical concern matters, but so does the employee’s decision about what happens next. Do they believe raising the issue is part of their role? Are they confident their supervisor will listen? Have they seen concerns investigated and resolved? Or have they learned that production demands will take priority?

Those questions are answered through experience. When employees believe that speaking up is expected, respected, and followed by action, they are more likely to intervene early. That’s how a strong culture reduces risk: it turns individual awareness into collective prevention.

Leadership sets the conditions

Frontline employees bring food safety culture to life every day, but leaders are responsible for creating the conditions in which that culture can thrive. Employees pay close attention to what leaders discuss, measure, resource, and recognize. Those actions communicate priorities more powerfully than a policy statement alone.

Visible leadership matters. Leaders and supervisors should spend time where food safety is practiced, ask questions, listen without defensiveness, and demonstrate that pausing to address risk is the right decision. Just as important, they should close the loop. When an employee raises a concern, explain what was investigated, what action was taken, and why. If no change is required, explain that as well. Trust grows when employees can see that their voice leads to a thoughtful response.

From perception to evidence

Edition 10 moves organizations beyond leadership observations alone. Sites are expected to use a documented food safety culture assessment plan and measurable approaches to evaluate whether stated values are reflected in employees’ day-to-day experience.

Perception surveys can provide an important view of whether employees feel comfortable reporting concerns, understand how their work protects consumers, and believe leaders act consistently with food safety commitments. But surveys should not stand alone. Organizations can strengthen the assessment by considering behavioral and operational indicators such as timely issue reporting, corrective-action follow-through, training effectiveness, repeat findings, and leadership engagement.

The goal is not to reduce culture to a single score. It’s to bring multiple sources of evidence together, identify gaps, and establish practical actions for improvement. Every facility is different, so the measures should reflect its risks, workforce, and operating environment while remaining consistent enough to show progress over time.

Four actions organizations can take now

  1. Make food safety visible in leadership routines. Include food safety in operating reviews, floor walks, and business decisions. Ask not only whether procedures exist, but whether employees can consistently follow them under real operating conditions.
  2. Listen to the workforce and close the loop. Use surveys, conversations, and reporting channels to understand employees’ experience. Respond visibly so people know their input is valued and acted upon.
  3. Make training relevant to the work. Connect food safety expectations to specific roles, decisions, and hazards. Evaluate whether training changes understanding and behavior, not simply whether it was completed.
  4. Measure, learn, and improve. Select meaningful indicators, review them regularly, and use the findings to prioritize improvement. A culture assessment should be a continuing management process, not a one-time activity before an audit.

A value engine for the business

Food safety culture shouldn’t be viewed only through a compliance lens. When employees understand the purpose behind food safety requirements and feel empowered to act, the organization is better positioned to identify risk earlier, improve operational discipline, and respond more effectively when conditions change.

The connection to public health is direct. Every decision made inside a facility can ultimately affect the consumers and communities we serve. A mature food safety culture helps make protection of those consumers part of everyone’s job, from the production floor to the executive team.

Edition 10’s true test is proof over policy

SQF Edition 10 represents an important evolution in how the industry approaches food safety culture. Rather than asking organizations simply to state that a culture exists, it challenges them to understand how culture is experienced, measured, and improved.

The objective should not be limited to meeting new requirements. The real opportunity is to build workplaces where every employee understands their role in protecting public health, feels confident raising concerns, and sees leaders respond with consistency. When that happens, food safety culture becomes more than a program. It becomes a prevention system, a source of organizational resilience, and a catalyst for continuous improvement.

Recommended reading:

Lisa Robinson is vice president of global food safety and public health at Ecolab Inc., the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services that protect people and vital resources. She is responsible for the functional leadership of the company’s food safety and public health strategies.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR