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The food safety landscape is changing rapidly. Regulators must oversee growing numbers of food businesses operating through delivery platforms, ghost kitchens, shared production facilities and increasingly complex supply chains, often with finite resources.
The question is no longer whether useful food safety information exists outside government, but how we can use it responsibly to strengthen public health protection. This is the central theme of our forthcoming white paper.
Food safety regulators around the world face a common challenge: how do we maintain high standards of public health protection whilst supporting innovation, economic growth and an expanding food sector? The answer is unlikely to be found through more inspections alone.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission recognised this challenge through CXG 93-2021 which provides a framework for competent authorities to assess and utilise credible voluntary third-party assurance (vTPA) programmes within national food control systems. Importantly, this guidance does not replace official controls or regulatory responsibility. Instead, it provides a mechanism for regulators to make better use of trusted external evidence.
At Safe to Trade, we believe the greatest opportunity lies not in certification itself, but in the intelligence generated through structured conformity data.
It is about creating smarter, more intelligence-led regulatory systems that combine official controls with reliable, evidence-based insights.
Safe to Trade was designed specifically for hospitality, catering and retail food businesses, focusing on legal food safety compliance rather than buyer specifications or product quality requirements. Through structured assessments, transparent certification status and AI-enabled analytics via AVA, the programme can help transform food safety data into actionable public health intelligence.
Imagine a future where regulators can identify recurring cross-contamination failures before they contribute to outbreaks, where resources are directed based on real-time risk intelligence, and where responsible businesses are recognised through more proportionate oversight.
That future is achievable today.
The challenge for policymakers, regulators and industry leaders is not whether these approaches should be considered, but how quickly we can implement them in a way that is transparent, proportionate and evidence based.
Food safety regulation should remain robust, independent and focused on protecting consumers. However, it can also become more preventive, efficient and intelligent.
That is the opportunity presented by Safe to Trade.
Submit your details to be the first to receive a copy of Dr Mark Flanagan’s white paper exploring How Voluntary Third-Party Assurance (vTPA) Can Strengthen National Food Systems.
Voluntary third-party assurance involves independent assessment and certification programmes that generate information about a food business’s controls, compliance and performance.
Credible vTPA information can provide additional evidence and insight to support risk profiling, regulatory prioritisation and more intelligence-led use of food control resources.
No. vTPA is intended to complement official controls, not replace regulatory inspections or the responsibilities of competent authorities.
When appropriately structured and analysed, assurance data can help identify emerging risks, detect recurring weaknesses, support outbreak investigations and direct resources towards higher-risk operators.
Digital systems and analytical tools can help transform structured assurance information into practical intelligence, making it easier to identify patterns, recurring risks and potential compliance issues.
Safe to Trade provides independent assurance for hospitality, catering and retail food businesses. Its structured assessments, transparent certification status and AVA analytics can help turn conformity data into actionable food safety intelligence.
The white paper explores how voluntary third-party assurance, conformity data and collaboration between regulators, assurance programmes and food businesses could contribute to stronger national food control systems.
Dr Mark Flanagan FCIEH CEnvH FIFST is the Founder and CEO of Shield Safety Group and Safe to Trade. A Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Institute of Food Science and Technology, Mark has built a career spanning hospitality operations, environmental health regulation, assurance, and business leadership.
Having worked both as a hospitality operator and as a regulator, Mark brings a unique perspective to compliance and public protection. He understands the realities of running hospitality businesses while also appreciating the challenges faced by regulators responsible for protecting consumers. These experiences led him to create Safe to Trade, a global assurance programme designed to build trust between businesses, regulators, certification bodies, and consumers.
Mark is a recognised international speaker on food safety, regulatory innovation, third-party assurance, and artificial intelligence, and is passionate about using technology and data to improve standards and public health outcomes worldwide.
