SQF 2019: Embracing Difficult Food Safety Conversations

Promoting and Advancing Petroleum Marketing, Retail Grocery, and Convenience Stores in West Virginia

Driving Local Business and Community Growth Across West Virginia

Our Purpose and Commitment

OMEGA is a West Virginia-based organization dedicated to supporting and advancing the business interests of the state’s petroleum marketing, retail grocery, and convenience store industries.

As a network of over 225 locally owned businesses, OMEGA actively promotes cooperation, advocates for favorable legislation, and provides education and resources to its members. With over 50,000 employees, OMEGA members significantly contribute to the state’s economy, generating more than 10% of all state taxes and supporting local communities through scholarships, charitable donations, and civic involvement.

OMEGA is committed to fostering industry growth while serving West Virginians with essential services like fuel, food, and convenience.

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Your Essential Connection in West Virginia

OMEGA offers three types of membership: Convenience Store Members, Petroleum Marketer Members, and Grocer Members, all of which play a vital role in providing fuel, food, and essentials across West Virginia. As a liaison with state and national agencies, OMEGA works closely with organizations like NACS, PMAA, FMI, and the N.G.A. to advocate on behalf of its members.

We keep members informed through newsletters, legislative updates, an online resource hub, and educational seminars. Additional member benefits include access to the Encova Workers’ Compensation Discount Program and participation in our annual Trade Expo and fundraising efforts for children’s charities. OMEGA is here to support, advocate, and enhance the success of our industry members.

The SQF Conference provides a variety of educational opportunities for SQF stakeholders in the auditing, manufacturing, retail and foodservice sectors. The global audience helps FMI and SQFI assess emerging challenges facing our food supply and workforce.

By: Adam Friedlander, MS, Manager, Food Safety and Technical Services, FMI <img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/49090157297_ef25d1e9d2_k.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=d90f526e_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="LeAnn Chuboff, SQFI" title="LeAnn Chuboff, SQFI" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" />Amidst <a href="https://www.sqfi.com/2019-conference/planning-committee/">old friends and new colleagues</a>, SQFI, a division of FMI, proudly hosted over 850 food safety professionals, including over 40 retailers, at the 2019 SQF Conference in San Antonio, Texas. This conference provides a variety of educational opportunities for SQF stakeholders in the auditing, manufacturing, retail and foodservice sectors. The global audience helps FMI and SQFI assess emerging challenges facing our food supply and workforce. While it can be easy to shy away from difficult conversations, FMI is proud to bring stakeholders together to help solve some of our industry’s greatest challenges.  While attendees learned about various food safety topics, I found the following three discussions to be especially important as the food industry moves into a new decade.  <ol> <li>Auditor Talent Pool: During the Stakeholder Feedback session, attendees determined there are not enough young professionals entering the auditing profession. While opportunities exist to enter the industry, there are significant gaps in recruiting, training and retaining young, motivated food safety professionals to conduct third-party or internal audits. The FMI Foundation helps address this need by providing the annual <a href="https://www.fmi.org/newsroom/latest-news/view/2019/11/06/fmi-foundation-advances-smarter-era-of-food-safety-with-academic-scholarships">Food Safety Auditing Scholarship and Education Travel Grant</a> to 15 academic scholars. In addition to the scholarship and mentor activities at the conference, SQFI has created a <a href="https://www.sqfi.com/what-is-the-sqf-program/hire-a-scholar/">Hire A Scholar</a> website to help certification bodies, auditing firms, retailers and manufacturers recruit previous scholarship recipients.     </li> <li>Ethical Sourcing and Social Responsibility: Consumers continue to demand that suppliers and retailers improve environmental, social and governance (<a href="http://sustainability.kroger.com/Kroger-2019-ESG-Report.pdf">ESG</a>) standards. At this year’s conference, government and non-profit experts discussed the threat of food fraud and <a href="https://themekongclub.org/people/matt-friedman/">forced labor</a> within our current food system. To better quantify the food industry’s compliance with social and environmental standards, SQFI has released the <a href="https://www.sqfi.com/what-is-the-sqf-program/ethical-sourcing/">Ethical Sourcing Certification Standard</a> and <a href="https://www.sqfi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/F2SR-Code-and-Appendix-1.pdf">Fundamental Factors for Social Responsibility</a> (F2SR). While consumers and industry stakeholders continue developing methods to measure social and environmental impact, FMI is proud to work with consumers, industry, academia and government to continuously improve our system to identify and eliminate forced labor within supply chains.    </li> <li>Improving the Safety of Romaine Lettuce: For as long as E. coli O157:H7 has been a known pathogen in food, leafy greens have been at risk of contamination. This year, FMI’s Chief Food and Product Safety Officer, Dr. Hilary Thesmar, moderated a panel on lessons learned from the most recent romaine lettuce outbreaks, consumer advisories and product withdrawals. Panel participants included representatives from the retail, auditing and produce industry. To help FMI and SQFI stakeholders improve the safety of leafy greens and protect consumers throughout the entire supply chain, FMI published the <a href="https://www.fmi.org/docs/default-source/food-safety/leafy-greens-guide19_aug19.pdf">FMI Recommended Food Safety Practices for Leafy Greens</a>. </li> </ol> Overall, the FMI Food Safety and SQFI teams are grateful to have learned from passionate food safety leaders. While identifying significant challenges in our industry is important, it is even more important to act and solve these challenges – together.   The <a href="https://www.sqfi.com/2019-conference/program/">2020 SQF Conference </a>will be held October 27-29 in Orlando, FL at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. Please look for more information on registration and program details later in 2020.

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Supporting West Virginia Communities

OMEGA members play a vital role in West Virginia, supporting communities through substantial tax contributions and a wide-reaching presence across the state. With over 55% of the population living in border counties, our members are dedicated to serving both local and regional needs. Beyond business, we’re proud to give back, having contributed over $3.1 million to children’s charities since 2003, reflecting our commitment to making a positive difference.