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The bedrock of all our socially responsible supply efforts is our commitment to ensuring that all the foods and beverages we serve our customers are safe. We do business only with suppliers that share this commitment and work with them to continuously monitor, test, and track our ingredients. We have stringent standards and checks in place in critical areas throughout the food supply chain—from "fork to farm."
Our standards meet or exceed government requirements. In fact, they have been used by government agencies as models for their own regulations. |
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 OSI technician tests beef produced for our restaurants |
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| We actively support strong, science-based food safety systems by sharing our experience and advocating additional measures we believe will help protect consumers and their confidence in the safety of local food supplies. We view this as part of good corporate citizenship. We know it is also essential to the continuing growth and profitability of our business. |
Purchasing High-Quality Safe Food Products
Companies that supply food products to the McDonald's System must have a number of food safety programs in place. They include, among others, programs for sanitation, pest control, and microbiological control, and a hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) plan and program. HACCP is widely recognized, worldwide, as an effective method of preventing food-borne illnesses.
Additional requirements must be met for each food product we want to purchase. These include specific attributes related to food safety—for example, acceptable temperature ranges for materials received and products delivered to distribution centers. The supplier must demonstrate that the product has been evaluated to ensure that potential hazards have been systematically identified and addressed through effective critical control point management.
We have established special safeguards to ensure the continuing safety of our beef supplies. An International Scientific Advisory Council of independent experts keeps us abreast of the latest research. We have also established special standards and guidance to protect our poultry supply chain from avian influenza. |
Ensuring Food Safety at the Restaurant Level
Food safety training begins the first day an employee arrives for work, with an orientation to our standards. It is reinforced and expanded in the curricula and materials that prepare restaurant employees for more advanced positions. Shift managers must successfully complete an entire course in food safety before being certified as capable of managing a shift alone.
Our Operations and Training manual for restaurant managers includes a whole chapter on food safety, with requirements and guidance that cover all the critical control points at the restaurant level—from supply and delivery through storage, preparation, and holding.
Food safety procedures are monitored by staff operations consultants, who regularly visit our restaurants to advise managers on operations. The consultants also conduct periodic restaurant operations reviews, which include assessments of food safety procedures. Managers are expected to correct any irregularities identified.
Onsite assessments are also used to identify needs for expert assistance and for further development of our training programs. They are an important factor in evaluating company-operated restaurant managers and in deciding whether owner/operators are qualified for additional restaurants and for continuation within the System.
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