In order to boost the level of assurance in its food safety program, McDonald’s Europe decided to outsource its supply chain auditing.  More specifically, McDonald’s Europe targeted certification bodies to audit its food suppliers. The company required an unbiased view from certification leaders capable of evolving into veritable partners for McDonald’s and its suppliers. As a result, McDonald’s Europe provided its suppliers with a short-list of pre-approved certification bodies from which they could select one to conduct required audits.  For a certification company to make it onto the list, it had to undergo a stringent six-month approval process. 

McDonald’s Europe approved and added Bureau Veritas to its European third party auditor short-list.  Bureau Veritas serves as an independent certification body that offers management system audits against certification standards.  Most importantly, helping suppliers evolve their food safety systems stands as McDonald’s Europe’s key requirement for its third party certification bodies.  Bureau Veritas meets this requirement by leading suppliers towards ISO 22000 certification, a newly created global standard for the food sector.  Bureau Veritas holds a particular expertise in the subject matter, as it headed the steering committee that created this certification.  Now, starting with the fish filet provider, different McDonald’s European suppliers have chosen Bureau Veritas as their external auditor.  For example, the Denmark-based dairy provider chose Bureau Veritas as its preferred certification body because Bureau Veritas is qualified to conduct both country-specific certifications and McDonald’s Europe’s audits.  McDonald’s Europe also selected Bureau Veritas for this reason, and moreover because of its robust reporting processes, which help establish food safety for the entire system. 

Working with an independent body such as Bureau Veritas enables McDonald’s Europe to assure the highest possible objectivity when it comes to food safety, for its direct needs as well as for its supply chain.  Also, by providing suppliers with a certification body capable of fulfilling multiple requirements, McDonald’s Europe allows them to reduce costs and time associated with food safety auditing and ultimately frees suppliers to focus more energy on their core business. Finally, by helping the food safety systems evolve, Bureau Veritas enhances confidence for everyone, making the suppliers, and ultimately the meals McDonald’s Europe provides its customers, safer.