Crisis Management, Food Defense & Food Fraud Training Three Programs, One Course
Prepare for, prevent, and respond to the risks that don't show up in a HACCP plan: unexpected crises, intentional contamination, and fraud in your supply chain. Build the plans GFSI schemes and FDA expect, with practical tools, case studies, and risk assessments.
Crisis Management, Food Defense & Food Fraud
This live, instructor-led virtual course gives food industry professionals the knowledge and tools to handle three connected risk programs. You'll learn how to build a crisis management program, put food defense strategies in place against intentional adulteration, and design food fraud prevention measures that protect product integrity and your brand.
Through practical examples, case studies, and risk assessment tools, you'll leave ready to strengthen your site's resilience and meet regulatory and GFSI requirements. Participants who complete the course receive a Certificate of Attendance. The next public session hasn't been scheduled yet, so ask us for the date or book a private session for your team.
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Three Programs That Protect Your Products
Food safety programs such as HACCP deal mostly with hazards that get into food by accident. Food defense and food fraud deal with hazards that someone introduces on purpose, and crisis management is how you respond when any of them goes wrong.
What separates the three is motive. Food defense protects against people who want to cause harm. Food fraud protects against people who want to make money, for example by diluting or substituting an ingredient. A crisis program makes sure your team can act fast and communicate clearly, whatever the cause.
Crisis Management
A plan, a trained team, and clear communication so you can respond quickly to recalls, contamination events, disasters, and other emergencies, and keep the business running.
Food Defense
Assess where someone could intentionally contaminate your product to cause harm, and put mitigation strategies in place to stop it.
Food Fraud
Find where ingredients, packaging, or claims are vulnerable to substitution, dilution, or misrepresentation for economic gain, and build controls to detect and prevent it.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
Build a Crisis Management Plan
Develop and implement a crisis management plan that prepares teams to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies.
Mitigate Food Defense Vulnerabilities
Identify potential food defense vulnerabilities and apply mitigation strategies to protect against intentional adulteration.
Prevent Food Fraud
Recognize food fraud risks across the supply chain and build systems to detect, prevent, and control fraudulent activities.
Assess Risks and Vulnerabilities
Conduct risk assessments and vulnerability analyses using practical tools and industry best practices.
Strengthen Resilience
Strengthen organizational resilience through incident simulations, communication planning, and team coordination.
Integrate Your Programs
Integrate crisis management, food defense, and food fraud programs into a holistic food safety culture.
What FDA and GFSI Schemes Expect
FDA
- Food defense: the Intentional Adulteration Rule (21 CFR Part 121) requires most FDA-registered facilities to have a written food defense plan with a vulnerability assessment and mitigation strategies.
- Food fraud: under the Preventive Controls for Human Food rule, your hazard analysis must consider hazards that may be intentionally introduced for economic gain (21 CFR 117.130(b)(2)(iii)).
- Recalls: food with a hazard requiring a preventive control needs a written recall plan (21 CFR 117.139).
GFSI-benchmarked schemes
- Food fraud: GFSI requires a documented food fraud vulnerability assessment and a mitigation plan.
- Food defense: sites need a threat assessment and controls to prevent intentional contamination.
- Crisis management: SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000 all require incident, recall, and emergency procedures that are kept up to date and tested.
Need to go deeper on an FDA food defense plan? See our Food Defense Coordinator Training.
Harmeet Kaur
Harmeet brings nearly two decades of food safety consulting and training experience to every class. She has worked with companies ranging from small startups to multinational corporations, helping them navigate regulatory compliance, quality systems, and audit readiness.
As a certified lead instructor and approved training partner, Harmeet combines deep technical knowledge with practical, real-world insight. She takes a collaborative approach, working closely with clients to develop customized solutions — from HACCP plans and FDA Food Safety Plans to internal audits and staff training.
- FSPCA Lead Instructor
- BRCGS Approved Training Partner
- SQFI Certified Trainer & Consultant
- HACCP Specialist
Questions Before You Enroll?
What does this course cover?
Three connected programs: crisis management, food defense, and food fraud prevention. You'll learn how to build a crisis management plan, assess food defense vulnerabilities and apply mitigation strategies, run a food fraud vulnerability assessment, and bring all three together into your food safety management system.
What's the difference between food safety, food defense, and food fraud?
The difference is intent. Food safety deals mainly with hazards that get into food unintentionally. Food defense protects against intentional contamination meant to cause harm. Food fraud is intentional too, but the motive is economic gain, such as diluting, substituting, or mislabeling a product.
What is food fraud?
GFSI describes food fraud as the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, feed, packaging, labeling, or product information, or false or misleading statements about a product, for economic gain that could affect consumer health. Common examples include watering down high-value ingredients, substituting a cheaper species, and misrepresenting origin or organic status.
What is a food fraud vulnerability assessment?
It's a documented, risk-based review of your ingredients, packaging, and finished products to find where they're vulnerable to fraud, often called VACCP (vulnerability assessment and critical control points). GFSI-benchmarked schemes require one, along with a mitigation plan for the vulnerabilities you identify.
Does FDA regulate food fraud?
Yes, through the Preventive Controls for Human Food rule. When you conduct your hazard analysis, you must consider hazards that may be intentionally introduced for purposes of economic gain (21 CFR 117.130(b)(2)(iii)). This is often called economically motivated adulteration. If one of those hazards needs a preventive control, it goes into your food safety plan.
Does FDA require a food defense plan?
For most FDA-registered food facilities, yes. The Intentional Adulteration Rule (21 CFR Part 121) requires a written food defense plan with a vulnerability assessment, mitigation strategies, and monitoring, corrective action, and verification procedures. Very small businesses and certain activities are exempt. Our Food Defense Coordinator Training goes deeper on building that plan.
What are TACCP and VACCP?
They're two risk assessment approaches. TACCP (threat assessment critical control points) is used for food defense, to find where someone could deliberately attack your product. VACCP (vulnerability assessment critical control points) is used for food fraud, to find where your supply chain is open to economically motivated adulteration. Both borrow the structured thinking of HACCP.
What should a crisis management plan include?
A crisis management plan typically names a crisis team with defined roles, keeps current contact lists for staff, suppliers, customers, and regulators, sets out how to make decisions and communicate internally and externally, and links to your recall and withdrawal procedures and business continuity plans. It should be tested through mock recalls or simulations so the team knows what to do before a real event.
Does FDA require a recall plan?
Yes, for food with a hazard requiring a preventive control. Under 21 CFR 117.139, you must have a written recall plan that describes how you will notify consignees, notify the public when needed, check that the recall is working, and dispose of recalled product appropriately.
Do GFSI schemes require these programs?
Yes. SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000 all expect certified sites to have food defense and food fraud programs based on documented assessments, plus incident, recall, and emergency procedures that are kept up to date and tested. This course is built to help you meet those expectations.
Who should attend?
Food safety and quality managers, SQF Practitioners, food defense coordinators, plant and operations managers, purchasing and supply chain staff, and anyone on your crisis or recall team.
Do I need a camera and microphone?
Yes. Sessions are interactive, and participants are encouraged to take part, so you'll need a working camera and microphone. After you register and pay, you'll receive an email with a link to the online training platform and instructions. If you don't see it, check your spam folder or contact us.
Will the training session be recorded?
No. Training sessions are not recorded, and participants may not record them.
How do I receive my certificate?
When you successfully complete the course, including any required assessments or assignments, you'll receive a Certificate of Attendance by email at the address you registered with, within a week.
When is the next session, and what if I can't attend?
The next public session hasn't been scheduled yet. Email US.Info@kiwa-asi.com or call 1 (800) 477-0778 and we'll let you know when registration opens. If you register and then can't attend, let us know as soon as possible. You can enroll in the next class or request a refund up to 5 days before the course start date.
Can you deliver this on-site for our team?
Yes. For groups of six or more, we offer private training on site or virtually, built around your own products, supply chain, and crisis scenarios. Email US.Info@kiwa-asi.com for a quote.
Training six or more people?
Private crisis management, food defense, and food fraud training can be tailored to your products, supply chain, and facility, on site or virtually. Call 1 (800) 477-0778 or email US.Info@kiwa-asi.com.
All consulting services are offered through ASI Training and Consulting, LLC. All activity is conducted separately from our accredited certification body, ASI Food Safety, LLC, in order to safeguard against any conflicts of interest.