Beyond Food Safety: How Mexico’s Market Evolved to Demand Transparency and Sustainability
Inspired by a complex of international regulations and enhanced awareness of social responsibility, food safety certifications have transformed the agriculture sector in Mexico. Over the last decade or so, food safety certifications have encouraged a strategic shift away from a reactive approach to safety concerns towards one more focused on prevention. In the prevention approach, risks are controlled throughout the process rather than only in the final product. This shift has enabled companies to be nimbler even as operations become more complicated, course correcting throughout the process instead of remaining vulnerable to bottlenecks and unanticipated setbacks like disease outbreaks.
Such adaptability has helped improve access to international markets, professionalize overall operations, and support compliance with global standards. Above all, food safety has become a fundamental requirement to gain a competitive advantage in the agricultural market — but it didn’t start that way. Indeed, some of the most important developments in food safety have been borne out of major challenges that required a global response.
Since United States President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Food and Drugs Act in 1906 — which established the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — food safety has played an increasingly influential role in the global food and agriculture sector. Disease outbreaks in the 1990s, including e Coli in the United States and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the United Kingdom, prompted the implementation of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system worldwide. While the concepts underlying HACCP principles originated several decades prior, their widespread implementation within developed food production systems accelerated during the 1990s and brought tremendous positive impacts to the industry.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that HACCP implementation led to an estimated 20% reduction in foodborne illnesses in the U.S., a 56% decrease in Salmonella on chicken carcasses, and over 460 fewer annual illnesses from juice products. HACCP was largely driven by the adoption of the seven principles outlined by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF), which were subsequently incorporated into Codex Alimentarius guidelines. NACMCF also paved the way for the development of Safe and Quality Foods (SQF) and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) system.
Subsequent decades have brough significant policy moments that zoom in specifically on food safety agreements between the U.S. and Mexico, most notably the FDA-SENASICA-Cofepris Food Safety Partnership (FSP) in 2020. The partnership aims to continue the existing collaboration between the two countries and to develop and implement plans to enhance the safety of food for human consumption that is traded between the United States of America and the United Mexican States.
Now, dozens of influential food safety certifications work in concert with global regulations to help reduce health risks, operational errors, and foodborne illnesses — all while increasing trust among consumers and buyers. Present trends are moving toward greater traceability and more comprehensive certifications such as GLOBALG.A.P., SQF, PrimusGFS, and BRCGS, as well as the integration of sustainability and social responsibility standards such as SMETA, Fair Trade, and Sustainably Grown. Increased use of technology and control across the entire supply chain also comes into play in current trends. Today, thanks to the intricate checks and balances afforded by interconnected food safety regulations and international partnerships, producers strive to identify the source of a problem — and solve it — within a matter of hours.
It's important to recognize that the market continues to evolve, especially with regards to incorporating social responsibility and sustainability into a more holistic understanding of what food safety means in a practical sense. More than 70% of global consumers prefer brands that demonstrate responsible and sustainable practices, meaning buyers want to know not only that a product is safe, but also how it is produced, its environmental impact, and the working conditions under which it was made. In response, companies are seeking more effective ways of acting responsibly, while upholding verifiable transparency across the entire value chain.
Founded in 1984, SCS Global Services (SCS) quickly emerged as a pioneer in applying rigorous science to protect human health and the environment. From its earliest days, SCS established the world’s first third‑party certification program to verify foods with no detectable pesticide residues, exceeding regulatory requirements and redefining consumer protection in agriculture. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, SCS rapidly expanded its leadership in Food and Agriculture. The company conducted advanced nutritional analyses to promote farming practices that enhance nutrient density, pioneered pathogen prevention methodologies in response to major food safety crises, and launched the first HACCP‑based food safety training and audit programs in the United States. SCS later became one of the first accredited certifiers under the USDA National Organic Program and played a formative role in shaping responsible supply chains, including the creation of Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices with Conservation International.
In 1999 SCS Global Services established SCS Mexico as its first international subsidiary. For nearly 26 years, SCS Mexico has served as a reliable, boots-on-the-ground presence throughout Mexico’s agricultural industry. With offices in Queretaro and expert auditors already present throughout Mexico, SCS offers third-party food safety audits and second-party audit services for American, Canadian, and European companies with suppliers or growers in Mexico. Beyond food systems, SCS became a global leader in sustainability certification across sectors by combating greenwashing, advancing life cycle assessment, and developing credible environmental and climate accounting frameworks.
