AssureCloud

🔦 2,951.
That's how many times our auditors found pest activity in food receiving, storage and preparation areas during our 2026 Food Safety & Hygiene Inspections. It was the #1 non-conformance of the year.
On 966 more occasions, live cockroaches, rodents or droppings were seen during the audit itself.
Our Top 3 findings for 2026:
1️⃣ Pest activity in receiving, storage & prep areas: 2,951
2️⃣ Ice cream temperatures: 2,545
3️⃣ Expired products on the shop floor: 2,164
Here's what we see behind the pest findings: almost every site has a pest control contract. What's missing is someone on site who owns the programme.
🔹 Sightings aren't recorded for the pest control provider
🔹 Sighting logs and bait station records aren't signed off at each service
🔹 Nobody trends the data or acts on it before it becomes an audit finding
Your contractor services the traps. Your team has to run the programme.
That's exactly what our half-day course, Pest Control in a Food Safety Context, is built for. Delegates learn to:
✅ Design a pest control programme for your site
✅ Inspect pest control stations effectively
✅ Identify, record and respond to pest activity
✅ Manage and oversee contracted pest control service providers
✅ Trend pest data and trigger corrective action
👥 For food safety coordinators, QA supervisors, facility managers, pest control programme owners and internal auditors
📍 On-site or virtual | No pre-requisite

📩 Book now: [email protected] | +27 87 330 3792
🌐 www.assurecloud.co.za

Is pest control on your site a system, or just a service call?

Respiratory signs in a poultry flock can be an important clinical clue - but they don’t necessarily point to one disease.​

Depending on the flock history, clinical presentation and epidemiological picture, differential diagnoses may include conditions such as Infectious Bronchitis, Newcastle disease and Avian Influenza, among others.​

That’s why the diagnostic process matters.​

Clinical signs help build the picture. Appropriate laboratory testing can help investigate the cause.​

AssureCloud provides disease-specific veterinary diagnostic testing using PCR, ELISA and traditional microbiological techniques to support the investigation of animal disease.​

The challenge for the vet isn't simply recognising the signs.​

It’s knowing what needs to be ruled in - and ruled out.​

For support on vet diagnostics, reach out to AssureCloud on:​

📞 +27 87 330 3792​
📧 [email protected]​

Today is World Farm Animals Day 🐔

Healthy, well-cared-for animals are the foundation of a safe food supply. For poultry producers, that means knowing exactly what is happening in the flock before a problem spreads.

Our accredited veterinary and diagnostic laboratories support producers with:

→ Serology for avian influenza (AI) and Newcastle disease (NDV)

→ Mycoplasma testing (MG and MS)

→ PCR-based molecular testing and virus isolation

→ Salmonella serotyping

→ Parasitology, including coccidiosis

Two accredited laboratories, close to where you farm:

📍 AssureCloud, Midrand, South Africa

📍 Vetlab, Lusaka, Zambia

Vetlab in Lusaka also tests animal feed for protein, fat, fibre, moisture and more.

Early, accurate diagnosis protects flock health, guides vaccination programmes and keeps safe food moving from farm to fork.

Book poultry disease testing:

📧 [email protected]

📞 +27 87 330 3792

Making the World a Safer Place

Don't just document it. IMPLEMENT IT. ✅
Is your FSSC 22000 system working in practice, or only on paper?
Our FSSC 22000 Version 7 Implementation Course helps food safety teams turn Scheme requirements into practical, everyday controls.
You'll learn about:
✔️ Operational controls
✔️ Documented information
✔️ Monitoring and verification
✔️ Hazard control and PRPs
✔️ Continual improvement
🗓️ V7 upgrade audits start on 1 May 2027. Get your team ready now.
📍 Available as in-house, online or public sessions.

📩 Contact us to book your seat:
📧 [email protected]
📞 +27 87 330 3792
AssureCloud, Member of CTI Group. To make the world a safer place.

This course provides general training and does not form part of, or influence, any certification audit or certification decision.

🚩 RED FLAG TUESDAY​

"The birds look better today."​

It's one of the most dangerous assumptions in flock management.​

Some diseases appear to improve temporarily before returning with greater severity, while others continue spreading silently despite fewer visible clinical signs.​

Relying on appearance alone can delay diagnosis, postpone treatment adjustments and increase production losses across the flock.​

Laboratory diagnostics tell you what's happening - not what it looks like.​

Make decisions based on evidence, not optimism.​

Talk to your veterinarian about AssureCloud's diagnostic testing to support confident disease management.​

📞 +27 87 330 3792​
📧 [email protected]​

​

👤 Are you the Person-in-Charge of a food business? R638 makes compliance your responsibility.
If you own, manage or supervise a food premises, the law holds you accountable for food hygiene. As the Person-in-Charge, you need to understand the requirements and make sure your team is trained and following them.
Our one-day R638 Training for Persons-in-Charge gives you the confidence to lead compliance in your business, covering:
🏢 Premises and facilities
⚙️ Equipment
🍴 Food handling
🧼 Personnel hygiene
🚚 Transport of food
📋 Operational control
👩‍🏫 Presented by experienced Food Safety and Hygiene Inspectors who are FoodBev SETA-accredited Assessors and Moderators, so you learn from people who know exactly what inspectors look for. You'll leave knowing what to check, what to correct and how to stay inspection-ready.
✔️ Ideal for owners, managers and supervisors of restaurants, takeaways, caterers, bakeries, retailers, food factories and transporters.
Take charge of food safety in your business. 💚
📞 Book your spot today:
📧 [email protected]
📞 +27 87 330 3792

FSSC 22000 Version 7 has been released. Is your team ready for the transition?

FSSC 22000 Version 7 was officially released on 1 May 2026, bringing important changes to the Scheme, including the new ISO 22002-x:2025 PRP series, updated food chain categories and strengthened sustainability-related requirements.

AssureCloud, Member of CTI Group, offers a one-day FSSC 22000 Version 7 Transition Course designed to help food safety teams understand what has changed and prepare for the transition with confidence.

The course covers:
🔹 Key changes and additional requirements in Version 7
🔹 ISO 22002-100:2025 common PRP requirements and the applicable ISO 22002-x:2025 sector-specific part
🔹 Changes to the food chain categories
🔹 Sustainability-related changes, including the new packaging design requirement where applicable
🔹 Practical considerations when preparing for a Version 7 upgrade audit

🗓️ V6 audits are permitted until 30 April 2027. Upgrade audits against V7 run from 1 May 2027 to 30 April 2028.

🔗 Book a place or request an in-house/online/public training session
https://assurecloud.co.za/food-safety/training/

This course provides general training and does not form part of, or influence, any certification audit or certification decision.

Quality today. A stronger tomorrow.

ISO 9001:2026 was published on 16 September 2026.
The new edition retains the familiar ISO 9001 framework while introducing targeted updates.
What has changed
✔️ Greater emphasis on quality culture and ethical behaviour
✔️ Clearer separation of risks and opportunities
✔️ The 2024 climate change amendment is now integrated into the standard

The transition
📅 Published — 16 September 2026
📅 Transition period — Three years
📅 ISO 9001:2015 certificates cease to be valid after — 30 September 2029

AssureCloud, Member of CTI Group, provides ISO 9001 certification through its legal entity, Aspirata Auditing Testing and Certification (Pty) Ltd.
Certification is carried out independently and impartially.

Plan your transition audit with AssureCloud.
📧 [email protected]
📞 +27 87 330 3792

Quality today. A stronger tomorrow.

Heritage Day at AssureCloud: one table, many cultures 🇿🇦

Today our courtyard became a celebration of everything that makes South Africa, and our team, remarkable.

Everyone brought a special dish from home. Each plate carried a story: a grandmother’s recipe, a taste of childhood, a tradition passed down through generations. As we shared those meals, something beautiful happened. Food did what it has always done best. It brought us to the same table, sparked conversations, and turned colleagues into family.

And the fashion! Vibrant emahiya, beautifully draped Basotho blankets, striking beadwork, elegant shweshwe, flowing Xhosa-inspired designs, rich prints and graceful traditional garments from across our cultures. The ladies looked absolutely stunning, and the gents certainly held their own too.

As a food safety business, we spend our days protecting what ends up on people’s plates. Today was a reminder of why that matters: food is heritage, identity, and connection. It’s how we care for one another.

Thank you to every team member who cooked, dressed up, and showed up with such pride and warmth. Our diversity isn’t just something we celebrate once a year. It’s our strength every single day.

Happy Heritage Day!

TeamCulture OneTeam CTIGroup

If you’re only testing your finished product, you’re already too late.
One of the biggest misconceptions around food safety is believing quality can always be verified at the end of production.

It can’t.
When it comes to carbon dioxide, testing must happen before the gas enters your manufacturing process.
Once CO₂ has been introduced into a beverage or food product, you can no longer independently verify whether that incoming batch met the required purity specification.
That’s why proactive verification is essential.
Each batch should be sampled by trained personnel, tested against recognised international standards and accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis before use.

This approach doesn’t just support compliance.
It strengthens supplier management, improves traceability and provides documented evidence that critical raw materials met specification before production began.
Quality isn’t something you inspect into a finished product.
It’s something you build into every stage of manufacturing.

Start your independent verification testing with AssureCloud:
📞 +27 87 330 3792
📧 [email protected]

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