Former AFIA Chairman and Food Safety Task Force Chair Richard Frasch, Cargill, Inc., led the charge for the landmark effort. In announcing the program, Frasch said, “We stand on the threshold of making an incredible dream become reality. We have developed one of the most ambitious and significant programs in AFIA’s history, one that will be felt not only by the feed industry in the United States, but also by feed and ingredient industries around the world.”
Initially, 23 companies signed up as charter members. They include Alltech, Inc.; APC, Inc.; Ag-Pro Corporation; Berghausen Corporation; Bioproducts; Cargill Animal Nutrition; Diamond V Mills; International Nutrition; North American Nutrition Companies (Akey and Vigortone Ag Products); Omega Protein; Pennfield Corporation; Perdue Farms; Performance Plus Liquids; Prince Agri Products; Ralco Nutrition, Inc.; Ridley, Inc.; Romer Labs, Inc.; Southern States Cooperative; The Iams Company; Trouw Nutrition International; United Cooperative Farmers, U.S. Sugar Corporation; and Westway Trading Corporation.
AFIA’s program is intended for companies interested in demonstrating their pledge to food safety and enhancing consumer confidence in the products they provide. This includes renderers, feed manufacturers, pet food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, integrated producers, meat processors, feed purchasers, livestock producers, and others who want to validate a commitment to food safety and proactive leadership.
There are three requirements of the program: hazard identification; tracking and tracing; and verification. A hazard is defined as what can reasonably be expected may occur in a plant operation and is defined into two categories: chemical and biological. Chemicals include dioxins and PCBs, medicated feed additives, feed additives, heavy metals, mycotoxins, pesticides, and industrial contaminants. Biological categories include bovine spongiform encephalopathy and pathogenic enteric microbes such as avian influenza and Salmonella.
Tracking and traceability requirements include identifying and recording each lot of an ingredient coming into a plant used in the manufacture of feed and recording of each shipment of finished product. Bulk ingredients can utilize the same storage container as long as the suppliers of the ingredients can be reasonably identified. These tracking and traceability requirements are standards of good business practices that most companies already have in place. The Safe Feed/Safe Food program verifies that these good practices are being followed and provides a one step forward and one step back traceability that complies with Food and Drug Administration requirements. Verification is a critical component, which ensures procedures are in place and there is accountability.
Once a company has met the requirements of the program, including an audit, a completed third-party inspection permits participation in the program. A licensing agreement allows use of a Safe Feed/Safe Food seal that signifies that the company has embraced the feed industry’s proactive role in creating feed-based safety programs; that they are doing their part to reduce food safety risks; they are participating in an approved risk management program; and they are aggressively practicing risk reduction. The seal can be used on feed packaging and promotional materials and indicates the company acknowledges that AFIA owns the seal and allows their plant to be audited by a third-party inspector. Enrollment in the program requires a four-year commitment and costs $300 per year per facility for AFIA members; non-members pay $450 per facility for the first year. Costs include third party audits and verifications.
Frasch challenged the entire feed industry to get behind the program.
“This represents the greatest opportunity we have ever had to assure consumers about the safety of our industry’s products and the food they enjoy,” he said.
AFIA’s top priorities are the safety and quality of the products manufactured by its member companies and their role in assuring the confidence of consumers in agricultural and pet food products. AFIA places emphasis in the technology, ingredients, and manufacturing practices of feed and pet food manufacturers and how those practices affect consumer food quality, safety, and confidence. The new Safe Feed/Safe Food program reinforces the organization’s prominent leadership role in food safety developments impacting the feed industry.
The association is dedicated to enhancing feed and food safety initiatives not only in the United States but also worldwide. It serves as a comprehensive food safety resource for feed ingredient suppliers, feed manufacturers, and pet feed companies around the world. In the United States, AFIA is the national organization devoted exclusively to representing the business, legislative, and regulatory interests of the animal feed industry and its suppliers. Membership includes nearly 600 domestic and international companies, and state, national, and regional associations. Firms are feed manufacturers, integrators, pharmaceutical companies, ingredient suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and companies that supply other products, services, and supplies to feed manufacturers.
For additional information about the Safe Feed/Safe Food program, contact AFIA at 1501 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1100, Arlington, VA 22209, by telephone at (703) 524-0810, or on the Internet at www.afia.org.
Newsline - December 2004 Render