Food Safety
Food Safety
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- What is the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)?
- Why use TUV-USA for food safety management services?
- What is Codex Alimentarius?
- Why food safety?
- TUV NORD world-wide
- Links for further information
- HACCP and Training (external site)
- Application
What is the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)?
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) was launched in May 2000 by the Belgian based CIES (Comité International d'Entreprise à Succursales) with the purpose of establishing standards for food safety covering the whole food chain: supplier, agriculture, distribution.
The GFSI's main task is to maintain a benchmarking process for food safety management schemes to work towards convergence between food safety standards.
Currently, the following standards have been GFSI approved:
- International Food Standard (IFS)
- Safe Quality Food (SQF)
- British Retail Consortium (BRC)
- Dutch Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points food safety system (Dutch HACCP)
- ISO 22000
Why is TUV-USA your best choice for food safety management services?
We can enhance your reputation.
Again and again, consumers are made to feel insecure because of headlines about quality problems in the food industry. Food safety is more important than ever and has absolute priority for all the links in the food distribution chain.
We are the right partner when it comes to food safety, and we are experts as regards all the important standards in the food industry, including risk analysis, assessment, and control of implementation of the HACCP concept. The qualifications of our auditors correspond to the various areas within the food industry and university degrees held include those of agricultural degreed engineer, food industry degreed engineer and food technology degreed engineer.
- We are your partner in certification
- 150 years of product safety services
- World wide presence
- Trained, professional staff
Where can I find out more about GFSI?
Some useful links:
GFSI link http://www.ciesnet.com/2-wwedo/2.2-programmes/2.2.foodsafety.gfsi.asp
IFS http://www.ifs-online.eu/index.php
Walmart link http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/7918.aspx
Integra (Our European Partner) http://www.integra-bvba.be/Engels/e-integra.html
The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by FAO and WHO to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program. The main purposes of this Program are protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations
Codex Alimentarius Commission website: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp
When certain disease-causing bacteria or pathogens contaminate food, they can cause foodborne illness. Foodborne illness, often called food poisoning, is an illness that comes from a food you eat.
- The food supply in the United States is among the safest in the world — but it can still be a source of infection for all persons.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 76 million persons get sick, 325,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from foodborne infection and illness in the United States each year.
Many of these people are very young, very old, or have weakened immune systems and may not be able to fight infection normally.
Since foodborne illness can be serious — or even fatal — it is important for you to know and practice safe food-handling behaviors to help reduce your risk of getting sick from contaminated food.
Food Safety for Older Adults, USDA FSIS, September 2006 (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Food_Safety_for_Older_Adults.pdf)
