ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S. — The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognized the Safe Quality Food Institute on Jan. 13, successfully adding the scope of “feed” to their already recognized scopes against the GFSI Guidance Document. 

This is the first GFSI recognized scheme to cover the scope of feed, which includes the production of animal feed and the processing of pet food. 

“As part of the American Feed Industry Association’s (AFIA) partnership with SQFI for the Safe Feed/Safe Food Certification Program and the Pet Food Manufacturing Facility Certification Program, we now have GFSI benchmarked program options for our members,” according to AFIA President and Chief Executive Officer Joel G. Newman. “AFIA members have asked for a program that has been developed specifically for animal feed and pet food that can be benchmarked to the GFSI scheme and we are proud to say there is now an option available to them.” 

Frank Yiannas, vice-president of food safety for Walmart and vice-chair of the GFSI board, said in a GFSI news release, “one of the aims of GFSI is to provide solutions for the food industry from farm-to-fork. We are delighted that there is now an option for operators in this sector of the supply chain who wish to be certified against a GFSI recognized scheme.”

“SQF’s inclusion of animal feed and pet food production further demonstrates how our program is truly a farm-to-fork certificate solution,” said LeAnn Chuboff, senior technical director of SQFI. “We are encouraged that the SQF code continues to be flexible enough to meet the needs of the industry by strategically augmenting the scope of SQF and thereby ensuring a safer supply chain.”

For more information on the Safe Feed/Safe Food Certification Program or the Pet Food Manufacturing Facility and Pet Food Ingredient Facility Certification Programs, visit www.safefeedsafefood.org.