Safe Quality Food Institute Announces Ethical Sourcing Standard
First food safety program to offer responsible sourcing certification
ARLINGTON, VA – March 19, 2015 – The Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) today announces its Ethical Sourcing Standard – a voluntary supplement for companies who are committed to ensuring socially and environmentally responsible practices in food production. The Ethical Sourcing Standard is a system which combines growing and processing food with environmental and social stewardship. This system embraces ethical and transparent practices, with care taken in the treatment of those who grow, harvest and manufacture food across the supply chain, and with respect given to the health of consumers.
According to Robert Garfield, Senior Vice President of SQFI, conscientious consumers are looking beyond food safety and seeking assurance, now more than ever, that their food has been grown and processed in a manner that meets high standards of social and environmental responsibility.
“We saw this growing consumer demand, and immediately began developing the Ethical Sourcing Standard. We are very excited to become the first food safety program to offer an Ethical Sourcing certification,” Garfield explains. “For companies, receiving this certification shows their customers that sourcing responsibly throughout the supply chain is important.”
SQFI’s Ethical Sourcing Standard addresses a host of social and environmental issues. To obtain a certificate of completion, food suppliers will need to meet audit standards concerning issues such as wage compliance, child labor, occupational health and safety, pollution prevention, air emissions management, and waste management.
For more information on SQFI’s Ethical Sourcing standard, visit www.sqfiethicalsourcing.com. The complete Ethical Sourcing Standard, certification and implementation requirements, and other resources are available on the website for download, free of charge. To stay abreast of the latest with SQFI and the industry trends, be sure to follow SQFI on Twitter @SQFI and Facebook.
About The Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI)
The Safe Quality Food (SQF) program is recognized by retailers and foodservice providers around the world as a rigorous, credible food safety management system. It is the only certification system recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) that offers certificates for primary production, food manufacturing, distribution and agent/broker management. This enables suppliers to assure their customers that food has been produced, processed, prepared and handled according to the highest possible standards at all levels of the supply chain. Additionally as a division of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the SQF program incorporates continual retailer feedback about consumer concerns. This information is passed on to SQF certified suppliers, keeping them a step ahead of their competitors. www.sqfi.com
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