Driven by an uncompromising dedication to deliver the safest and highest quality food and beverage products to customers, consumers and the market, Global Food Industries (GFI) continuously invests on raising its food safety manufacturing standards and on meeting world-class benchmarks.
With its unrelenting effort towards food safety quality excellence, GFI’s separate manufacturing facilities for the frozen and snacking divisions underwent strict food safety inspections and successfully passed stringent food safety audits conducted by AIB International. As a result, each of its manufacturing facility received globally-recognized AIB International’s food safety certifications.
So, what do AIB certifications mean? Why is it important and significant?
Globally recognized for setting standards for food safety, AIB International performs inspections to ensure that food manufacturing facilities uphold strict food safety and quality requirements. Established in the US 60 years ago, AIB has since conducted inspections and audits in over 10,000 facilities in 120 countries. All of AIB’s food safety inspections are done according to the AIB International Consolidated Standards, which include foundational elements from Codex, ISO, FDA, global regulatory agencies and a compilation of industry best practice, accumulated and refined over the years.
GFI’s AIB certifications therefore, although not necessarily a customer or regulatory requirement, serve as testament to GFI’s initiative and unwavering commitment to not only provide tasty, delicious and healthy food products to the market, but also to ensure that all of its products are indeed safe for human consumption and its quality is always at its best.
To do so, GFI’s entire food manufacturing process begins with a rigorous approval system to secure raw materials that match its safety specification requirements. This includes very precise prerequisites, process controls, product inspections, allergen control, foreign material control, food defense, pest management systems, temperature control and certified cleaning and sanitation programs related to food safety and product quality systems.
In addition, GFI carries out more than 60,000 tests per year across its facilities to verify compliance to customer, national and international requirements on microbial safety, chemical factors and environment we operate in. And, to ensure end-to-end quality, GFI’s products are safely stored and distributed also in accordance with global food safety standards.
GFI’s AIB certifications also complement all of its other certifications such as ISO 9001, ISO 22000, Halal, HACCP and BRC certification with A grade. These are undoubtedly clear manifestations of GFI’s strict adherence to and compliance with the best global industry practices and standards. It also provides an added peace of mind and assurance to all of GFI’s customers and consumers that by meeting AIB’s stringent inspection and audit standards, GFI does not simply comply but continuously raises the bar higher and higher when it comes to the food safety quality of its products and facilities.
AIB Standards consist of five Categories for Inspection and GFI have passed them all:
- Operational Methods and Personnel Practices – the receipt, storage, monitoring, handling, and processing of raw materials to manufacture and distribute safe final product. Facilities need to be confident that people, processes, and conditions do not introduce a food safety concern.
- Maintenance for Food Safety – the design, upkeep, and management of equipment, buildings, and grounds to provide a sanitary, efficient, and reliable manufacturing environment. AIB standards here provide best practices for optimizing the design and care of the facility and equipment so that they are easy to manage and do not create sanitation issues.
- Cleaning Practices – the cleaning and sanitizing of equipment, utensils, and buildings to provide a wholesome and safe processing environment. The AIB inspection will look at the methods of cleaning, the types of chemicals used, the frequency of cleaning activities, and the control of microbes.
- Integrated Pest Management – the assessment, monitoring, and management of pest activity to identify, prevent, and eliminate conditions that could promote or sustain a pest population. The inspection considers both removal of any pests and measures to prevent pests from ever having the opportunity to thrive in a food environment.
- Adequacy of Prerequisite and Food Safety Programs – this standard is largely about documentation. AIB wants to ensure that all departments are working together to deliver a safe product. It is not enough to have programs in place, the programs must be formalized through designing, planning, management, documentation, and review.
Clearly, with each of GFI’s frozen and snacking divisions’ manufacturing facility having passed all of AIB’s meticulous inspection and audit, its customers and the market are assured of only the finest, high-quality and safe food for all.