As part of our ongoing commitment to food safety, Sweetener Supply Corporation is in the process of transitioning from an AIB GMP 3rd party audit system to adoption of GFSI through FSSC22000 at all of our facilities.  As a result of this transition, we have opted not to conduct further AIB GMP audits.  We completed our initial GAP analysis against this standard (conducted by Consulting for Food Safety) on March 1, 2012.  We are currently revising our Food Safety Management System in light of this review and doing several capital projects to enhance our food safety system. We submitted our application for an FSSC22000 certification audit with AIB in June 2012.  The audits have been scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2013.

Sweetener Supply is committed to providing our customers with safe and secure food ingredients.  If you have any questions, please contact us at 888-SUGAR-99.

As a company, we are committed to providing our customers food ingredients of the highest standards.  We recognize the continued pressure on our customers to provide end users with assurances that their food sources are safe and documented.  More and more companies are requesting their suppliers to become certified.

In recent years, many food standards have been in use but they are not equivalent.  Certifications did not always have the same meanings and documentation.  The “Global Food Safety Initiative”, (GFSI) has “benchmarked” standards. Many major retailers worldwide agreed to reduce duplication in the supply chain through the common acceptance of any of the GFSI benchmarked schemes. Many other food service, retail and manufacturing companies have now joined this approach. This means that many suppliers are requesting a GFSI benchmarked scheme.

Why FSSC? As stated on the FSSC website, “The Food Safety Standard Certification (FSSC 22000) scheme is fully recognized and accepted by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and by the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA).  The FSSC 22000 certificate proves that the food safety systems of such organizations are in full compliance with all FSSC 22000 requirements. FSSC 22000:2010 is an International Standard developed for the certification of Food Safety Management Systems for food manufacturers. ”

How is Sweetener Supply (SSC) addressing certification?  SSC is in the process of transitioning from an AIB GMP 3^rd party audit system to adoption of GFSI through FSSC22000 at all of our facilities.  We have completed our initial GAP Analysis against this standard (conducted by Consulting for Food Safety) on March 1, 2012.  We have invested in new Enterprise Resource Management and ISO System software packages to help us improve customer service and quality efforts. We have launched several capital improvement projects at our facilities to enhance food safety.  Additionally, we have increased the personnel in our quality department adding a new Quality Manager, reporting to Jon Bodner, our Technical Director.

What is our timeline for certification?  We have implemented the requirements of FSSC 22000 and have submitted our application for audit to the Certifying Body.  We are currently waiting on the final audit completion (est. October 2012 for all facilities).

For additional information, please contact us directly or visit the FSSC website at www.fssc22000.com.