PARIS & COLOGNE, FRANCE - The onset of COVID-19 further thrust food safety measures into the spotlight across the industry. Working to ensure food safety standards and good agricultural practices, The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), The Consumer Goods Forum’s Coalition of Action on food safety, and GLOBALG.A.P.—by way of FoodPLUS GmbH—have announced that GLOBALG.A.P. successfully achieved recognition against GFSI’s Benchmarking Requirements Version 2020.1, including the Produce Handling Assurance (PHA) certification program.
“PHA allows GLOBALG.A.P. to extend exceptional food safety assurance to both field and facility,” said Kristian Moeller, Managing Director at GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH and President of GLOBALG.A.P. North America. “We are pleased to now offer PHA as a GFSI benchmarked standard, alongside the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) and Harmonized Produce Safety Standard (HPSS) certification programs for farms.”
The PHA certification program is open to on-farm and stand-alone post-harvest handling facilities around the globe. According to a press release, the program provides food safety management certification of post-harvest activities like cooling, packing, re-packing, handling, and storage of crops. The PHA certification program also incorporates United States Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements from both the Produce Safety Rule and the Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule, where applicable.
Benchmarking compares a food safety Certification Program Owner (CPO) with GFSI Benchmarking Requirements, The process is designed to be carried out in an independent, unbiased, technically proficient, and transparent manner.
A program is recognized by GFSI when it has been verified that it meets every GFST benchmarking requirement in procedures and operations. An independent benchmark leader, supported by the GFSI Technical Manager, assesses whether the application meets GFSI requirements, followed by a public consultation period which is open to all GFSI Stakeholders.
“Version 2020.1 is the most robust GFSI Benchmarking Requirements yet, so it’s great to see CPOs like GLOBAL.G.A.P. continue to help the food industry raise the bar on food safety. The GFSI Benchmarking Requirements are the most widely-recognized in the industry, and that’s in part thanks to the collaborative nature of our work and the broader GFSI community,” explained Giovanna Ordonez, GFSI Senior Technical Manager, The Consumer Goods Forum.
Congratulations to GLOBALG.A.P. as its meets these rigorous requirements and continues to promote food safety across the fresh produce industry!
