Thursday, June 17, 2010

Canadian Standards Recognized Internationally

(Food in Canada)

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) has announced that the On-Farm Food Safety Program (OFFS) known as the CanadaGAP (Good Agricultural Practices) program has been successfully benchmarked against GFSI’s requirements.

CanadaGAP, which is administered and maintained by the Canadian Horticultural Council, is geared to fresh fruit and vegetable producers and packers. The program consists of national food safety standards and a certification system for the safe production, storage and packing of fresh fruits and vegetables.

It’s been recognized by GFSI for certification options B and C and the recognition covers the common food safety requirements that run through the six different commodity specific modules. This benchmarking process has been completed using an internationally accepted set of food safety requirements, based on industry best practice and sound science, which are developed through a consensus building process by key stakeholders in the food supply chain. These requirements can be found in the GFSI Guidance Document Version 5. Read more here.