Feed&Grain.com |

If the facility fails to meet any of these criteria in any of these sections, it will not be an SF/SF-certified plant.

The SF/SF program also requires companies to conduct self-audits, thus increasing the feed manufacturer’s understanding of federal and state regulations.

Alltech Biotechnology, a leading animal health and nutrition company has been SF/SF certified since 2005. Becky Timmons, director of applications research and quality assurance at Alltech, says the program has helped them continually adhere to the highest quality standards.

“In order to become certified, FCI audits the facility initially and then once every other year,” says Timmons. “On the off years, you self-certify. Truly the auditing process is a continual program, as you should have random section audits on an ongoing basis as well as management review meetings. AFIA provides the requirements as well as an audit sheet which you can use to set up an internal auditing schedule.”

Participation in AFIA’s SF/SF program may also lead to shorter and/or fewer inspections by the FDA. The FDA has clearly stated it will use the SF/SF program as one risk-ranking tool to help determine where it should focus its limited resources.

FDA officials have also cited the SF/SF program as a leading tool to help the animal feed and pet food industry achieve its goal of providing safe products to its customers and ultimately American consumers.

EU REGULATIONS

Some EU regulations are slightly different from United States feed regulations. American companies doing business with European customers have had to rely completely on self-audits to ensure that their feed meets EU standards.

Companies who trade globally, such as Alltech, could use the SF/SF program as an example of how to self-audit for EU regulations, but could not rely on FCI audits alone. “The SF/SF program has not been recognized and did not satisfy the requirements for trading in Europe,” says Timmons. “SF/SF gave us the basic foundation for a system, which we then took further to meet the EU requirements. The EU requirements include a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point component in addition to the quality system of SF/SF. SF/SF gave us the experience to add the necessary HACCP components.”