The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has modernized its Safe Feed/Safe Food certification program, introducing Version 8.0 with streamlined requirements and clearer guidance for feed manufacturers. Megan Provost, AFIA’s chief operating officer, shared with Feed & Grain's Elise Schafer how the new program simplifies the format and certification process while maintaining the previous program's core requirements and integrity. Provost also highlighted AFIA’s a new certification specifically for warehouse, storage and distribution facilities and how third-party certification can help feed manufacturers strengthen regulatory compliance and prepare for FDA inspections.
Transcription of interview with Megan Provost, chief operating officer, AFIA:
Elise Schafer, editor, Feed & Grain: Hi, everyone, and welcome to Feed & Grain Chat. I'm your host, Elise Schafer, editor of Feed & Grain. This edition of Feed & Grain Chat is brought to you by WATT Global Media and FeedandGrain.com. FeedandGrain.com is your source for the latest news, product and equipment information for the grain handling and feed manufacturing industries.
Today, I'm joined by Megan Provost, AFIA's chief operating officer. She's here to tell us about AFIA's new updates to its Safe Feed/Safe Food program and how it addresses feed safety compliance for today's feed mills. Hi, Megan. How are you?
Megan Provost, chief operating officer, AFIA: Hi, good. Good to be here today.
Schafer: Well, thanks for joining me! So, AFIA modernized the Safe Feed/Safe Food program for the first time in about a decade. Can you tell us about the program and what prompted the update? What were your goals for the new version?
Provost: I'm happy to talk about it. Our Safe Feed/Safe Food program is a voluntary, independently certified program. It started in 2003. Back then, it was called our Safe Feed Initiative. We finalized it in 2004 and then officially launched it in 2005. So, just over 20 years we have had the program in place. And as you said, we just went through and launched an update this summer. On June 1 we launched Safe Feed/Safe Food Version 8.
And really, the program continues creating that standard of excellence that goes beyond existing regulations in place. The primary goal of the update was to foster what we ask our certified facilities to foster, which is a culture of continuous improvement within the quality and animal food safety programs that we see throughout our industry. We attempted with the update to more clearly define some of the requirements or elements of the certification and to reduce some of the redundancy we saw in there and had heard from our certified facilities. The update tried to provide a clearer expectation for some of the written procedures and instructions than some of the previous versions did. So, really cleaning and streamlining the previous program while maintaining the Safe Feed/Safe Food integrity.
Schafer: Great. Now, Version 8 keeps the program's core requirements, but updated its guidance to reflect current industry practices and regulatory expectations. Can you talk specifically about what's different in the guidance?
Provost: Yeah, so a few things I would flag as differences between Version 7 and Version 8 of our Safe Feed/Safe Food certification: The first is we tried to simplify some things in there. We simplified the format, pulling out some of the guidelines and moving them into an appendix so they didn't bog down some of the earlier versions. We also simplified the categories and the clauses in there. Our Version 7, for example, had 10 categories with 84 clauses, and we simplified, reorganized and cut that back. So, Version 8 now has 12 categories and 62 clauses. We also tried to streamline the certification process to make it a little bit easier for folks to follow. So, we addressed some of the what we call core clauses in the certification. We did have 29 mandatory clauses and we cut that back to 26 core clauses.
And then the last big change that I would flag for your listeners is we clarify that the Safe Feed/Safe Food certification is for manufacturing facilities only. So, the certification makes clear that the process reviews manufacturing processes and applies to manufacturing facilities, not warehouses. But along with that launch of Version 8 we created our Warehouse, Storage and Distribution Safe Feed/Safe Food certification so that those warehouses can still get a certification under our program.
Schafer: Great. And that was my next question. AFIA introduced the certification for warehouse, storage and distribution facilities. What need did that address for the industry and what kind of operations should pursue this?
Provost: We heard this from our facilities. There really was an interest in being able to certify those warehouse, storage and distribution facilities, so facilities that aren't actually manufacturing feed products or ingredients, but maybe hold, transport, or distribute those products, and really would like to be able to obtain that certification, as well. It really was an industry demand, and we found that when they were trying to go through the manufacturing process, because they're not manufacturing, there were so many clauses that were not applicable to what they were doing in their facility. So, industry came to us with this interest, and we worked with our auditors and our certifying bodies to create this new certification that's focused just on warehouse, storage and distribution facilities. It's now up and running, so any new warehouse, storage and distribution facilities that are interested in getting the certification have that option available to them now.
Schafer: Now that FDA and state feed control officials are managing inspection programs with fewer resources and heightened expectations, what role can voluntary third-party certification programs play in helping facilities strengthen compliance and prepare for inspections?
Provost: That's a great question, and the Safe Feed/Safe Food certification program is actually built around some of those regulatory requirements. So, our program considers FDA regulations for medicated feed, as well as Food Safety Modernization Act requirements for animal food. So, we find that facilities that are certified through our Safe Feed/Safe Food certification should be less likely to have what we call 483 observations in those regulatory certs inspections; that facilities with a Safe Feed/Safe Food certification tend to be more prepared to deal with those FDA inspections. There are no guarantees here, obviously, and attaining a Safe Feed/Safe Food certification doesn't ensure a facility is not going to have any issues, but it certainly makes sure that they're better prepared for those FDA audits as they come through.
Schafer: Now, more than 1 ,000 facilities today hold at least one Safe Feed/Safe Food certification. For those already certified, what does moving to Version 8 look like, and is recertification required?
Provost: It is. Safe Feed/Safe Food certification is an ongoing certification, so facilities have to continue coming through and getting those audits and making sure that they're remaining in compliance. An audit kind of covers one point in time, so, again, that continuous improvement piece that is an underlying part of our Safe Food/Safe Food certification is still important here. As they come back through and are audited and certified under Version 8 again, hopefully it's a more streamlined and simplified process for facilities to go through as they're working with their auditors and our certifying bodies that do those audits.
Schafer: Finally, where can facilities go to learn more or start the certification process?
Provost: Yeah, safefeedsafefood.org is the website that facilities can go to if they're interested in obtaining a certification. That can kick you off on the process, answer any questions that you have, has some great resources to provide overviews, as well as some comparisons between Version 7 and Version 8 for those facilities who are curious about what changes they can expect in this new certification.
Schafer: Well, Megan, thank you so much for sharing these updates with us today.
Provost: It was great to be here with you. Thanks for the opportunity.
Schafer: That's all for today's Feed & Grain Chat. If you'd like to learn more, go to safefeedsafefood.org. And to get more Feed & Grain expert insights, sign up for the Industry Watch daily e-newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or go to feedandgrain.com for today's top story and featured content. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll tune in next time.
