Trouble getting manufacturer information from agent
Most of our ingredients are imported from various countries and we rely on the manufacturers technical/product data to confirm suitability and evaluate the food safety risks associated with each product. The challenge is where agents import (by name) the same product from various manufacturers, COA's are provided, but the parameters differ or the limits vary. Especially for chemicals used as food ingredients- the agent stamped the COA supplied, but it is frustrating to get food safety certification proof or data sheets from the actual manufacturers to confirm that they actually comply with food safety requirements. Please share your experience to make this effort less painful and more effective.
Most of our ingredients are imported from various countries and we rely on the manufacturers technical/product data to confirm suitability and evaluate the food safety risks associated with each product. The challenge is where agents import (by name) the same product from various manufacturers, COA's are provided, but the parameters differ or the limits vary. Especially for chemicals used as food ingredients- the agent stamped the COA supplied, but it is frustrating to get food safety certification proof or data sheets from the actual manufacturers to confirm that they actually comply with food safety requirements. Please share your experience to make this effort less painful and more effective.
Dear Leonie,
Theoretically your post embraces all of BCP(A) characteristics. I will try "C" .
From a FS POV, the ingredients should obviously be classified as Food Grade. If your comment is that there is no unique global standard for a given ingredient as to what specification qualifies the designation of Food Grade you are indubitably correct.
The simple (and predictable) reason is human diversity, eg different Countries / different Industries / different Governments have different opinions.
Certain organisations, eg Codex have attempted to offer Encyclopedias to act as standard references for basic chemical ingredients / restricted categories of ingredients, etc but in practice the sheer scope is near infinite and similarly the degrees of contentiousness. Also not to ignore the potential for commercial, political, etc aspects to interact with purely FS factors.
Perhaps as a starting suggestion, one might suggest that any COA should, minimally, reference its (accessible) source for a claim that the data presented is supportive of Food Grade status. IMEX such info. is often non-existent.
Rgds / Charles.C
Hello Leonie,
I feel your pain, some of our agent suppliers are being less than co-operative at the moment with regard to giving details of the manufacturer.
I have had some sucess offering to sign a non disclosure agreement. If you do know the name of the manufacturer, you could check out the BRC directory and the FSSC directory to verify their certification status... of course that might not be so useful if they're not certified or you need the report, but it is at least a start.
https://viasyst.net/fssc- FSSC Directory
Good Luck :)
Tom