Recommendations to control food safety for products produced by a co-manufacturer

Hi All

I work for a cheese manufacturer which is certified with SQF at Food Quality level. I am developing specific procedure(s) to assure food safety for products which are produced by an approved co-manufacturer which is not GFSI certified. 

Products: ready to eat shredded cheese(s), air packed or MAP packed, refrigerated storage 

Drafted procedure:

(1) At Co-manufacturer end 

- Annually collect HACCP documents (Letter of Guarantee, Product Spec, Production Flowchart, HACCP table etc..)

- Obtain COA per shipment from the co-manufacturer

- Perform supplier audit (annually or every 6 months) which includes documents/records review and on-site audit  

- Co-manufacturer must specially properly implement these programs: Food Allergen Control Program, Environmental Monitoring       Program, Sanitation, Foreign Matter Control Program in addition to other pre-requisite programs/SOPs  

(2) At receiving 

- Collect samples and test for pathogen of concern. Hold and release.   

- Annually assesses the supplier using co-manufacturer (or supplier) score card

Any other recommendations to add to the procedure above

Thank you,

O.C

I'd also review their pest control and trace procedures to ensure they can fully trace and have mass balance of the product. 

This looks like a job for SQF Supplier Approval.  I attached a pdf that goes over everything needed.  Its a good place to check and see if anything is missing and gives good guidance on what Edition 9 is looking for.  Hope it helps.

Cheers!

You could also use this for co-manufacturer.  Similar guidance from SQF from edition 9.

Cheers!

Why aren't they GFSI certified?  I would strongly encourage it to them.  It is almost unheard of for food manufacturers not to be certified in this day and age.

Why aren't they GFSI certified?  I would strongly encourage it to them.  It is almost unheard of for food manufacturers not to be certified in this day and age.

I believe this to be a misconception.  As a small company that primarily works with small companies, both on the supplier and customer side, this far more common than you would expect.  Less than 1% of our customers inquire about food safety, and of those that do, a HACCP or GMP certification in addition to a supplier questionnaire will satisfy their requirements.

Agree with Spidey: I'm currently working for a very small company (7 workers) co-packing products for many brands - and this company's never been GFSI certified, only federally registered. That's been OK with the customers so far.

With smaller companies I have seen them get away with just answering the supplier questionnaire and a letter saying that food safety standards are monitored and a clear plan for cleaning procedures and cross contamination controls is in place.

Its not great but at least it is something.

Cheers!