Organic Testing Requirement for GFSI Audits

Annually we send out a product or raw material for Organic testing, is this a requirement for any GFSI audit. This cost a fortune of about 1,800.00 this year and would like to avoid it if possible.

Stacy 

I do not do organic testing, and I am a GFSI facility. I sure hope it's not a requirement!

What you may run into is that your program states you perform this annual test, and very probably has it listed in the program as part of your validation the organic program is working as intended. You also might have some reasoning in your validation as to why it's performed. And if all of that is the case, and you still want to change it ($1,800 a year is pretty cheap imo), there might be some 'system plan' changes that you need to communicate to your FS committee and document, depending on what GFSI you are under.

Annually we send out a product or raw material for Organic testing, is this a requirement for any GFSI audit. This cost a fortune of about 1,800.00 this year and would like to avoid it if possible.

 

Stacy 

Do you claim on your label that your products are organic. If not, then you don't have to do it. 

I don't know of any specific "requirement" for testng organic, however if you show on your label that the product itself or ingredient(s) are organic you have to back up your claims and you will find wording to that effects in various gfsi standards.

For our new production, everything is organic, thus testing is mandatory - primary focus to prevent fraud from suppliers.

I seem to remember that is was a supplier that sent a load of STAR CORN to a processing facility that was only processing organic corn -- it kinda changed things, was not an oops - thus we will constantly run tests.

That's a  really small amount to pay for such importance, $1800. That's just a day of consulting.

I don't know scheme requirements in the US but in the UK most organic claims are backed up by the Soil Association so to be able to pass the section on claims for GFSI, you're going to have to pass the accreditation for another organisation as well.  Same as for HFA for Halal etc.  You need to be able to back up your claim.

If there is no claim scheme which is the "norm" in the US then you need something to prove you're compliant.  That would be around your contracts with suppliers, labelling, supplier approval etc.  Some testing would, to my mind, be sensible, and $1,800 is peanuts.  Not sure why that's being seen as expensive to be honest.  That's about 100 decent quality brushes with handles or probably one round when your CEO is buying drinks for their cronies.  Seriously, that's not a lot of money.  You will be wasting more in other inefficiencies.

Curious how you would "test" that something is organic. Sure you could test for the presence of pesticides/contaminants that are not allow in organic farming, but organic food is a bit more than that. Organic products in the USA have to comply with the USDA National Organic Program (NOP), and that compliance is usually assured by a certification body like QAI, OTCO, or others. If you're using a certified organic raw material, typically the assurance that the material truly is organic comes from verifying the supplier's certificate. You should be able to reference their certificate on the certification body's website to prove they're still in good standing and complying with organic rules. 

You can't just run a test for every aspect of organic compliance, their product could be free of all your pesticides of concern but their sanitation policies may not be compliant or their suppliers could be unverified. These issues could cost a business their certification, which in turn would result in their product no longer being certified organic.

I would look to TimG's point that you should dig into why this testing was performed. What sort of ingredient you're using may provide insight on why this testing was implemented as a means of validation. We are a certified organic handler and don't perform this kind of testing because our program assures compliance in other ways.

I don't know scheme requirements in the US but in the UK most organic claims are backed up by the Soil Association so to be able to pass the section on claims for GFSI, you're going to have to pass the accreditation for another organisation as well.  

NOP (National Organic Program) certifies us here, under various certifying bodies. It's under the USDA's portfolio. Probably my second most important audit of the year (behind SQF)

Edit: Well brothbro just answered this one!

Even if you claim your product to be organic, it is not a requirement. 

We manufacture organic finished items. As long as all of our ingredients meet organic requirements, there is no reason to test our goods. 

As for $1800 being cheap or not, it's relative. If your annual revenue is <50,000 gross, it is still expensive. Don't pour money down the drain!