One philosophy sums up our food safety procedures: We all want to sleep like babies tonight.
Initiative Foods manufactures under a strict set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that cover every aspect of production. Whether we are receiving, producing or shipping, each activity has rigid procedures and documentation to make sure they are followed. Among them:
- Good manufacturing processes: We follow GMPs and meet all requirement of FDA/USDA regulations.
- HACCP: Our operation is broken into two processes. Critical control points are continuously monitored and we have the rules in place to handle any critical control point that does not meet specification. Our HACCP is formally reviewed every six months to determine if we need to make improvements.
- GSFPI certified: Our plant is certified though BRC Issue 6: http://www.brcglobalstandards.com/
- Lab testing: Raw materials and finished goods are tested at pre-defined intervals to protect against areas such as pesticide residue, heavy metals and microbial activity. Other tests can be conducted based on your needs.
- Foreign material contamination protection: We have safety equipment throughout the plant to prevent foreign materials from coming in contact with the raw materials and the finished baby foods. This process includes inline metal detection, several screens to prevent stems, skin or seed from entering the puree, a jar inverter, covered conveyers and an X-ray machine that checks every bottle for any hard foreign material contamination.
Employee training: All employees are checked through the E-Verify program with the SSA/Homeland Security to verify eligibility, and drug testing is mandatory. Every employee receives training annually in different areas of food safety, including Better Process Control School courses and HACCP.