IFS in the US The international network of quality and safety standards described in a few words

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What is IFS?IFS Standards are safety and quality Standards that cover all the essential stages of the food supply chain. The IFS Standards are recognized by GFSI and are being utilized worldwide by manufacturers and service provid-ers. As the Standards use a risk-based approach, certified companies can demonstrate their products and services not only meet customer require-ments, but also meet the highest levels of quality and safety. The Stan-dards set by IFS meet the needs of all partners as they are developed by those in the industry, retailers and certification bodies.

Features and benefits of IFS Standards

> Risk based

> Offer risk-based implementation rather than a set of rigid guidelines.

> Scoring system

> Auditors assess whether a clause is fully, mostly, partially or not fulfilled. This allows all deviations to be noted without the stress or risk of failing the audit, which further allows a company to demonstrate continuous improvement.

> Product and process focused

> IFS Standards target the shop floor processes instead of only the company’s management system.

> Globally recognized

> IFS Certification is preferred and accepted worldwide by many retailers and customers that seek out reliable, high level suppliers and service providers.

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Packaging material production: IFS PACsecure

Developed together with PAC – the Packaging Consortium which represents 2,100 members throughout the packaging value chain. The Standard is used by companies of all sizes, large or small, throughout the US, Canada, and increasingly in South America.

The “audit checklist” is used extensively for the preparation of audits. It contains example questions that will be addressed to the company during the audit as well as examples for Major and KO situations.

Food production: IFS Food

Food manufacturers have always looked for reasonable ways to prove they have, support, and enforce safe production – not only since FSMA came into force. More than 15,000 sites around the world are certified with IFS Food. Consequently, retailers often ask their home-brand suppliers to become certified with IFS Food to demonstrate a high level of compliance as demands for those products increase.

Food

Storage and transportation: IFS Logistics

IFS Logistics is applicable to operations handling both packed food and non-food items. Many food service companies across North America have chosen IFS Logistics for their distribution centres, as the IFS Standards are mostly compliant with the new FSMA regulation.

Industry acceptance

US Foods

”Achievement of the GFSI objectives is accomplished through the adoption and implementation of one of several accepted certification systems. While these certification systems have a common foundation of requirements, which should provide consistent results when applied, they are not identical because they differ in terms of level of prescription and specifics. After careful consid-eration, US Foods decided to adopt the certification scheme offered by International Featured Standards (IFS).

The IFS Standard was selected for a number of reasons. It was expressly developed for Distribution & Logistics, the key elements of US Foods’ operations. It focuses on the adequacy of overall food safety systems, and has a customer focus that aligns well with US Foods’ principles. US Foods also felt that IFS had the strongest program of testing auditors. IFS also makes a commitment to provide training and support. For all these reasons, US Foods decided that the IFS Standard was the most attractive on the market.

From Thomas P. Lyon, Ravi Anupindi: “The Effects of IFS Certification on Business Performance at US Foods”

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We chose to implement IFS in our company because it is accepted by all our customers all over the globe, including here in Canada.”

Jenna Reid, Quality Control at Spa Springs Mineral Water Company Ltd.

When selecting a certified scheme for GFSI, I chose IFS PACsecure because it was built around packaging and matched our business profile the best compared to other schemes. I was appre-hensive at the beginning however after going through the Standard clauses and conducting risk assessments it truly made us look at our entire business and systems involved. During this process I also re-certified my HACCP training and was amazed how the IFS PACsecure Standard aligns itself to HACCP training and programs.

We have our audit scheduled but the process and support have been of great value to our company. I would highly recommend this Standard to any company that produces Flexible packaging.”

LeRoy Klein, Quality/Compliance Manager at Label Technology inc.

www.ifs-certification.com