AIB International’s Gold Standard and Bakers Quality Seal integrated quality system programs provide food companies an effective method to ensure that food safety and quality are at the highest levels to satisfy the demands of consumers and the companies that serve them in the expanding global marketplace.
"Fifty years ago communities consumed locally- or nationally-produced food products according to seasonal changes," said Dr. Maureen Olewnik, Vice President of Audit and Technical Services. "Today, supermarkets supply just about any kind of food item, from any part of the world, at any time of the year and because a failure in the food chain can have a worldwide impact with the potential to affect millions of consumers, the need to assure wholesome, safe and quality food products is higher than ever before."
By holding every aspect of food company operations to the most stringent requirements, the Gold Standard and Bakers Quality Seal programs provide just the kind of safeguards modern food companies need to compete in the global marketplace while protecting their investment in their brand. At its most basic level, the Gold Standard and Bakers Quality Seal require that food processors assess how well their production systems meet the requirements that the food they produce is wholesome, safe, and of the highest possible quality.
The Gold Standard and Bakers Quality Seal will be awarded when a company has proved it has fully integrated its sanitation, food safety, and quality programs through:
GMP Audit Qualification (unannounced) assures that the facility meets the fundamental requirements of sanitation and prerequisite programs.
HACCP program review and verification for facility accreditation assures the highest level of food safety.
Product Evaluation/Scientific and Physical Qualification verify the consistency in quality of finished products and ingredients used in processing, and compliance to FDA-mandated label regulations through a full review of packaged material.
Quality Systems Evaluation verifies that quality systems that minimize food safety risks and maintain product quality are in place and functioning.
Production Audit Qualification (required only for the Bakers Quality Seal program) reviews production organization, process control, verification of certificates of analysis, customer compliance to specifications, and compliance to internal standard operating procedures.
CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS. Participants say that the programs deliver what they promise — and more, but it’s hard work. East Balt Commissary, Chicago, Ill., a dedicated McDonald’s Corp. supplier of hamburger buns and English muffins, was the first baking facility to achieve the AIB Baker’s Quality Seal certification. Mike Roberts, president, McDonald’s USA, said, "East Balt Commissary is a solid partner with McDonald’s and has always led McDonald’s suppliers in defining higher standards. The Baker’s Quality Seal is a further example of East Balt’s willingness to ‘raise the bar’ on quality." Roberts also challenged McDonald’s other suppliers to rise to the same challenge.
Louise Locke, Bakers Quality Seal team leader, said that much of the actual work to achieve the BQS falls on management. But a corollary benefit of the program is the way it pulls the entire plant together into a functioning team that understands not only their own jobs but how they relate to every other job in terms of quality and food safety. Since earning the first BQS, East Balt plants in Denver, Colo., and Kissimmee, Fla., have also earned the Bakers Quality Seal. "Now everyone knows why we’re working so hard to keep the bakery so clean. It brought the company together as a whole," Locke said. "It would have been impossible to get the Quality Seal without everybody on board. It’s not just a temporary goal. It’s one thing to get the certificate on the wall; it’s another thing to keep it there."
Five McCain Foods plants have also met all the requirements to earn AIB’s Gold Standard Certification. "The Gold Standard absolutely made us a better plant," said a McCain quality assurance manager. "The whole process helped us find areas we needed to improve and how to implement the things we needed. It was a very good training process for us. Making sure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities is one of the greatest benefits. Part of the uniqueness of the Gold Standard is getting in there during each of the audits and interviewing people on the floor level to find out for example, ‘What is the role of HACCP?’ Management assumes that everyone understands their roles but sometimes there’s a disconnect."
Education, team building, and sharing new solutions were intangible benefits to McCain as a result of achieving the Gold Standard. It helps put a system in place to achieve food quality and food safety by examining every element of a program with a fine tooth comb and identifying areas where improvements can be made. The Gold Standard process encourages participation from every employee and provides them with a better understanding of every department’s role and how everyone’s jobs are intertwined. The Gold Standard Certification is demanding but is worth the effort to achieve and maintain.
A NEW DAY. The Bakers Quality Seal or the Gold Standard proves that you have taken the responsibility to put in place, and practice, world-class food safety, production control, and continuous improvement systems. In the past, it was okay to have AIB audit your plant to verify your cleaning and pest control systems. Today, you must certify that your systems control all aspects of production, from ingredient control to product consistency.
Dr. Olewnik said, "These are the first programs of management that allow a company to prove and publicly acclaim that they have a fully integrated food safety and quality control system that has been certified by an outside expert company."
To discuss your company’s participation in either of these programs, contact Dr. Maureen Olewnik at 785/537-4750 or molewnik@aibonline.org. AIB