Food Safety Services

Food safety by and for organic.

Want to produce safe, organic produce while still protecting the environment? Are your buyers requiring a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarked food safety certification, or requesting third party audit reports prior to approving a sale? Do you need to get your organic farm in compliance for the coming Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements? If so, we can help you get there. CCOF brings our certification expertise, service, integrity, and innovation to field-level food safety. CCOF’s GLOBALG.A.P. certification and assessments have multiple programs to meet the needs of different buyers. We anticipate the implementation of FSMA rules may require assessment and/or certification in order to sell product to retailers. 

Talk to your buyers to determine which program you need!

Food Safety for Farms:

• IFA: Integrated Farm Assurance – GFSI benchmarked certification. Top-level program. Important for exports. Includes food safety, traceability, environmental sustainability, and worker welfare.
  • FSMA Produce Rule Add-on to the IFA – Addendum checklist to address control points in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule (PSR) not already covered in the IFA checklist. Results in a certificate to provide to retailers and other value-chain participants as evidence of a producer’s efforts towards FSMA implementation. 
• HPSS: Harmonized Produce Safety Standard – GFSI benchmarked certification. Incorporates United Fresh’s Harmonized Standards and is a great way for smaller producers to prep for FSMA.
• Option 1 & 2 Multisite with Quality Management System (QMS) – Individual producer or group of individuals with multiple production locations who implement QMS to reduce the number of site inspections.

Food Safety for Packing Houses:

• Produce Handling Assurance (PHA) – New food safety standard for the pre-process production steps after the point of harvest for crops including cooling, packing, re-packing, handling, and storage of produce for human consumption. Applying for GFSI in 2018, pending approval in 2020.

For more information about eligibility, program benefits, and requirements, review the CCOF GLOBALG.A.P. Certification Program Manual.

Start the application process today or contact us to explore your needs.

Food Safety Advocacy

Producing safe food is a priority for organic and conventional producers alike. To help our members stay acquainted with issues that may affect them, we monitor food safety laws and regulations, comment on them, and provide regular updates. Learn more about food safety regulations and our work in this area.