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Quality Systems
We have the following quality systems in place to ensure the ingredients you receive from us are safe and consistently meet our specifications:
ISO 9001:2000.
This international quality standard serves as a yardstick for the entire production and delivery process, from initial order to end product and/or service. It offers an approach to monitoring quality throughout the production process, and requires continuous improvement of our processes. We are ISO 9001:2000 approved for our production and our storage processes, for our sales activities and development of products.
Audits: every 6 months by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance
AIB: American Institute of Baking
The AIB Consolidated Standards for Food Safety were developed for food processors to use to evaluate the food safety risks and compliance levels to the criteria in the Standards. Within AIB the following practices are judged:
· Adequacy of food safety program
· Pest control
· Operational methods and personnel practices
· Maintenance for food safety
· Cleaning practices
We have gone through a continuous improvement process, and received the score "Superior" since 2005 for our production and storage processes.
Audits: every 12 months by the American Institute of Baking
BRC: certification by the British Retail Consortium
The British Retail Consortium is the lead trade organisation representing the whole range of British retailers. It developed the Global Food Standard. In particular, the main supermarket chains in Europe specifically recognize BRC standards as guaranteeing the assurance that all food safety requirements have been met and that the procedures to achieve the highest quality have been conducted in a failsafe and proven manner.Our Dutch production facilities are certified as “grade A”, which is the highest level of the four-tier grade system. Audits: every 12 months by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance
H.A.C.C.P: Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
HACCP is a preventive quality control system. It monitors food safety at each critical point in production. HACCP is invaluable in preventing potentially harmful situations, which may be caused by contaminants, chemicals, foreign objects, pathogenic micro-organisms, raw materials and unusual storage conditions.
Audits: every 6 months by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance
ISO 17025: Lab accreditation
The ISO 17025 is a world wide recognized laboratory standard. It puts procedures in place to assure the validity of test results generated by the lab. Our cocoa laboratories in Holland are accredited against this standard and will operate as competence centre within the business unit.
Audits: every 6 months by the Dutch Accreditation Body (RVA)
ISO 14001: Standard for Environmental Management Systems
The ISO 14001 standard focusses on prevention of environmental incidents, reduction of energy use and waste, and judges our legal compliance with environmental laws. It requires a continuous improvement of environmental performance.
Audits: every 6 months by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance
OHSAS 18001: Occupational health and safety management systems
Objectives:
· A save and pleasant work place for our employees and contracters
· Legal compliance with Dutch ARBO law.
Safety at work is our top priority. All our efforts, investments, management systems and results are audited by a third party to maintain and improve our safety performance.
ISPM 15: International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures
Focusses on:
· Guidelines for wood packaging materials in international trade
· Marking of wood
· Inspections of producers of wooden packaging materials
Objective: to prevent the spread of harmful insects through wooden packaging materials.
Our pallets are treated according to ISPM 15, and marked with a stamp accordingly.
Kosher
Religious standard for Jews.
Audits: every 12 months by the Orthodox Union
Halal
Religious standard for Islamites
Certification by Islamic Counsil of Europe
We have monitoring programs in place for:
· Heavy metals
· Cadmium
· Lead
· Pesticide residues
· Mycotoxins (Aflatoxins and Ochratoxins)
These systems apply in any case for our Dutch facilities, and in most cases for our other European plants and our processing plant in Ivory Coast.
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