Salmon farmers seek certification under FMI's Safe Quality Food program
SQF-labeled product may hit supermarkets by the fall
Salmon of the Americas and the Food Marketing Institute are teaming up to encourage U.S., Canadian and Chilean farmed-salmon producers to seek certification under the voluntary Safe Quality Food program.
The SQF program, which was implemented in Australia in 1994 and acquired by FMI last year, enables food suppliers to ensure their products are raised and handled under the world’s most rigorous food-safety and quality-control standards, says Paul Ryan, the program’s executive director. FMI represents about 1,500 food retailers and wholesalers worldwide.
Suppliers are audited by an internationally accredited, SQF-approved independent certifier. Certified suppliers are allowed to market their products using one of two labels — SQF 1000 Code (for primary producers) or SQF 2000 Code (for processors).
More than 4,000 companies in 17 countries, including an Australian salmon farmer and Vietnamese shrimp and basa farmers, are certified under the SQF program.
Farmed-salmon producers are expected to begin seeking certification under the SQF program in August, with SQF-labeled product reaching supermarkets as early as the fall, says Ryan. The SQF label would appear on
packaging or, in the case of fresh product, on a sticker, poster, banner or ice pick.
Ryan says the Chilean farmed-salmon producers he met with in January are “enthused” by the partnership. “They feel like the SQF program has a lot to offer and they feel like they’re going to get a lot out of it,” he says.
The SQF program is based on the HACCP (hazard analysis critical control points) program, which all domestic and foreign seafood producers have been required since 1997 to abide by to sell product in the United States.
However, no universal set of responsible practices exist encompassing all facets of farmed-salmon production, including food safety, quality control, environmental effects and worker welfare, says Alex Trent, SOTA’s executive director in Princeton, N.J. At press time, SOTA was developing a standardized set of responsible practices to be administered under the SQF program.
“This will give retailers confidence, and they can pass that confidence on to consumers,” he says. “Certified is a very powerful word with consumers.”
Ryan says it will take time for U.S. consumers to become familiar the SQF label, because there’s not much SQF-labeled product in the U.S. market yet.
“At this point, our emphasis is on communicating the benefits of the SQF program to retailers,” says Ryan. “We haven’t looked at marketing. We’re leaving that up to the retailers.”
There’s no guarantee that SQF-labeled product will fetch a premium, adds Ryan. But he assures suppliers that under the SQF program they’ll operate more efficiently and increase productivity. — S.H.
April 2005
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