The Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC)’s CanadaGAP (On-Farm Food Safety) Program has announced in a press release the addition of a new certification body for the programme in Guelph Food Technology Centre (GFTC).
“We’re pleased to have GFTC involved in CanadaGAP as participants will now have more choice in selecting their service provider for certification,” said Heather Gale, CanadaGAP national programme manager.
GFTC joins QMI-SAI Global in the list of available certification bodies for CanadaGAP.
Third-party certification bodies are licensed by the CHC to provide audit and certification services for producers and packers of fresh fruit and vegetables who are enrolled in the programme.
Participants must comply with food safety standards outlined by the programme, and undergo and successfully complete on-farm audits in order to become CanadaGAP-certified.
Several Canadian buyers – including Loblaw Companies Limited, McCain Foods Canada, Simplot Canada and Lamb-Weston – are requiring that growers become certified by CanadaGAP.
New participants to CanadaGAP are asked to indicate their chosen certification body on the programme enrolment form.
Producers, storage operators and packers that are already CanadaGAP-certified will be contacted to confirm their selected certification body before their next scheduled audit.
