Organic, Halal and Kosher Standards Certification and Requirements
Organic Standard
USDA's National Organic Program regulates the standards for any farm, wild crop harvesting, or handling operation that wants to sell an agricultural product as organically produced. These products contain at least 95–99% organic ingredients (by weight). The remaining ingredients are not available organically but have been approved by the NOP. These products may display the USDA Organic seal. In some countries, certification is overseen by the government, and commercial use of the term organic is legally restricted. Certified organic producers are also subjected to the same agricultural, food safety and other government regulations that apply to non-certified producers.
Kosher Standard for Food Processing
The Jewish religion incorporates within its tenets a regimen of dietary laws. These laws determine which foods are acceptable and conform to the Jewish Code. Kosher word is adaptation of the Hebrew word means "proper", in terms of food; it means eatable food which meets dietary requirements. The laws of “Kosher” include a comprehensive legislation concerning permitted and forbidden foods. There are several aspects to these dietary rules. We will consider each aspect in turn.
Halal Standard
In Arabic, the word Halal means permitted or lawful. Halal foods are foods that are allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines. Halal standard includes the prescribed method of slaughtering all meat sources excluding fish and most sea-life, as per Islamic law. Halal foods can be found in many Middle Eastern grocery shops. With the growing demand for Halal foods in some areas, some national supermarket chains are selling halal meats. Such food chain organizations require Halal certificate to ensure customers satisfaction for their religious dietary products.
Organic Certification
Organic certification addresses a growing worldwide demand for organic food. It is intended to assure quality and prevent fraud, and to promote commerce. As organics have grown in popularity, more and more consumers are purchasing organic food through traditional channels, such as supermarkets. As such, consumers must rely on third-party regulatory certification.
Kosher Certification
The process of kosher certification has been radically affected by deep changes in the food industry and by the fact that more than 80% of the products offered by the industry contain pre-processed ingredients. Industrialization presents marvelous opportunities, but the inexorable pace of change in industrial procedures and the complexity of foodstuffs and ingredients also present significant challenges for the kosher certification process. Punyam.com, having more than 25 years of experience in the Food Management Systems has raised to meet the requirements of KOSHER Certification consultancy in India.
Halal Certification
Halal certification mark is widely recognized in key Halal markets, such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The organizations may achieve Halal certificates in relation to any product, service or activity. The holders of such certificates have to ensure that the requirements of the Muslim law are complied within the production, processing, marketing or display of their products. After successfully completion of certification audit, which is conducted at their premises, the organizations can achieve Halal Certification.
Requirements of the Organic Standard in India involve a set of production standards for growing, storage, processing, packaging and shipping that include:
- No human sewage sludge fertilizer used in cultivation of plants or feed of animals.
- Avoidance of synthetic chemical inputs that are not on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.
- Use of farmland that has been free from prohibited synthetic chemicals for a number of years.
- Keeping detailed written production and sales records (internal auditing)
- Maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products
- Periodic on-site inspections.
Cheese Products: For hard cheeses, such as Cheddar, Muenster, Swiss, etc. to be certified kosher, they must be produced under constant supervision.
Meat, Poultry, and Fish: Meat, Poultry and Fish should be used as per kosher certified guidelines.
Wine, Grape Juice, and Grape Derivatives: All grape products and their derivatives must come from grapevine that has been supervised from the start to finish. Only such grape products may be certified and approved as kosher.
Fruits and Vegetables: Raw fruits and vegetables are approved for kosher use; however, kosher certification is really a testament that the washing system employed rids the product of all pests.
Following are the steps of Organic, Halal and Kosher consultancy followed by Punyam.com to implement effective system.
- Micro-level survey of the existing system,
- Conduct awareness program for all,
- Form a steering committee and task-force for documentation,
- Prepare documents,
- Implementation and training of all personnel in the use of procedures and formats,
- Assess the system through first internal audit,
- Take corrective actions for non-conformities and carry out management review meeting,
- Apply for certification,
- Final audit by certifying body,
- Take corrective actions on the non-conformities to the satisfaction of the certifying body.
- Leverages on the global market
- Leverages on small investment cost with huge potential growth in revenue
- Enhances competitive advantage in the global market place
- Provides greater assurance to consumers
- Expands company’s reputation in being able to meet varied customer needs
Our Strength for Food Safety Management System Consultancy
- We have a team of highly- experienced ISO consultant and globally certified lead auditors for Consulting Services
- Our team is having graduate/master degree of Engineering/management having more than 15+ years of experience in management system implementation for clients.
- Our consultants provide handholding support to clients in development and implementation of policies, plans, controls, documentation and record-keeping as well.
- 1000+ Food Safety Management System implementation in various industries in 15+ countries.
- Implemented 7000+ Man-days FSMS projects successfully
- We follow the latest standard industry best practices for FSMS implementation
- 100+ Editable documents for various management systems have been sold to our global clients
- 1000+ personnel of clients and other individuals trained by our ISO 22000 consultants for awareness, system implementation and auditor training through online/class room.
- Our FSMS consultants work with more than 50 leading International & National Certification Bodies such as BV; BSI; TUV; DNV; SGS; Lloyds; ISOQAR; NABL; IAS; UKAS, etc.
- Our clients had got benefits of continuous improvements and business excellence with use of our practical approach in consultancy projects.
- In our ready to use FSMS documentation package we provide 150+ editable sample document templates with more than 400 pages.