Southern States And HACCP Are Ensuring Feed Safety
Southern States is stepping out in front to assure customers that its feed is hazard-free.

A new certification program is being implemented by Southern States. It provides even greater assurance that the feed you buy is totally safe for your livestock.

The program is known as HACCP, which stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. Rich Schneider, feed marketing manager for Southern States, explains that HACCP is an international program designed to ensure the safety of all food and feed products. HACCP originated with NASA and Pillsbury Foods to assure the food safety of astronauts going into space.

"At this point, HACCP is a voluntary program," Schneider points out. "But Southern States has decided to get out in front of most of our competition by having all of the mills in our feed division HACCP certified by the spring of 2006.

The HACCP Principles Conduct a hazard analysis of the facility to identify potential biological, physical and chemical hazards. Identify critical control pointsÑpoints in the process that may require additional attention to ensure against hazards. Establish critical limitsÑminimum and maximum values in the process that determine the safety of the product. A good example is use of the right antibiotic at the proper dosage. Establish monitoring procedures. Determine who will do the monitoring. What? How? How often? Establish corrective actions. If something in the process falls outside of the critical limits, be prepared to determine what happened and why. Take steps to prevent it from recurring in the future. Establish verification procedures. Have in place a system for double-checking that all procedures have been followed. Establish recordkeeping procedures. Every step in the process for mixing each batch of feed must be written down for later trace-back documentation if necessary.

"To us, HACCP is more than a termÑit is value," Schneider says. "We want our customers to have full confidence in choosing us as their feed company. HACCP certification gives them the assurance that the feed products they buy from us are safe and healthy for their livestock."

A potential benefit of being able to feed HACCP-certified feed, in addition to the peace of mind it provides, may be that your animals have a higher value in the marketplace.

It's not that Southern States feeds weren't safe before. Matt Frederking, business analyst and manager of regulatory compliance for the Southern States feed division, explains that the manufacturing processes being used at the feed mills are not changing.

"What HACCP does is provide documentation so we can track any product from the time we bring it into our facility until it leaves," Frederking says. "We can assure the procedures that are in place to control the biological, physical and chemical hazards that could affect safety of the ingredients or feed have been followed to protect the product all the way through the manufacturing process."

To accomplish this objective, Southern States has instituted the seven principles established by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food (see sidebar).

"In simple terms," explains Frederking, "we have developed a program that lets us identify every ingredient, every product and every container that enters one of our facilities. We've looked at all the potential biological, chemical and physical hazards that may exist. Then we have set rigid procedures in place in order to prevent or control those hazards so the end product is safe to feed."

And the best news, Frederking adds, is that the new system will not impact the cost of the feed. "The price to the customer will not rise," he assures.

Mike Royal, is the manager of commercial feed accounts. He explains that HACCP has been spurred by the mounting concern of consumers for the safety of the milk, meat and eggs they eat.

"We want them to trust the brand for their livestock just as they would trust a food brand for their children." -Mike Royal

"Producers are constantly trying to stay a step ahead of the government regulations, which are food-safety driven. More and more, they are being charged with the responsibility of preventing problems from getting into the food chain that are the result of bacteria, salmonella and other diseases, as well as from drug residues," he says. "Using feed products from Southern States that are HACCP certified provide assurance that none of those problems are being introduced through the feed."

This offers an opportunity for the aggressive marketer seeking to differentiate his products from the rest of the marketplace, Royal adds. He explains that some markets may be willing to pay premiums for assurance that livestock have not been given feeds containing certain additivesÑfor example, products with restricteduse protein.

Tony Barwick of Sumter, S.C., who uses Southern States feeds to produce squab and Cornish game hens, agrees. "Consumers are demanding higher quality in the food they buy," he says. "HACCP gives us better control of our products, makes our quality better and enhances our ability to sell. It gives us another marketing tool."

Royal says Southern States' goal is to cement customer confidence in its feed products. "We want them to trust the brand for their livestock just as they would trust a food brand for their children," he says.