Food Certification

SQF (Safe Quality Food) certification is a product certification system for food that was first developed in Australia in 1995. A rigorous, trusted food safety and quality program recognized by retailers, brand owners and food service providers around the world. It has been owned and managed by FMI in the United States since 2003, and SQFI, a department under FMI, is carrying out tasks such as developing certification standards and training auditors. Recognized by the Global Food Safety Institute (GFSI), SQF certification is designed to meet industry, customer and regulatory requirements for all sectors of the food supply chain, from farm to retail store. SQF certification establishes a process to establish a comprehensive food safety management system on your farm, warehouse, or facility and then evaluates that process through annual audits.

Certification is possible if you receive a grade of “C – complies” or higher in the initial certification audit. If you receive a grade of “C – complies” during the initial certification audit or re-certification audit, a surveillance audit will be conducted 6 months later. New scores and grades will be assigned at the surveillance audit, but the re-certification audit schedule will not be affected. The re-certification audit is conducted 12 months after the initial certification audit and is scored in the same manner as the initial certification audit. As with the initial certification audit, you must receive an audit grade of “C – complies” or higher to renew your certification.

Score	Rating	Certification	Audit Frequency
96-100	E – Excellent	Certificate issued	12 monthly re-certification audit
86 – 95	G – Good	Certificate issued	12 monthly re-certification audit
70 – 85	C – Complies	Certificate issued	6 monthly surveillance audit
0 – 69	F – Fails to comply	No certificate issued	Considered to have failed the SQF audit