TECHNICAL RESOURCE CENTRE
This area is designed to assist Customer Technical departments by making commonly requested documents freely available for download. We endeavour to keep this bang up-to-date, but should you find anything is not as expected, please email us and we will deal with it immediately.
CERTIFICATION DOWNLOADS
British Retail Consortium - www.brc.org.uk
In 1998, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) responded to industry needs by developing and introducing technical standards designed to evaluate retail own label food manufacturer production processes. In a very short space of time, the standard became invaluable to other organisations and is now regarded as the benchmark for the very best practice in the food industry in addition to retail such as food service in chilled, frozen and ambient markets. Now the UK standard has evolved into a Global Standard used not just for private retailer suppliers but as an assessment for major brand manufacturers as well. Many UK, North American and European retailer and food service companies will only consider businesses with manufacturers and suppliers who hold Certification to the appropriate Global Standard.
Scottish Organic Producers Association - www.sopa.org.uk
SOPA's organic certification scheme is managed professionally on behalf of its members by Scottish Food Quality Certification Ltd (SFQC). The SOPA certification standard is accredited under EN450/11 by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). SOPA's Support and Development services are also contracted out to the SFQC utilising SFQC's extensive knowledge of the food industry and helping SOPA to raise its profile to the benefit of all its members. SOPA is a member of the UK Organic Certifiers Group (UKOCG), the Scottish Agricultural Organisations Society (SAOS) and the Scottish Farm Assurance Committee (SFAC).
RSPCA Assured www.rspca.org.uk/freedomfood
This is the RSPCA Assured and monitored farm assurance and food labelling scheme. It is the only UK farm assurance scheme to focus solely on improving the welfare of farm animals reared for food. The Freedom Food scheme covers every stage of a farmed Salmon's life, each stage governed by strict and compulsory RSPCA welfare standards. Not only do the RSPCA inspect farms against the RSPCA welfare standards, but also check the fish are handled transported and processed to RSPCA standards. Some Scottish Salmon farms have been certified by the RSPCA as meeting their criteria for Freedom Foods. This means providing Salmon with a stimulating environment that meets their needs and enables Salmon to exhibit their natural behaviours. As more of us look for food with higher welfare credentials, more farms are being encouraged to invest in farming this way.