SQF 2000 - Taking HACCP from Outer Space to Crescent!

Crescent, a longtime storage, packaging and transportation company headquartered in Cincinnati with several facilities in the Midwest, will be obtaining their SQF 2000 certification in 2012. SQF, or Safe Quality Food, is one of several HACCP based food safety standards recognized by the Global Food Safety Institute (GFSI). GFSI represents the strongest effort to date to harmonize food safety standards - not just in the US - but around the world!

SQF 2000 is based on HACCP. HACCP, or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, is a program comprised of seven key principles that has been used to ensure food safety during the manufacturing process.  HACCP was conceptualized by Pillsbury in 1959 when they were asked by NASA to provide food products with 100% guarantee of no microbiological, chemical or physical hazards – food that could be consumed by astronauts in zero gravity, where there was zero tolerance for food borne illness.

The HACCP program was a success. When a food safety incident involving under-processed soup caused several people to die in 1970, HACCP was adopted by the low-acid canning industry. Throughout the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s, HACCP came to be embraced by the World Health Organization, as well as by the FDA and USDA. Regulated principles have since been applied to seafood, meat, poultry, and other food industries.

Now, 50 some years later, major retailers are elevating their role in the food safety supply chain - and GFSI HACCP approved standards are the programs that are increasingly being mandated by them.

As a service provider to a diverse customer base - including several national food brands - Crescent fully understands the importance of our role in the supply chain. Although we have maintained Superior rated facilities to AIB, ASI and NSF standards over the past 20 years - and have been operating under HACCP principles for the past eight years - we feel that obtaining an SQF 2000 certification is an important next step to further increase the protection our customer’s products while in our care.

So from depths of outer space to our facilities across three US states, Crescent strives to enhance the value of our client’s products in the marketplace!