Jan 4, 2022
California Certified Organic Farmers now offers PrimusGFS food safety certification

California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) supports the growth of organic by providing service-oriented organic certification, diverse educational offerings, and dedicated policy work. Founded in California more than 40 years ago, today CCOF’s roots span the breadth of North America and the CCOF presence is internationally recognized.

CCOF logoCCOF offers an expanding suite of certification services and is now beginning to accept applications for PrimusGFS certification for farms, harvest crews, coolers/distributors, packinghouses and processors of produce.

Complementing its organic certification offerings, CCOF began offering GFSI benchmarked food safety certifications to the GLOBALG.A.P. standards in 2015 and is now expanding that offering to include PrimusGFS.

“There’s a lot of overlap between organic and food safety requirements,” Jacob Guth, food safety program manager for CCOF, said in a news release. “With a long history in organic, CCOF brings an important perspective to the food safety arena. “We have the highest KPI scoring out of any GLOBALG.A.P. certification body in the U.S. and we are well-positioned to expand of our GFSI offerings to include PrimusGFS,” Guth said.

“Producers trust us and know we approach certification with a high level of diligence and organic integrity,” Guth said. CCOF cultivates their food safety auditors to ensure quality work, with many of the inspector’s being able to conduct a single, combined organic and food safety inspection. By choosing CCOF for food safety certification, producers can rest assured that their inspectors are trained and well-versed in organic compliance. PrimusGFS offers a variety of certifications that can benefit organic producers and handlers.

CCOF also offers a variety of food safety trainings and webinars to familiarize growers and produce handlers with GFSI and federal food safety requirements. The comprehensive trainings instill the key elements for building a food safety plan, including how to create the necessary documents, how to train personnel in food safety, and how to successfully host a food safety audit.

CCOF has over 40 years of experience working directly with farmers and producers, guiding them through the steps of organic certification and ensuring that they meet all required standards for organic. The organization applies the same principles to their food safety program, helping organic producers access new markets. The end result brings more organic food to everyone’s table, increasing access to healthy, organic food nationwide.

To learn more about CCOF’s food safety services and new PrimusGFS offerings, visit the CCOF food safety webpage or contact foodsafety@ccof.org.

CCOF is a nonprofit organization governed by the people who grow and make food. Founded in California more than 40 years ago, its roots span the breadth of North America and its presence is internationally recognized. CCOF is supported by an organic family of farmers, ranchers, processors, retailers, consumers and policymakers.

For more information about CCOF, visit www.ccof.org.


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