Gum Guru Guest Blogger:
Ian Sklar, Director Quality & Regulatory Affairs

Looking back on 2008 and 2009, concerns over the safety of our food supply vied for attention alongside the ailing economy and Tiger Wood’s indiscretions.  Melamine from China, Salmonella in peanut butter and E. coli on leafy greens have made national headlines and spurred action in the government and private sector alike.  President Obama has focused on food safety as a major initiative appointing aggressive food safety leaders in the FDA.  Both the Senate and the House have drafted sweeping food safety legislation.

At TIC Gums, we have always realized that safe food is not optional. We have continuously taken a pro-active approach to ensure the safety of our products.  We have embarked on 3^rd party audits to gauge the effectiveness of our systems since 1992.  In 2001 we implemented a HACCP-based approach to food safety, a preventive measure that to this day is not required for our industry but we feel is key.  As 3^rd party audits have evolved we have embraced the improvements.  We began with AIB and have maintained 17 consecutive years of the highest ranking “Superior”.  In 2006 we added FPA-SAFE (now GMA-SAFE) to our toolbox and scored >98% in our subsequent audits.  In 2010, we will continue to raise the bar and hold ourselves to even higher standards in our pursuit of Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification; one of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) family of audits recently adopted by Wal-Mart and held in high industry regard.