Alltech has 13 products listed on Where Food Comes From, Inc.’s, newly launched ‘Feed Verified.’ The resource is for livestock producers, feed companies and food brands alike to confirm a particular ingredient or feed product meets a specific verification or certification requirement.
Alltech’s 13 products meet the Non-GMO Project’s standard for feed inputs, and certifications for Non-Hormone Treated Cattle (NHTC), USDA NeverEver3 (Verified Natural) and GAP 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating™.
“Alltech has always been a leader in innovative technologies for the animal health industry,” said Dave Pfenninger, North American beef coordinator for Alltech. “Our focus is on natural nutritional solutions, which has made us a good fit for emerging verification programs. But, oftentimes the program requirements are multifaceted and only continue to grow in complexity, so we knew we needed the right partner to ensure our continued compliance in the marketplace.”
The first of its kind, Feed Verified is an innovative resource that will house a real-time listing of approved feed products and ingredients by name, while indicating the verification or certification programs for which each product is approved. The listing is multi-species, and includes direct hyperlinks to the individual product websites for easy access to additional information and/or purchasing opportunities.
“A critical aspect of verifying certain livestock production practices is knowing, tracking and confirming what an animal eats,” said John Saunders, chairman and CEO of Where Food Comes From, Inc. “It may sound simple, but you have to take a step back and think about the complexity of what we are looking at. Five years ago we were only concerned about animal by-products. Today it is that plus antibiotics, growth promotants, genetically modified organisms, organic ingredients, even the percentage of forage or protein. I could go on, but the reality is that feed is emerging as the new risk in value-added livestock production. It only takes the tiniest of ingredients to disqualify an entire generation of animals from a specific verification program, even when everything else is done exactly right. That is exactly why Feed Verified came to be. We want to do everything in our power to enable farmers and ranchers to be transparent about how they are producing food, and Feed Verified is another tool to help them succeed in that endeavor.”
Many of the top players in the food industry have been utilizing the resources provided by Where Food Comes From, Inc. One of the public ways in which some of them use the information is by displaying label and QR codes that provide consumers with further details on the food they are purchasing.
Alltech’s products are produced under the Alltech Quality System (AQS), which is recognized throughout the feed industry as a standard to follow. The AQS delivers the exact same level of quality assurance and traceability in each of Alltech’s geographical markets, based on a uniform process designed to meet and exceed other third-party systems of certification.