Supply of safe products is of importance for suppliers and producers. Therefore the products are tested on the presence of contaminants. For many compounds legal limits are adopted by law. The private certification scheme GMP+ FSA imposes additional sectorial limits to the animal feed sector.
On top of this, SecureFeed can impose additional (non-statutory) standards. Decision-making regarding these additional standards will be in coordination with relevant parties in the animal production chain.
SecureFeed is focussed on pro-active prevention of incidents. However, there is always risk of contamination. If exceedance of an action/rejection limit has been determined by analysis, the participant is required to report this to SecureFeed. SecureFeed will take actions to contain and mitigate the risk; for example by sending other participants and chain partners a warning message (SecureFeed Alert).
More about SecureFeed action and rejection limits
SecureFeed sets action and rejection limits for certain contaminants in the various types of animal feed. An action limit is a certain level (of a contaminant) that should be achievable in consultation with the sector, supplier or buyer. If this action limit is exceeded, an investigation should be carried out into the cause and corrective measures should be taken to eliminate or limit the cause. Action limits are usually 75% of the rejection limit.
The adoption of action limits can help detect a possible contamination in an early stage so preventive measures can be taken. This prevents the exceedance of rejection limits aimed at ensuring food and feed safety.
A rejection limit is a level of a certain contaminant which (when exceeded) will lead to batch rejection. The batch needs to be removed from the food production chain due to the presence of the contaminant. The participant is required to report the exceedance of a rejection limit to SecureFeed immediately. A rejection limit is often based on legal and sectoral (GMP+ FSA) norms, but can also be an non-statutory norm. The establishment of non-statutory norms by SecureFeed is done in collaboration with partners in the animal production chain.
The overview of action and rejection limits for various contaminants is included in the Quality Handbook. This overview is revised annually or when changes to legal or GMP+ FSA norms are adopted. The analysis results of the monitoring plans may also give cause to revise rejection or action limits.