Smithfield Foods – A Commitment to Food Safety

At Smithfield Foods, the safety of our products is of paramount importance and is a daily, global, operational priority. To ensure our ability to provide safe, wholesome foods for families throughout the world, we use a multitude of food safety processes and programs throughout our plants.

HACCP Programs — All Smithfield Foods processing facilities operate under proprietary HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) systems. The systems are designed to address all reasonably occurring physical, chemical and biological hazards. These systems are reviewed and validated annually by qualified third parties and our facilities typically score in excess of 90 percent on these audits.

Facility Design & Construction — Smithfield Foods is constantly improving the facilities and equipment to ensure a safer, higher-quality product. The “Smithfield Foods’ Facility Food Safety Guidelines & Specifications” manual is utilized by facilities to improve the physical buildings with the latest in food safety designs. The American Meat Institute Guidelines for Sanitary Equipment are utilized in conjunction with our equipment manufacturers in designing and modifying equipment to produce safer products.

Testing — Various microbiological testing programs are a major part of our ready-to-eat food safety programs.

These programs include:

1. environmental testing (plant structure, air and water)
2. equipment testing (contact and noncontact) both preoperational and operational
3. testing of personnel equipment
4. testing of raw materials
5. testing of finished ready-to-eat product

People — Smithfield Foods recognizes that more than anything, our people are the vital part of our food safety programs. In order to transfer knowledge and foster continuous improvement in food safety, the “Smithfield Foods’ Safety Council” was developed. This council consists of senior food safety professionals from each independent operating company and examines ways to incorporate new food safety innovations into our products and processes across Smithfield Foods.

Training — The Food Safety staffs of each independent operating company remain on the cutting edge of food safety by attending and speaking at educational seminars, professional meetings and regulatory meetings. Each company spends thousands of man-hours training their employees in proper food safety procedures.

All of us at Smithfield Foods never forget that we are working hard to produce the safest foods possible. We do this so that both our families and families throughout the world who eat our products can do so safely.