Newport Mills boasts int'l safety rating

"THE SAFE feed we are offering Jamaican farmers and consumers is helping to secure the future of our livestock sector," says Dr Velton Gooden, quality systems manager at Newport Mills Ltd, which manufactures the Nutramix line of animal feeds. "We believe this is of critical importance in ensuring our producers and consumers can be integrated members of the safe-food chain," he adds.

Gooden's comments come against the background of the company having just completed its first full calendar year of supplying Jamaica and the Caribbean with quality feeds from Jamaica's only feed mill to boast a combination of top international quality and safety certifications. These are the ISO Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001:2008), Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).

"At a time when Jamaican companies are grappling with several export-related challenges, this is a significant achievement," Gooden notes.

This is as a result of rigorous enforcement of a strong quality-management system involving the entire team at Newport Mills, and investments totalling more than US$10 million over the last five years, which ensure that Nutramix feeds are produced in an ultra-modern, ultra-safe facility. This is a vitally important step in the process to provide safe food 'From Farm to Fork' which saw the company receiving the coveted Bureau of Standards Jamaica's Quality Award for 2011 for Excellence in Process Management.

Dr Gooden underscores the importance of this achievement: "International food-safety standards are becoming more and more demanding. Very soon, we will only be able to market livestock products such as milk, eggs and meats from farms and processing plants that can guarantee that the entire production process is safe."

Stringent regulations

In fact, the United States, one of Jamaica's most important trade partners, is this month implementing new, more stringent regulations under its Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA). Signed into law in January 2011, the FSMA includes increased inspections to be carried out by the United States Food and Drug Administration whose representative are now in the island.

The Newport Mills food-safety drive has been achieved following major investments in infrastructure and equipment to upgrade its feed mill, continuous in-depth sensitising and training of staff, and the implementation of numerous quality-management systems. The final critical step involved an exacting process of auditing and certification at local and international levels. This standard of food-safety achievement is a first for a Jamaican agriculture-based company. Having achieved all three ISO 9001, HACCP and GMP certifications, Newport Mills actually has exceeded the new US Food Safety Modernisation Act's requirements, according to Gooden.