Two companies have been awarded accreditations from the Pet Food Manufacturers Association’s (PFMA) new Raw Pet Food Certification Scheme.
Natural Dog Foods Direct and Poppy’s Picnic are the first suppliers to achieve the certificate, following a thorough audit of their ingredients, processes and systems. The awards were announced by Greg Van Praagh, founder of Benyfit Natural and one of the leaders of the scheme, at the PFMA Annual Convention in London earlier this month.
The new standard, conducted in partnership with certification body KIWA, covers raw materials, finished goods and management systems such as traceability and product recall mechanisms. The scope of the audit includes plant design, systems, training product formulation, handling, testing, quality checks and labelling.
Five other members of the PFMA are currently working through the process, and the scheme is also open to non-members.
Van Praagh said: “We wanted to create a high industry standard, so that companies could gain ‘earned recognition’, and this is a world-leading scheme.
“By encouraging best practice and a self-regulation environment, this will help government agencies, and help industry the as a whole to recover cost.
“This scheme will create a level playing field for all manufacturers, whether they are a member of the organisation or not, and will protect our industry, our dogs and our consumers.”
