NEW ROCHELLE, NY — LGS Specialty Sales has renewed its Safe Quality Food (SFQ) certification under the new module specific to importer/broker agents in the food sector category, discovering in the process that it is the first in the U.S. to do so.

“This level of food safety extends beyond us as a company to the companies we do business with and the facilities we use,” said LGS’s Food Safety Director, Kristina Kovac. “These entities are also compliant with requirements. If they don’t have their own certification, we send in an auditor to help them become certified or ensure they are in a continuous improvement plan to do so. This move reassures our customers that every entity partnering with LGS in the supply chain is handling produce in the safest and highest-quality manner.”

LGS originally obtained the SQF Level 2 certification in July of 2014, according to the company, when it introduced a new module specific to LGS and other broker agents’ category.

“We as a company have always held a deep commitment to food safety,” Joseph DeNardo, who oversees LGS’s special projects, commented in a press release. “Even at the start, we had a computer system in place that allowed us to trace product back to its source. Today, not only does food safety remain critically important to us as a company — and to the produce industry as a whole — but there is more demand nowadays from consumers to know who grew their food, where it was grown, and that it is safe.”

This certification shows that LGS can present just that. According to Kristina, the certification body the company goes through during the rigorous process confirmed it is the first in the country to do so.

LGS first sought this achievement as part of its longtime commitment to food safety in 2013, completing modules 2 (Systems Elements) and 11 (Good Manufacturing Practices for Processing of Food Products), the most applicable at the time. It was the following year in 2014 when Module 14 was introduced (Food Safety Fundamentals — Good Manufacturing Practices for Food Brokers and Agents) that the company renewed its standing and jumped ahead  of the curve.

Registered companies and customers can view all SQF certifications and categories by searching for companies in the SQF Database.

According to the company, SQF Level 2 is part of the benchmarked Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), widely recognized within the food industry and continually updated. Used in many countries where regulations are ever-changing, certification criteria is also renewed consistently to keep pace with those requirements.

LGS Specialty Sales