IDFA is pleased to announce that Readington Farms, Inc., of Whitehouse, N.J., has successfully met the requirements of IDFA's Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Certification Program. This certification tells customers and consumers that the Readington Farms processing operation has successfully passed an IDFA HACCP audit and that it complies with federal and state regulations and most third-party audit standards.

An IDFA member company, Readington Farms manufactures a variety of fluid milks, juices and juice drinks, and bottled water.

This HACCP Certification Program is a comprehensive and practical approach for food-product safety, quality enhancement and operational efficiency that frequently provides manufacturers with costs savings. It also prepares companies thoroughly for third-party audits, as well as federal and state regulatory inspections.

"We congratulate Donald Merrigan, president of Readington Farms, and his employees for successfully completing the certification process. This is quite an accomplishment, given that IDFA has awarded only one other certification in the past 10 years," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president. "We encourage other companies to consider undertaking the certification process, especially since the food-safety bill currently pending Congressional approval will place more focus on HACCP programs in processing plants."

HACCP is a plan that helps food manufacturers to analyze potential food-safety hazards, establish preventive measures at critical control points, monitor the effectiveness of those measures and update activities when needed to lessen or eliminate food-safety problems.

More program and pricing details are available here.

Members with questions may contact Jon Gardner, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards, at jgardner@idfa.org.

Meet Gardner, IDFA's HACCP expert, here.