ISO 22 000 ensures safer and better feed

by Chewe Shinina

Over the last decade, with the expansion of customer awareness, rights and overall high customer expectation, product quality has become ever more important. Novatek Animal Feeds is also well known for its high-quality feed products regionally as well as in other parts of Africa. Although we have several competitors, Novatek continues to outshine the rest. The secret to this success is our ISO 22 000 accreditation.

Many may wonder, what is ISO 22 000? In a nutshell, ISO 22 000 is an international Food Safety Management System (FSMS) standard used by business entities to ensure that the food, in our case feed, is safe for our consumers. This ensures that the feed will not cause harm throughout the food chain, starting from the farm to that warm, tasty meal we all enjoy.

This programme is run by our Food Safety Team which includes technical managers, quality managers, engineers, nutritionists, microbiologists, production managers and supervisors.

There are four main elements to this standard which we, as Novatek hold to heart. They are as follows:

  • Interactive communication
  • System Management
  • Prerequisite Programmes
  • HACCP principles

Interactive communication is key to our success. We are interactive in the way we communicate with our customers, suppliers, contractors and most importantly, within our internal structure. What better way than to find out what our customers want and trickle it down to our suppliers and contractors as well? In so doing we cover our entire production and supply chain. We go to great lengths to ensure our customers are satisfied. All complaints are looked into and addressed in the shortest time possible to ensure customer satisfaction. Our highly qualified technical advisors and nutrition experts are always available at our customers’ request. This gives us a Customer Focus strategic approach.

No business entity runs without a management system. This brings us to the second element that is embedded in our operations, System Management. We periodically check our Food Safety Management System to ensure that it is still effective, up to date and relevant in meeting our customers’ needs.

Our third element is the Prerequisite Programmes (PrP). This can be explained as programmes or activities, that when maintained eff ectively, will either eliminate, or reduce a potential food safety hazard to an acceptable level. Sometimes this element may be referred to as Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). An example would be the control and prevention of cross contamination of processed feed. Measures to prevent this may include separation of raw material from the finished feed in the storage areas. This is also achieved via semi-automation at our Lusaka plant and full-automation at the Mpongwe plant.

The last element is HACCP. This stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. In simpler words this technical term is a programme which allows us to identify various hazards that can occur at any stage of our production, supply chain as well as distribution. When a hazard is identified, the necessary steps and actions are put in place to prevent or minimize the hazard to an acceptable level.

The core of Novatek Animal Feeds is quality. This is part of every department and process that takes place. We take pride in this accreditation and believe that our clients receive the greatest benefi t by ensuring that the feed we produce is of the highest quality.

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