When it comes to food safety, Gills Onions only accepts the best. We aim to meet the highest standards, maintaining our excellent streak of being food safety certified. In fact, in 2020, we scored 100 percent on our Safe Quality Food (SQF) audit – something we’re very proud of.
But what does that even mean? What does it take to be food safety certified? We sat down with food safety expert Arturo Canales, the head of the Gills Onions Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) division, to get into the nitty gritty of what it means to be food safety certified and how Gills Onions strives for excellence.
What it Takes to be Food Safety Certified
Food safety certification for a business includes several requirements. First of all, anyone handling food within the facility will need a food handler’s permit, which requires some training and a passing grade for the food safety certification exam. But that’s just the beginning. For Gills Onions to be a food safety certified business, it’s about individuals and the team.
With an onsite laboratory staffed by a microbiologist and micro tech, as well as a team of quality assurance employees and food safety specialists, Gills Onions doesn’t take any chances. First, Arturo says, his team needs to be sure the raw product is safe. This means testing for e coli or salmonella by taking samples and checking them at the lab before any food is processed.
Keeping a spick and span facility is the next part of the process. There are daily cleanings of all equipment and the building itself, and the laboratory team checks both products and equipment to be sure there’s no contamination or bacteria present.
As the food moves through the machines, it also passes through metal detectors after every step to be sure it’s free from foreign materials. Before the diced onions move to packaging, they’re given one last inspection to be sure they’re clean and safe. Every step of the way, safety and cleanliness is a priority.
Speaking of packaging – every bit is also inspected for safety. Gills Onions only partners with companies that are safety certified themselves and will only approve a business as a supplier if they are in alignment with food safety guidelines.
With all these daily practices in place, Gills Onions is prepared to be inspected by the Safe Quality Food auditor at any minute.
What Separates Gills Onions from the Competition
Arturo and his team are very proud of how well Gills Onions performs when it comes to food safety. With a proactive mindset, the FSQA team at Gill’s is prepared to “stop the problem before it comes. We’re proactive, not reactive when it comes to food safety,” he says. “We never let things escalate.”
Gill’s is so confident in its food safety, that everything is transparent: from seed to package, you can use the specific lot number on every package of food to find out where the onion was harvested, when it entered the facility, what day it was processed, and when it was placed on the truck and delivered. Many companies have discrete numbers, Arturo said, coded to be internal, so no one else can track it. But Gills Onions doesn’t feel the need to hide: traceability is a priority. “We want anyone to see where their onions come from, at any time.”
A Culture of Food Safety
Food safety is a top priority at Gills Onions. “If we wouldn’t feed it to our family,” Arturo says, “we wouldn’t feed it to you. Food safety is a part of us – we don’t even question it, we just do it.” Being food safety certified takes work. And it’s work we’re willing to do, day in and day out, to keep you and your family safe.
If you want to have more confidence in the safety of your food, check out Gills Onions today!