What’s so good about the Good Manufacturing Practice?

To begin with, the dreaded SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) started with food handling. GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) is a basic (hygiene and sanitation) requirement for all food processing and manufacturing companies. This, says business development manager-food products Rose Marie Castillo, the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion cannot stress enough. Much like a Good Housekeeping seal of quality, the GMP assures consumers of the quality, safety and hygiene of the product – from the factory to the market to the table – they’re buying . A lot of horror stories have gone around: Ever heard of a screw found inside the bottle of a soft drink? Whoever left it there must have a screw loose. And where did that strand of hair in my can of soup come from? You may have a hair-raising tale or two to share yourself.

"If fish is not dried properly, you get dirt and foreign bodies like bird’s feathers, cockroach legs (double yuck!)," Rose Marie shares more encounters of the strange kind. "Even noodles, if solar-dried, like the bihon and misua, may end up with sand. The effect on our health will not manifest immediately, but it accumulates over time."

To compound the issue, some unscrupulous food companies mislabel their products (or they do not put the right contents or right net weight of the contents). "They label their product as, say, 100 percent macapuno when it’s really not," decries Rose Marie.

Some pass off their camote product as yam (ube). You can tell them they’re better off planting camote.

"We’re trying to change the mindset of companies and make them see the wisdom of getting a GMP certification," asserts Rose Marie. "Both GMP and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) are basic requirements to ensure the safety of processed food products."

Which brings us to another acronym: HACCP. Covering all agri-fishery products, HACCP sifts through the whole food processing chain – from the primary producer to the final consumer. HACCP assesses hazards and establishes control systems that focus on prevention rather than end-product testing to ensure that the finished products are safe for human consumption.

In the US, HACCP regulations for seafood and meat products have been enforced since 1997 while HACCP regulation for fruit juices was imposed by the USFDA in 2002.

Recently, the European Union (EU) announced a proposed mandatory HACCP on all food and feed products to be enforced in 2005. That means that sometime soon, all food exports to the EU should comply with the HACCP requirements for processing.

Closer to home, Brunei now requires GMP and HACCP certifications for all imported food products. Another development is that Thailand now also requires GMP certification for all food products that find their way to this amazing country.

Last year, exports of Philippine food products were valued at US$1.39 billion. Exports of processed foods amounted to US$588 million while fresh foods were priced at $380.02 million and marine products, both fresh and processed, at $409.1 million.

Who would be affected by the GMP and HACCP certification program?

To be affected are mainly the processed foods, which include condiments, sauces and mixes (vinegar, soy sauce, fish/shrimp sauce/paste, tomato sauce, etc.), processed fruits (fruit preserves/marmalades, fruit juices/purees, dried fruits), preserved vegetables (chutney, etc.) and fish (canned tuna, sardines, dried fish, ready-to-cook seafoods, even feeds).

"At present, the GMP requirement is voluntary and not yet mandatory," Rose Marie explains. "There are some companies that have asked for accreditation like Barrio Fiesta for its bagoong (shrimp paste)."

Currently, of the 350 food exporters listed with the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion-DTI, 96 companies have applied for accreditation. Of these, the Export Development Council has already certified 36 food manufacturing plants for GMP and 20 products for HACCP. Also, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has accredited 57 seafood processing plants exporting to the EU.

This initiative was taken by the Department of Trade and Industry to address the problem of our food exports being detained or put on hold order in countries like the US, Europe, Japan and Australia where food hygiene and safety requirements are rather stringent.

Non-compliance to GMP and HACCP requirements, Rose Marie stresses, would mean losing not only the dollars, pouring into the country via our food exports, but also employment for a lot of Filipinos since the small and medium companies comprise the backbone of our food industry. In 2002, the food industry alone generated 602,091 jobs.

"Of course, being GMP/HACCP-certified also means that you enjoy the benefits of joining trade fairs/missions in other countries to sell/expose your product," Rose Marie points out.

Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the US has enforced the bioterrorism law so it’s easy to trace the source of food products that get into the country.

"We’re introducing the importance of food safety to smaller companies via a program that’s tailor-made for them," says Rose Marie. "Like the right packaging for the right product – meaning the package should not only hold the product but should prolong its shelf life and retain its freshness and crispiness."

So, are you GMP-certified yet?