In the U.S., the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) examines every Pilgrim’s production facility daily to guarantee our food products meet federal food safety standards.

In Europe, our production facilities are inspected and third-party audited according to the European Union Food Hygiene regulations and any additional customer quality requirements to verify compliance.

In Mexico, we follow the best practice guidelines for chicken production as defined by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) and the National Service for Agro-Alimentary Public Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA). Additionally, most of our facilities in Mexico have a federally inspected type (TIF) certification.

Monitoring and managing potential issues with pesticide residue in our poultry supply chain is a core part of our approach to food safety. We take a systematic approach to safety focusing on prevention, intervention and response.

In the U.S., Pilgrim’s tests the soil of all new chicken house construction for residual pesticides before construction begins. We approve all chicken litter suppliers to ensure there are no pesticide residues associated with the litter. Additionally, chicken flocks are screened for pesticides prior to slaughter. In the U.S. alone, over 21,000 samples are tested annually to ensure no pesticide residue is in our poultry supply chain. Pilgrim’s Mexico conducts official surveillance for the detection of residues at processing facilities and with the litter. In our European facilities, for our secondary processors, we work through our supplier assurance requirements and product specifications. In the UK our poultry feed mills are members of the Food Fortress Scheme, which is overseen by the Institute for Global Food Security and aims to address international challenges – environmental, food-safety, animal-health, nutritional – at each point of the food chain, from farm to fork. Based on an extensive risk analysis of all potential contaminants (pesticides, heavy metals, dioxins, PCB’s and mycotoxins) the Fortress Food Scheme involves an industry-wide strategic sampling and testing program covering native grains, imported raw materials and finished feeds.

At Pilgrim’s, we use our Global Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) Scorecard to benchmark performance indicators across global operations and business units, bolster accomplishments by identifying areas of improvement, and encourage the pursuit of achieving continuous and positive results. The scorecard evaluates 12 metrics across four priority pillars of focus, including regulatory compliance, animal welfare and prevention of antimicrobial resistance, customer and consumer satisfaction, and product safety and quality.

The robust food safety and quality programs that each Pilgrim’s production facility operates under consist of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) procedures, and validated technology interventions that are designed to eliminate or reduce biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production.

Each of these processes are monitored by team members trained in food safety and quality assurance in each production facility. Additionally, inspection and process verification by government officials occurs before the mark of inspection can be placed on products entering into commerce.Furthermore, our production facilities implement these additional programs:

• A written Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) program

• A recall/market withdrawal procedure, which provides for trace-back and trace-forward capabilities to ensure the proper products and dates can be identified, if necessary

• A documented Pest Control Program

• A documented Food Security Program

• Annual certification to Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards

• Insured and bonded carriers are required to transport meat and poultry products—where all loads are sealed at the originating establishment and maintained under seal by the carrier in the event of a multi-stop load

All new team members receive training on quality assurance (QA) and food safety management systems, as well as further job-specific training as necessary. In addition, QA team members are provided with specific HACCP, and food safety and quality assurance training every year.

Each year, we conduct numerous food safety and quality system audits using accredited, independent auditing firms. 100% of our production facilities in the U.S. and Europe and 71% of our Mexico operations have been audited and certified by audit schemes recognized by the GFSI, one of the most stringent food safety-related audits available in the food industry. Internal audits and inspections are also conducted by our FSQA team members.

Additionally, in North America, all suppliers providing products or services that have direct contact with food are required to pass the GFSI audits, or an equivalent certification and provide a letter of guarantee. We defer to organizations like GFSI to evaluate the effectiveness of audits, collect feedback and make related adjustments. Alternatively, suppliers must be assessed and approved by our Supplier Quality Team for product safety, traceability and good manufacturing practices.

Even though we have comprehensive systems in place to provide our consumers with safe, high-quality foods, instances can occur where a product recall is necessary to protect public health. When a recall is warranted, Pilgrim’s voluntarily initiates the recall, collaborating with federal regulatory partners to make sure that all affected product is promptly tracked and removed from distribution channels. To inform our customers and consumers of a recall, we issue a notice that follows government guidelines for communication. In the U.S., recall information is also posted on the USDA FSIS or U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) websites.

Recalls are rare, and we work diligently to understand how they were caused, and how to prevent future incidents. We perform comprehensive root-cause analyses and share our learnings across Pilgrim’s. As an independent third-party auditor, the GFSI certification program in place verifies the effectiveness of our corrective actions.