Standards & Quality
West Coast Tomato takes safety seriously. At every step of cultivation and packing, we follow the best food safety practices, and we strive to consistently exceed all food safety standards. We believe that safety standards start at the time of planting and must continue throughout the entire process.
Food Safety History
West Coast Tomato has been an active contributing participant in the development and implementation of Food Safety Principles and Standards since the early days of food safety in the tomato industry. We worked closely with the Florida Tomato Committee and the University of Florida, as well as the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to advance the practical principles of Food Safety.
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We have utilized both the USDA Inspection Services as well as 3rd party certification bodies ranging from PRIMUS and NSF Davis Fresh in the past to our current certification body, SCS Global Services, Inc. utilizing the Global G.A.P. audit scheme for the Harmonized Produce Safety Standard.
FSMS
West Coast Tomato has adopted a comprehensive Food Safety Management System (FSMS) based on an ISO 22000 format. Our system is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis to keep up with changing needs in food safety and processing.
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We were involved with the Florida Tomato Committee’s efforts to develop a “harmonized” audit scheme that would meet the need for an independent 3rd party audit while meeting the Florida TGAP and USDA audit requirements. West Coast Tomato served as the pilot audit for the program that helped to finalize the audit scheme in addition to being the first Tomato Grower/Packer to successfully complete the Global G.A.P. Produce Safety Standard, including the Tomato Metrics Checklist.
Certifications
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USDA Harmonized GAP Plus Certified
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GGN # 00031-FTVFP-0002
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Supporter of the Global Product Traceability Initiative. Implemented the standardized case label, consistent with PTI (Produce Traceability Initiative) in Fall 2013.
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Member of GS-1
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Registered with FDA as a Food Facility
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Member Sedex Since 2020
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Successfully Completed SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) 2Pillar Audit March 2021
West Coast Tomato utilizes in-house tracking via FAMOUS systems and our Product Withdrawal & Recall Policies.
We use a GTIN compliant box label in conjunction with a GS-1 registration for all of our boxes. We are able to track product back to seed stock and seed vendors, through the growing and packing, and warehousing stages, and eventual shipment to the customers.
Our GTIN compliant label is then able to be incorporated into the customer’s tracking capability by utilizing a GTIN compliant system.
Our Product Withdrawal & Recall Policies are tested and updated annually through the use of a mock recall system that allows us to evaluate the efficacy of the system.
