How Jiffy Is Committed to Food Safety in 2024

How Jiffy Is Committed to Food Safety in 2024

Tragically, approximately 600 million people suffer and 420,000 people lose their lives annually because of foodborne illnesses caused by consuming unsanitary food, according to the World Health Organization. At Jiffy, we are committed to playing a crucial role in upholding food safety standards to help minimize this harm around the world.

That’s why we established our own Food Safety Management System (FSMS), aligned with ISO 22000, and a Global Food Safety Team (GFST) across Jiffy’s locations. Together, we focus on Quality, Health, Environment and Safety (QHES) standards because growing media is a foundational element of growing healthy plants.

“Research and knowledge on food safety in growing media are lacking,” said Janaka Weerasuriya, Jiffy’s Global Food Safety Team Leader in Jiffy’s 2023 Food Safety Report. “We aim to identify risks in the supply chain and implement practical preventive measures as needed.”

Meet Our GFST Team

In addition to this leadership team, we believe all employees have a role to play in safeguarding the desired levels of Quality, Health, Environment, Safety, and Food Safety, as outlined in Jiffy’s official QHES and Food Safety policy.

What Is ISO 22000 and Why Is It Important?

ISO 22000 is an international standard for food safety management systems that outlines requirements to manage food safety risks and prevent foodborne hazards throughout the food production process.

In 2018, Jiffy decided to align its ISO systems with the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System, becoming the first Grow Media Manufacturing organization to do so.

“Growing media is the foundation of horticultural production,” said Bart Kraan, Jiffy’s QHES Manager.. “That’s why we take our role in the supply chain very seriously, even though we don’t produce food ourselves..”

Jiffy production plants have achieved multiple third-party certifications, in addition to ISO 22000 food safety management system (as it is officially known). These include ISO 9001 quality management system, and ISO 14001 environmental management system. Jiffy also produces RHP-certified substrates, plus OMRI - listed and country-specific organic options for many of its solutions.

Jiffy’s Food Safety Team Prevention Strategies

Our team has identified and implemented a number of initiatives to improve upon our food safety standards, including:

• Implementing Jiffy’s own strict end-to-end traceability system
• Using highest-quality raw materials and other inputs
• Food safety training for our people to increase awareness
• Continual risk assessments for chemical, physical, and biological risks
• Maintaining pristine environments during storage, production, and shipping
• Conducted training sessions led by The Ohio State University professors to enhance food safety knowledge among Jiffy’s management and employees
• Laboratorial certified for food related analyses

Working toward zero-contamination risk with and for our customers is just one way Jiffy ensures it always offers market-relevant solutions that meet each customer’s unique challenges. Our end-to-end growing systems, pellets, growbags, and other horticulture solutions are caused by thousands of leading propagation, finished use, landscaping, and retail businesses worldwide.

Let’s work together

Jiffy is a leading global supplier of premium growing media and solution thinking. We aim to serve you, our customers in plant propagation and cultivation, to achieve better results with fewer worries. We do this by continually improving, innovating, and working toward our common goals, based on scientific research, teamwork, and decades of experience. Let’s develop sustainable plant growing solutions together: Let’s start today!