Genetic ID and CERT ID Offer Gluten Free Verification Program
Genetic ID NA, Inc., in conjunction with CERT ID, announce the addition of gluten-free verification services to their portfolio of food safety and food quality testing and certification services. Gluten-free is one of the fastest-growing categories in the food and beverage market.
The gluten-free verification services are based on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final ruling on the use of a gluten-free claim and are intended for products sold in North America. Services are risk-based and supported by a validated sampling and testing regimen. “We continue to identify value-added opportunities for our customers, and this program was specifically designed to provide the flexibility that the market demands,” said Dr. Heather Secrist, CEO of Genetic ID. “Companies can choose an individual service, such as testing, or adopt a comprehensive gluten-free certification and testing program where the CERT ID Gluten-free Trustmark can be applied to a product.”
“Our Gluten-free Product Certification Program is designed as an addendum to recognized system certifications such as organic, Non-GMO Project, and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), said Rhonda Wellik, CEO of CERT ID. “This effectively allows companies to realize efficiencies and cost-savings when seeking product certification.”
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The gluten-free verification services provide a third-party approach regarding label claims, and communicate a company’s commitment to producing safe, gluten-free products for consumers. The new services included in the Gluten-free Certification Program incorporate the rigor and reliability that Genetic ID and CERT ID’s customers have come to rely on.
For more information about Genetic ID and CERT ID, visit www.genetic-id.com and www.cert-id.com.
Profit Not the Only Motive for B Corporations
By Greg Gonzales
One of several antagonists in the 1995 comedy “Tommy Boy,” Ray Zalinsky, goes from trusted face to villain in one telling line: “Truth is, I make car parts for the American working man because I’m a hell of a salesman and he doesn’t know any better.” B Corporations are the antithesis to that attitude. The certification is a stamp of approval for companies that pass rigorous standards of environmental impact, social missions, corporate transparency and employee satisfaction.
“If you’re not measuring impact in business, you’re already behind,” said Katie Holcomb, B Lab’s Director of Communications. “It’s become a more mainstream idea, and we’ve been painted as the next big thing.”
Since 2006, more than 1500 businesses in 22 countries have been certified as B Corporations by B Lab, which certifies each and every B Corp. B Lab’s community sees business as a force for good, and the future of business, said Holcomb. She also said the approval process is simple, but thorough.
The B Corp qualification process begins with a 150-question assessment. A passing score is 80 out of 200, and companies can work to improve the score, which is listed online. B Lab estimates that the questionnaire takes 90 minutes to complete, though some B Corp members joked that it’s closer to 90 hours.
“You really have to prove what you’re saying,” said Dana Ginsberg, Director of Marketing at Bare Snacks, a B Corp since 2013. She added that the assessment is rigorous and detailed, and that qualifying companies must back up their statements with documentation. It’s essentially an audit that proves the company’s claims are legit, and that there’s nothing to hide. There’s also a phone interview that applicants must complete.
Prospective B Corps must also prove that they take care of employees. Ethical Bean‘s Sales and Marketing person, Lauren Archibald, has worked for two B Corps, and said she considers B Lab as much a resource for companies as for job seekers. “When you’re coming in to work for a B Corp, you know they treat their employees well,” she said.
She also added that it’s about respecting customers, employees and the public, and being honest. “If people are asking questions and you can’t answer them, you probably have something to hide,” she said. “B Corp status opens you up, keeps you transparent and aligns your values.”
In addition to the rigorous certification process, companies commit to their cause by amending corporate bylaws to include social and environmental missions. That is, B Corps choose to make themselves legally beholden to work toward missions other than profit. And in states where Public Benefit Corporations (PBCs) can incorporate, B Corps must make the switch from corporate structures like Limited Liability or C Corporation within two years of certification. Companies in states and countries where PBCs cannot yet incorporate must make the switch within four years from the time legislation does pass. In doing so, B Corps become equally bound to shareholders, employees, social good and environmental impact, not just the former.
“We were able to integrate all the elements of our mission into our articles of incorporation,” said Mathieu Senard, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Alter Eco, a B Corp since 2009. “Legally binding, our product has to be organic and non-GMO.” He added that Alter Eco made the switch as soon as the possibly could, in 2013, right when the company’s home state of Delaware passed the legislation.
There’s also an annual fee, and companies must requalify every year. The cost is $5000 a year for companies making less than $20 million in annual sales, while companies that make more than $20 million pay $10,000. Members of what’s lovingly referred to as the “B Community” say the benefits are well worth the costs.
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“This model works! It’s showing businesses that they can do good for people and the planet and also be comfortable and keep a healthy business,” said Senard. “It’s a way to show your impact and your mission, too. It’s one thing when you talk about your company and say you’re doing all these great things, but it’s more powerful when a third party certifies you and tells the whole world what you’re doing.” Companies can also add the B Corp seal to their websites and packaging to let everyone know they’re part of the B Community.
“Once you become a B Corp, you work with other B Corps,” said Ginsberg. She added that becoming a B Corp comes with a few discounts and a large number of important contacts. They can learn from each others’ example, or work with B Lab to improve.
B Lab’s online system enables businesses to increase their score year round. “You can modify and update that score anytime you want,” said Ginsberg. “It’s a free-flowing process that helps you track where you are and to get to higher standards. You can change your policies, recycle a different way, put in a greener refrigerator.”
And that’s one of the ways Bare Snacks improved upon its own score. The company asked employees what mattered to them, which included axing the break room paper plates and cups, getting an efficient refrigerator and replacing plastic water bottles with a faucet filter. In addition, the company raised its score by updating some of its HR policies. The result, said Ginsberg, was very positive employee response.
Alter Eco‘s score increased from 125 to 148 last year, and Senard attributes that improvement to the company’s acting on suggestions from B Lab. “What B Corp has helped us to do is put the spotlight on areas where we can improve,” he said. “B Lab didn’t force us to do it — we just saw we can be better, and we want to be better for our employees, too.”
Ginsberg said many food producers have been leaders in this movement. “It’s really going to help differentiate your brand for consumers,” she said. “People are getting more skeptical about the products they buy, and really want to support positive brands because, nowadays, on social media, people see brands they support reflecting their identities. They want their identity to align with their values, which is what B Corps are all about.”
Even though B Corp certification does appear advantageous to brands, Senard and other B Corp owners specifically pointed out that it’s hard to quantify the benefits. Ultimately, they said, it’s about making a better business and working toward a brighter future.
“Consumers care about the products they buy and how they were developed, how those companies produce and operate,” Ginsberg said. “Further, employees care about the companies they work for, and they want their employers to do that as well. I see this trend continuing to grow.”
“I hope we’re going to be a model for other companies to become that,” said Senard. “We hope to inspire the entrepreneurs of the future to start their companies like that, from day one, where the company has a mission to bring some good into this world.”
Interested parties can head to bcorporation.net to put their business to the test.
A Salmon Called Frankenfish
By Micah Cheek
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the sale of genetically modified salmon in the US, sparking conflict in seafood circles and setting a new precedent for genetically modified foods in the US market. Aqua Bounty, the company producing salmon modified to grow at a faster rate, was approved to sell their product, AquAdvantage Salmon, after data from their organization was analyzed along with data from other peer reviewed sources, determining that the health and environmental risks to the fish’s production are low, and that the genetically modified salmon is not nutritionally different than its conventionally-bred alternative.
Various environmental groups and seafood organizations have spoken out against the FDA’s decision, contending that the animal has the potential to cause serious damage if it escaped into the wild. Concerns over environmental damage and risks to human health have vocalized consumers and pushed many retailers to publicly announce their refusal to sell Aqua Bounty’s salmon. Aqua Bounty has declined an interview request for this story.
Dana Perls, Food and Technology Campaigner with Friends of the Earth, an environmental reform group, says that public concern is based in a lack of consensus in the scientific community over genetically modified foods. “Consumers have strongly vocalized that they don’t want to eat GMO seafood or meat,” says Perls. “There are far too many risks for consumers to feel that this is sustainable or healthy; in fact, scientific studies point to the opposite.”
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Critics of the FDA approval contend that using studies that Aqua Bounty itself conducted is unacceptable, as Aqua Bounty has a stake in the results of the findings. One document used to counter the FDA’s decision is a draft risk assessment of the environmental and human health risks of Aqua Bounty’s salmon conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Information in the assessment suggests that the genetic modification to the salmon can produce fish with inconsistent growth rates. This, groups suggest, indicates that the genetic modification process is not well-controlled or predictable. While the assessment does state that the salmon’s accelerated growth rates are highly variable based on environment, a summary of the assessment released by Fisheries and Oceans Canada goes on to indicate that AquAdvantage salmon pose a low risk to both the Canadian environment and human health.
Jacqueline Claudia, CEO of Love The Wild and formerly the Chief Strategy Officer of Kanpachi Farms, says that the risks involved in adding GMO fish to the menu have been overblown. It should be noted that Love The Wild will not be using genetically modified seafood in its products. “From a scientific perspective, a lot of issues in the media are just not true,” Claudia says. For instance, there have been concerns that escaped genetically modified fish could wreak environmental havoc if they escape. “In order to produce this gene[the genetic modification that makes the salmon grow faster], what happens is you get all females. And only 1.1 percent of those fish are capable of reproducing,” says Claudia. While the FDA’s draft risk assessment says that Aqua Bounty’s methods have been 99.8 percent effective at inducing sterility, the assessment by Fisheries and Oceans Canada says that Aqua Bounty only ensured an effectiveness of at least 95 percent. Claudia continues, “Let’s just say the stars align and it lands in the right gravel bed and finds a male salmon. The chances of them reproducing are really ridiculously small.” Claudia adds that part of the reason the genetically modified salmon grow so fast is because they have to eat all through the year, rather than hibernating as conventional salmon do. This, plus the fact that the modified fish have smaller fins than conventional varieties, suggests that any progeny of an escaped modified salmon would be unfit to live in the wild and pass along their genes.
Claudia believes that increasing yields with genetic modification has the potential to help feed the world in a less expensive and more environmentally responsible way. In addition, she believes that in the future, organisms could be modified to be disease resistant, reducing the need for antibiotics. “If people were to understand the science, we could increase the welfare of the animals.” While she believes the potential benefits of genetically modified fish are high, she believes fisheries should focus on selective breeding methods first, as the limits of that kind of growth optimization have not been fully reached.
While argument in the environmental and scientific communities continues, public opinion has already begun to turn the tide economically. In a 2013 New York Times poll, three-quarters of respondents said they would not eat genetically modified fish. A Friends of the Earth petition urging retailers to publicly refuse to sell genetically modified salmon has been signed by some heavy hitters in grocery retail. ”Customers have spoken, and we have seen companies such as Kroger and Costco stand up as leaders in seafood sustainability,” says Perl. “Fishing communities around the world are also rejecting GMO salmon because of environmental risks and the economic impacts it could have.” With such a strong public reaction, it is difficult to see where AquAdvantage salmon’s place would be in the US market. “We’ve had pretty much every grocery chain refuse to sell it; I struggle to see how anyone will sell it,” adds Claudia. “I don’t think we’ll see a lot more GMO fish if the first one in the market is just flatly rejected.”
