Soy Products (Sales) Pty Ltd (SPS) is voluntarily a totally wheat and
gluten free processing facility. SPS also seeks to minimise the risks
of cross-contamination and food allergen issues. For example, there are
no egg, peanut, sesame seed, MSG, millet and potato ingredients on
site. Stringent cleaning and processing procedures have been put in
place to preserve the integrity of organic products and to deal with
dairy (used only in subcontract products), highly coloured or strongly
flavoured ingredients.
SPS is HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) Food Safety
Plan (2003), Organic Processor (2003), Kosher (2003), Halal (2003) and
AQIS (Australian Quarantine Inspection Service) Export Facility (2004)
certified or accredited. All of these certifications and commitments
have been integrated into the company’s HAACP Food Safety Plan and
approved supplier procedures.
When
SPS first became interested in gluten free products in 1990-1991, it
was legally permissible in Australia to have 3g of gluten per kilogram
of product. Low
levels of gluten were often deliberately added to take advantage of
gluten’s functionality and elasticity. At other times there were
cross-contamination issues. Some professionals held the view that low
doses of gluten were harmless. After reviewing the international
literature, SPS immediately determined that adding gluten to products
was fundamentally wrong. Just as SPS pioneered the introduction of
commercial soy bean processing to Australia in the 1950s, we also
pioneered the introduction of 100% gluten free products and ingredients
in the early 1990s.
After implementing stringent testing and
cleaning procedures, SPS committed to the steady elimination of gluten
from its site. Today there is no wheat, barley, oats, rye, spelt or
triticale or any of their by-products on site. No new products or
ingredients are introduced unless they are strictly non GMO, gluten
free, made from non gluten sources and are both Kosher and Halal
certified. SPS is not prepared to compromise on any of these
requirements.
In addition to a rigorous approved supplier
program and very careful specification of our requirements, SPS
routinely tests all of its ingredients and products for gluten
contamination on a random, cyclical basis to meet our company policy
and certification obligations. Any suppliers, ingredients and products
that do not meet our requirements are replaced by satisfactory
alternatives.
We are now expanding because of this
uncompromising stance in relation to gluten. We have brought the same
level of commitment to the Kosher and Halal certification. All
ingredients and products on site are Kosher and Halal certified.
While
we are committed to the notion of organic, issues of quality, cost,
availability and continuity of supply of organic raw material still
need to be resolved. Unfortunately, some of our ingredients are simply
not procurable in organic form. Once again we have integrated strict
organic segregation, insect control, cleaning and flushing procedures
into our HAACP plan.
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