American Institute of Baking-food (AIB) International provides food safety audits, inspection, certification, and educational seminars worldwide to food manufacturing and distribution industry whose supplies include fresh produce, finished food and beverages, ingredients, packaging production and are even involved in the distribution facilities.

The AIB Consolidated Standards for Food-Contact Packaging Manufacturing Facilities were published as a tool to permit food-contact packaging operations to evaluate the product safety risks within their operations and to determine levels of compliance with the criteria in the Standards. These are a set of statements that represent key requirements that a facility must meet in order to keep the food products in a facility wholesome and safe. The Standards also reflect what an inspector would expect to see in a facility that maintains a food-safe processing environment.

The requirements of the AIB Certification—Standards are covered in five categories:

OPERATIONAL METHODS AND PERSONNEL PRACTICES

Requirements for receipt, storage, monitoring, handling, and processing of raw materials to manufacture and distribute safe final product.

Standards show how a facility can prevent people and processes from contaminating a product.

MAINTENANCE FOR FOOD SAFETY

Requirements for the design, upkeep, and management of equipment, buildings, and grounds to provide a sanitary, efficient, and reliable manufacturing environment.

Safety Standards provide best practices for optimizing the design and care of the facility and equipment so that they are easy to manage and do not create sanitation or product safety issues.

CLEANING PRACTICES

Requirements for the cleaning and sanitizing of equipment, utensils, and buildings to provide a wholesome and safe processing environment.

Standards in this category are related to cleaning and sanitizing. The methods of cleaning and sanitizing, the types of chemicals used, the frequency of cleaning activities, and the control of microbes must all be done expertly to protect products from decontamination.

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

Requirements for the assessment, monitoring, and management of pest activity to identify, prevent, and eliminate conditions that could promote or sustain a pest population

Standards in this category are related to pest management. While it is important to remove pests from a facility, it is more important to prevent pests from ever having the opportunity to thrive in a food environment. The Integrated Pest Management Standards give strategies for managing multiple approaches to ensure that pests do not adulterate food products.

ADEQUACY OF PREREQUISITE AND FOOD SAFETY PROGRAMS

Requirements for the coordination of management support, cross-functional teams, documentation, education, training, and monitoring systems to ensure all departments of the facility work together effectively to deliver a wholesome and safe final product.