Assured Food Standards
Encyclopedia
Assured Food Standards is a British organisation that promotes and regulates food quality. It licenses the Red Tractor quality mark
, a product certification
programme that comprises a number of farm assurance
schemes for food products, animal feed and fertilizer.
Around the time of the launch, the NFU found in a survey that 70% of the British public had no idea what type of food their local farmers tended to produce.
In April 2009, Cains Brewery
of Liverpool produced the first lager, Cains Export, to be accredited by the Red Tractor. Since June 2010, Carling
cans of lager have displayed the logo, as the barley used has been certified.
:
will produce poultry meat to the Red Tractor standard, meaning they are kept in more humane surroundings. Food with the label has been produced, processed and packaged in the UK.
Certification bodies the Red Tractor schemes work with include:
In 2009, around £10 billion of products were sold bearing the logo. A 0.1% royalty fee
is charged to bear the logo.
The flag displayed under the Red Tractor logo, may be the Union Flag
, or different nations of the UK, depending where produced.
Certification mark
A certification mark on a commercial product indicates five things:* The existence of a legal follow-up or product certification agreement between the manufacturer of a product and an organization with national accreditation for both testing and certification,* Legal evidence that the product was...
, a product certification
Product certification
Product certification or product qualification is the process of verifying that a certain product has passed performance tests and quality assurance tests or qualification requirements stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specifications...
programme that comprises a number of farm assurance
Farm assurance
Farm assurance is product certification for agricultural products that emphasises the principles of quality assurance. The emphasis on quality assurance means that, in addition to product inspection, farm assurance schemes may include standards and certification for traceability, production...
schemes for food products, animal feed and fertilizer.
History
The Red Tractor scheme was launched in 2000 by the NFU, with the logo originally known as the Little Red Tractor, and also the British Farm Standard. It was launched on 13 June 2000.Around the time of the launch, the NFU found in a survey that 70% of the British public had no idea what type of food their local farmers tended to produce.
In April 2009, Cains Brewery
Cains Brewery
Cains is a brewery in Liverpool, England, founded in 1858 by Robert Cain. The company, with its 200 pub estate, merged with Peter Walker & Son in 1921, with the brewery operation being taken over by Higsons in 1923. Boddingtons of Manchester took over in 1985, and shut it down in 1990...
of Liverpool produced the first lager, Cains Export, to be accredited by the Red Tractor. Since June 2010, Carling
Carling
Carling brands are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company. In South Africa it is distributed by SABMiller.Carling Black Label is the name of a brand of Canadian lager in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and South Africa...
cans of lager have displayed the logo, as the barley used has been certified.
Red Tractor
The Red Tractor Farm Assurance scheme is divided in different sectors, based at Downside, SurreyDownside, Surrey
Downside is a small village in the English county of Surrey, part of Cobham and Downside ward in the local government district of Elmbridge. Downside Village was designated as a Conservation Area in 1979....
:
- Pigs (Assured British Pigs) - 90% of British pig producers
- Dairy (Assured Dairy Farms - former National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme)
- Beef and Lamb
- Fresh produce
- Poultry (Assured Chicken Production)
- Crops and sugar beet (Assured Combinable Crops Scheme)
Function
All stages of food production are certified (inspected) before food can be labelled with the Red Tractor. Members of the British Poultry CouncilBritish Poultry Council
-Function:It represents the British poultry meat industry and keeps up to date with developments in the industry, and food safety. Food safety regulation includes campylobacter and battery chickens.It does not represent egg farmers.-Structure:...
will produce poultry meat to the Red Tractor standard, meaning they are kept in more humane surroundings. Food with the label has been produced, processed and packaged in the UK.
Certification bodies the Red Tractor schemes work with include:
- NSF-CMiNSF InternationalNSF International is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based not-for-profit public health and environmental organization that provides standards development, product certification, auditing, education and risk management services.-History:...
in Long HanboroughLong HanboroughLong Hanborough is a village in Hanborough civil parish, about northeast of Witney in West Oxfordshire, England.-History:The Church of England parish church was built in 1893... - SAI Global in Milton KeynesMilton KeynesMilton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
(a spin off of Standards AustraliaStandards AustraliaStandards Australia was established in 1922 and is recognised through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian government as the peak non-government standards development body in Australia. It is a company limited by guarantee, with 72 members representing groups interested in the...
) - Northern Ireland Food Chain Certification, in LisburnLisburnDemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
- Product Authentication International
In 2009, around £10 billion of products were sold bearing the logo. A 0.1% royalty fee
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
is charged to bear the logo.
The flag displayed under the Red Tractor logo, may be the Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
, or different nations of the UK, depending where produced.
See also
- Soil AssociationSoil AssociationThe Soil Association is a charity based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1946, it has over 27,000 members today. Its activities include campaign work on issues including opposition to intensive farming, support for local purchasing and public education on nutrition; as well the certification of...
- certificates British organic food - Food Standards AgencyFood Standards AgencyThe Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
- Little Red TractorLittle Red TractorLittle Red Tractor is an animated children's television series produced by the Little Entertainment Group. In the UK it is broadcast by the BBC, usually on the CBeebies channel. The main characters series are:...
, a children's cartoon on CBeebiesCBeebiesCBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both... - United Kingdom Accreditation ServiceUnited Kingdom Accreditation ServiceThe United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services.It evaluates these conformity assessment bodies and then...
External links
- Red Tractor
- Simply Beef and Lamb
- My Red Tractor
- Certification bodies:
- SAI Global – one of the scheme's
- Product Authentication International