Quality Assurance International (QAI) is a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

-based international organic certification company that is authorized by the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

(USDA) as "a USDA-accredited certifying agent that operates globally to certify organic operations to

National Organic Program The National Organic Program (NOP) is the federal regulatory framework in the United States of America governing organic food. It is also the name of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) program ...

standards." It is a for- profit

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

, established in 1989, and headquartered in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is one of the world's largest certifiers, operating in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, and Japan. It is owned by public health and environmental organization NSF International.

Organic certification

QAI offers organic certification under the

for agricultural producers, food processing facilities, integrated manufacturing operations, contract packing operations, traders, distributors, retailers, and ultimately consumers.

Gluten-free certification

QAI, in partnership with National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA), developed a science-based gluten-free certification program. The stringent nature of the QAI certification protocols ensures prevention of contamination and co-mingling, critically important for those with allergies to gluten and gluten-intolerance. The QAI and NFCA "Gluten-Free" certification program requires companies to produce products at less than 10 parts per million (ppm) of gluten to receive certification. The program includes: * Product review * Onsite inspection * Testing to ensure compliance to 10ppm or less * Ongoing compliance including random product testing

Personal care certification

QAI certifies personal care products to the

guidelines. Those products not meeting the NOP guidelines can be certified to the NSF/ANSI 305 Standard for Personal Care Products "Contains Organic Ingredients". Under this program, products with a minimum organic content of 70 percent (070) that meet the requirements can make the organic label and marketing claim of "Contains Organic Ingredients". These products can bear the unique NSF/ANSI 305 "Contains Organic Ingredients" mark. The Organic Trade Association considers certification to this standard a best practice. It is required by some retailers for personal care products that do not meet the National Organic Program standard for food.

Kosher certification

QAI, in partnership with

Star-K Star-K Kosher Certification, also known as the Vaad Hakashrut of Baltimore ( he, ועד הכשרות דבאלטימאר), is a kosher certification agency based in Baltimore, Maryland, under the administration of Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, with the ...

, provides a joint kosher and organic auditing program. Through rabbinical supervision products can be certified to both kosher certification requirements and to the USDA National Organic Program standards for organic certification.

International organic certification

As an accredited certifying agent under the USDA's National Organic Program, QAI is also accredited by the USDA for ISO 65 compliance, the Japan Ministry of Agriculture Forestry for JAS (Japanese Agricultural Standard) compliance, and Le Conseil des appellations reservées et des termes valorisants (CARTV).

Food safety

QAI offers joint certification to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Safe Quality Food (SQF) and FSSC 22000 global food safety standards, which is required by many retailers under the

Global Food Safety Initiative The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is a private organization working as a "Coalition of Action" from The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) bringing together retailers and brand owners (manufacturers) from across the CGF membership operating as multis ...

(

GFSI The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is a private organization working as a "Coalition of Action" from The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) bringing together retailers and brand owners (manufacturers) from across the CGF membership operating as multis ...

Environmental policy

QAI achieved ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems accreditation in June 2010. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 standard provides guidance on how to manage the environmental aspects of an organization's activities, products and services more efficiently. ISO 14001 focuses on reducing the environmental footprint, pollution and waste produced by businesses, which is consistent with QAI's mission to help support organic agriculture and protect the environment. ISO 14001 registration verifies that QAI has effective procedures in place to monitor and continuously improve its environmental performance. To obtain ISO 14001 registration, QAI reduced energy and raw material use; implemented a paperless documentation and billing management system; developed a recycling program for paper,

plastic container Plastic containers are containers made exclusively or partially of plastic. Plastic containers are ubiquitous either as single-use or reuseable/durable plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic bags, foam food containers, Tupperware, plastic tub ...

s and bags, electronics, mercury-containing light bulbs and batteries; and instituted a

composting Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting m ...

program for

coffee grounds Coffee preparation is the process of turning coffee beans into a beverage. While the particular steps vary with the type of coffee and with the raw materials, the process includes four basic steps: raw coffee beans must be roasted, the roaste ...

tea bag A tea bag, or the compound teabag, is a small, porous, sealed bag or packet, typically containing tea leaves or the leaves of other herbs, which is immersed in water to steep and make an infusion. Originally used only for tea (''Camellia ...

s and fruit/vegetable

food scraps Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

Accreditations

QAI holds the following accreditations: * United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) :

(NOP) : ISO Guide 65 * International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS) : European Recognition Programme (EU) : ISO Guide 65 : Canadian Organic Regime (COR) * Conseil des appellations reservées et des termes valorisants (CARTV, Canada) * KEMA : ISO 14001 * JAS through our Japan-based, MAFF accredited partner EcoCert

Partnerships

QAI works with other leading food safety and quality organizations. As a result, QAI is able to provide additional services: * NSF/ANSI 305 "Contains Organic Ingredients" Personal Care Products * NaTrue Personal Care Certification *

British Retail Consortium The British Retail Consortium (or BRC) is a trade association for retail businesses in the United Kingdom. History The British Retail Consortium was formed in January 1992 with the merger of the British Retailers' Association and the Retail ...

(BRC), Safe Quality Foods (SQF),

FSSC 22000 The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is a private organization working as a "Coalition of Action" from The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) bringing together retailers and brand owners (manufacturers) from across the CGF membership operating as multis ...

Certification *

HACCP Hazard analysis and critical control points, or HACCP (), is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe and designs mea ...

(Hazard analysis critical control point) * Star-K Kosher Certification * IBD Eco-Social Certification * Dietary Supplement GMP and Certification * Sustainability Claims Verification * Non-GMO Project Certification

Community and industry advocacy

QAI sponsors the Earth Day Fair in San Diego to help educate the community on the benefits of "going organic". QAI is also active in the San Diego school district, serving on the board of directors for the Terra Nova Academy, a special educational curriculum engaging at-risk secondary education students in urban San Diego on careers in food and environmental science. NSF team members also judge science fairs and mentor teachers, helping the community cultivate a commitment to the environment at all ages and stages of life. QAI is also active in the

Organic Trade Association The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is a membership-based business association that focuses on the organic business community in North America. OTA's mission is to promote ethical consumerism, promoting and protecting the growth of organic trade to ...

(OTA) to help protect and promote organic practices. QAI Senior Vice President Joe Smillie has served as OTA president and as a member of the board of directors. QAI President Kristen Holt currently serves on the board of directors as treasurer.

Past controversy

In July 2008, it was reported that organic powdered ginger that had been certified by QAI, was found when tested to be contaminated with the banned pesticide

Aldicarb Aldicarb is a carbamate insecticide which is the active substance in the pesticide Temik. It is effective against thrips, aphids, spider mites, lygus, fleahoppers, and leafminers, but is primarily used as a nematicide. Aldicarb is a cholinester ...

. The organic ginger from which the QAI certified organic powdered ginger originated had been certified organic by two other USDA accredited certifying agents in China. Under Chinese law, foreigners may not inspect Chinese farms.

References

External links

Homepage of Quality Assurance International

USDA National Organic Program

The Organic Trade Association (OTA)
{{Consumer Food Safety Companies based in San Diego Companies established in 1989 Organic food certification organizations Privately held companies based in California Kosher food certification organizations Gluten-free diet Agricultural organizations based in the United States