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Westbury Dairies Gains ISO 22000 Food Safety Certification

Westbury Dairies has successfully attained ISO 22000:2005, the new international standard for food safety management.The ISO 22000 standard incorporates the widely accepted and adopted food safety principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points.) Why ISO 22000? "We wanted to attain ISO 22000 certification for a number of external and internal reasons," says Westbury Dairies' Technical Manager, Martyn Allcorn. "Externally, we're a relatively young company, established in 2003, and we saw ISO 22000 as a good way of becoming better known and increasing existing and potential customers' confidence in us. ISO 22000 is widely recognised in our export markets, particularly in EU, Asian and developing countries. "Within the organisation we saw ISO 22000 as a way of further improving our existing food safety and quality processes, further increasing staff attention to detail and reinforcing our culture of continuous improvement." Assessment and Certification Westbury Dairies chose SGS United Kingdom Ltd to carry out the ISO 22000 assessment. "We were pleased we did because our experience of using SGS United Kingdom Ltd was very positive," says Martyn Allcorn. "Our assessor was knowledgeable, obviously very experienced, and practical in her auditing style. In addition, she and other SGS United Kingdom Ltd staff kept us informed throughout the process." Westbury Dairies achieved full compliance, with no non-conformities. Its ISO 22000 certification covers the five years to March 2009. SGS United Kingdom Ltd formally presented Westbury Dairies' ISO 22000 certificate on Wednesday 19 April. The presentation was held at the Institute of Quality Assurance, 12 Grosvenor Crescent, London, SW1. Westbury Dairies is a joint venture between the dairy co-operatives Dairy Farmers of Britain, First Milk and Milk Link. The Westbury dairy factory, located just outside Westbury, Wiltshire, is the largest single-site dairy in the UK and the most technically advanced skimmed milk powder and butter plant in Europe. Using milk from each co-operative and from around 200 direct-supply farms in southern England, the dairy can process over 2.5 million litres of milk a day. At the height of production it can produce 3kg of skimmed milk powder, 4kg of cream and 2kg of butter every second. The plant employs 120 people and can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sold worldwide, the plant's milk powder, cream and butter are used in the production of confectionery, ready meals, cakes, biscuits, ice cream, custard, yoghurt and other foods. Milk powder is also reconstituted into drinking milk, particularly in developing countries. SGS United Kingdom Ltd is the global leader and innovator in inspection, verification, testing and certification services. Founded in 1878, SGS is recognised as the global benchmark in quality and integrity. With over 42,000 employees, SGS United Kingdom Ltd operates a network of almost 1,000 offices and laboratories around the world. Westbury Dairies Denis Chamberlain Tel: 01733 231133 Email: denis.chamberlain@chamberlain.uk.com www.westburydairies.com SGS United Kingdom Ltd Sophie Needham Tel: 01276 697655 Email: sophie.needham@sgs.com www.uk.sgs.com