The USDA Process Verified Program provides suppliers of agricultural products or services the opportunity to assure customers of their ability to provide consistent quality products or services. This is accomplished by having their documented manufacturing or service delivery processes verified through independent, third-party audits.

Seaboard Farms' USDA Process Verified practices include continuous evaluation of a proprietary in-plant process for improving meat quality, employee training and daily in-plant audits for animal handling and a source verification system that can trace product back to source farms.

As part of the USDA Processed Verified program, Seaboard Farms will keep detailed records the USDA will audit regularly.

"We're committed to superb pork quality," says Terry Holton, Seaboard Farms senior vice president of sales and marketing. "By being USDA Process Verified, our customers can be assured of our claims related to meat quality, animal handling and source verification."

The USDA Process Verified Program uses the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 series standards for documented quality management systems as a format for evaluating program documentation to ensure consistent auditing practices and promote international recognition of audit results.

"Our customers have come to expect the highest quality when they purchase a Seaboard Farms PrairieFresh® Premium Pork product," says Holton. "We're proud to include the additional assurance of USDA Process Verified to our marketing commitment."

Seaboard Farms, headquartered in Shawnee Mission, Kan., is a pork marketing company and a leading integrated food producer and processor of fresh pork in the United States, and a top exporter to Japan and Mexico. The company employs more than 4,000 people in Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Texas, and markets pork products under the PrairieFresh® Premium Pork brand.

Source: PR Newswire - 30th August 2004