World Wide Gourmet Foods

Certified Manufacturer

Guidelines for New Ingredients and New Vendors

Please provide us with the following about your ingredient vendors:

Basic Company Information

Company Information

World Wide Gourmet Foods requires the basic company information for any ingredient manufacturers who would become our vendors. That information includes:

  • Company name and address
  • Primary QA contact (name, phone, email)

Companies that refuse to provide a primary QA contact will not be allowed to do business with World Wide Gourmet Foods.

3rd Party Audited Facilities

Food Saftey

All companies that do business with World Wide Gourmet Foods must be audited by a 3rd party agency for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), preferably a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) audit from one of the globally recognized certifying bodies: SQF, BRC, FSSC 22000, etc. They must also have documented Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans or compliance with the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) program.

Companies that are not audited by a 3rd party agency will not be allowed to do business with World Wide Gourmet Foods.

Product Documentation

As we are a SQF audited plant, all of our ingredients must be accompanied by the following information:

  • Complete specification sheets for each ingredient/material (including allergens, composition, and physical/chemical properties)
  • Certificate of Analysis (COA) for each lot or batch, verifying compliance to agreed specifications
  • Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS/SDS) for chemicals or non-food items
  • Nutritional information (where required)
  • Allergen statement (clear identification of presence/absence of major allergens per FDA or CFIA regulation)
  • Non-GMO / Organic certificates (if claimed or required)
  • Participation in the Document Compliance Network (DCN) system, which is a cloud-based compliance management platform specifically designed for the food industry. Document Compliance Network | Food Traceability Software

Regulatory & Compliance

All ingredients that are used in our production facility must follow the following regulatory requirements:

  • Proof of regulatory compliance (FDA registration, USDA, CFIA, etc. where applicable)
  • Kosher Certificates (if applicable to product, see link for details: Acceptable Kashrus Agencies – cRc Consumer Kosher)
  • Country of origin documentation
  • Prop 65 disclosure (for California) if relevant ingredients are supplied
  • Lead hazard disclosure where applicable (per recent SQF requirements for spices, such as cinnamon)

Quality & Testing Requirements

COA Testing

All ingredient COAs must include: microbiological parameters, chemical parameters (e.g., heavy metals, pesticide residues if applicable), physical attributes (moisture, color, particle size, etc.)

Ingredients must be presented with Shelf life documentation and recommended storage conditions.

Logistics & Traceability

Supply Chain Management

All ingredient vendors must have:

  • Lot coding system and traceability procedure (must allow full trace back one step forward/one step back)
  • Recall/withdrawal procedure in place and shared upon request
  • Shipping and handling requirements (temperature, humidity, contamination prevention)

Ongoing Requirements

Contact

World Wide Gourmet Foods requires the following on an ongoing basis:

  • Immediate notification to QA if:
    • Product safety issue arises
    • Specification changes occur
    • Regulatory actions (FDA warning, recall, etc.) affect supplied materials
  • Annual updates of certifications, COAs, and spec sheets
  • Agreement to allow supplier audits (remote or on-site) as part of approval and monitoring