Success Story: USP’s Impact on Food Quality
This success story shows how companies are using—and getting value from—products and services from USP, a scientific nonprofit organization that sets quality standards for food ingredients, dietary supplements, and pharmaceuticals. USP publishes the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC), a book of written standards for the quality, purity, and identity of food ingredients.
The Company: ICL Performance Products LP
ICL Performance Products LP is a supplier of phosphorus-based chemicals used in many industries. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Israel Chemicals Limited (ICL), based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Food ingredients form a key part of the company’s product line, and are used in baked goods, beverages, dairy products, meat, poultry, seafood, nutrition products, jellies, preserves, gelatin, and other products.
FCC: Ensuring Quality, Consistency, and Customer Confidence
According to Lori Klopf, Ph.D., in ICL’s regulatory affairs office, FCC plays a number of important roles:
- “FCC Grade.” “At ICL, we've adopted ingredients specifications for 'food grade' materials from FCC as our own, which we call 'FCC Grade.' This helps reassure customers that ICL ingredients meet the high standards for identity, purity, and strength set out in FCC.”
- Quality. When selecting its own suppliers, ICL uses vendors that incorporate FCC standards into their manufacturing processes. Says Dr. Klopf, “This serves two purposes: helping us to distinguish among competing vendors, and a further reassurance to customers of the quality of the products they buy from ICL.”
- Compliance. While manufacturers like ICL must conform to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the CFR contains specifications that are not detailed nor updated regularly. Monographs in FCC guide manufacturers in conforming to regulations, which is helpful in any dealings with FDA. In fact, says Dr. Klopf, “Many companies feel it is important to have the current edition of FCC on hand to demonstrate a commitment to quality in the event of an FDA audit.”
- Credibility. “If a manufacturer's food ingredient has a monograph in FCC,” notes Dr. Klopf, “meeting these specifications adds credibility to the manufacturer quality claims.” The fact that a monograph has been through the careful, scientific vetting process necessary for inclusion in FCC is a strong statement of quality.
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