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Today Smithfield Foods, Inc. unveiled its new ingredient glossary, the first online resource of its kind provided by a pork processing company. The online glossary lists and describes ingredients used in products across the company's brands. The glossary provides consumers with greater assurance of Smithfield's commitment to transparency and producing safe, high-quality foods. This resource builds on recent product-focused initiatives highlighted in the new Food Safety & Quality section of Smithfield's 2015 Sustainability and Financial Report, also now available.
"We're committed to upholding the highest standards of transparency in every aspect of our business from our animal care practices and environmental impact to how we make our products," said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. "Our new online ingredient glossary echoes this commitment by providing consumers and other stakeholders with useful, accessible and easy-to-understand information about the ingredients we use to produce high-quality food."
The ingredient glossary currently lists the name, definition and uses of nearly 100 ingredients used in Smithfield's products. This new tool marks the most recent of several product-focused innovations. The Food Safety & Quality section of Smithfield's 15th annual sustainability report highlights new, healthier product offerings that provide enhanced nutritional benefits and simplified ingredients as well as new techniques that improve the nutrition profile of the company's products.
Last year, Smithfield established a chief innovation officer and hired a vice president of innovation. These senior leadership positions are charged with bolstering innovative efforts throughout the company including product innovation.
"We've launched more products in the last two years than we've launched in the previous 10 — and there is tremendous room for growth," said William Brunt, chief innovation officer for Smithfield Foods. "As we look ahead, our cross-functional team of chefs, food scientists, and nutritionists will continue to create new products that accommodate a broad range of diets and lifestyles."
The new Food Safety & Quality section also details investments in pioneering research, technology and projects that advance food safety practices across the company and throughout the industry. It provides information about the programs and practices that helped Smithfield achieve zero U.S. Department of Agriculture recalls for the second consecutive year and maintain its Global Food Safety Initiative certification at all applicable facilities.
This is the third of five installations of Smithfield's annual sustainability report, published in segments organized by pillar of Smithfield's sustainability program. The goal of the multiphase release is to better engage a broad range of stakeholders by delivering information in a more accessible, meaningful way. Following the Food Safety & Quality section, Smithfield will publish its Helping Communities and People sections in late July, with the Full Report available in mid-August.
July 13, 2016 - Smithfield
