40 Daily Quality Test
40 Daily QC Tests on Living Ponds and Dry Product
Technicians collect samples from the pond water and the final dry product for dozens of different analytical tests. Only after each lot has passed all tests is it certified ready to ship, accompanied by a laboratory report. Additionally, independent laboratories in the USA and Japan periodically confirm protein, pigments, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, microbiology and heavy metals.
Meets All International Food Safety and Quality Guidelines
Farms are subject to inspections by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the state of California. Its success in exceeding all food safety and quality standards is attributed to the remote farm location, clean air and water, premium quality nutrients, and the total quality management approach to quality control.
An ISO 9000 Registered Quality Management System
The ISO 9000 series of international quality standards were introduced in 1987. Since then, ISO 9001, 9002 & 9003 have been adopted by over 250,000 companies (25,000 in the U.S.) who have successfully registered and been independently certified as meeting the ISO requirements. ISO 9001 is the most comprehensive of the standards as it covers product design, engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, marketing and sales. The U.S. list of ISO companies is growing rapidly as the need to compete in the world's marketplace is forcing more and more U.S. companies to seek international acceptance of their products and services. The ISO quality standards are presently recognized in over 80 countries across the world.
Pesticide Free Spirulina
66 Environmental Contaminants Tested and None Detected
Farms have never used pesticides or herbicides. Because more and more people are concerned about pesticide residues in their foods, spirulina has been additionally tested for residual environmental residues since 1993. Independent lab tests have not detected any of over 66 possible contaminant residues, so product labels now state "pesticide free." Earthrise Farms felt this extra level of assurance was important to quality conscious natural food customers.
Algal Toxin Safety Research
Because of the concern about toxic blue-algae growing in lakes, The Farms developed a program to assure these toxic algae are not present in spirulina ponds. First, daily microscopic examinations of the living culture. Second, farm scientists developed in cooperation with university researchers, immunoassay and enzyme inhibition bioassay methods to detect nanogram levels of toxins. Very few laboratories in the world are capable of such analysis.