E-Malt.com News article: 619

Latrobe Brewing Company, maker of the Rolling Rock and Rock Light beer brands recently became the first brewery in North or South America to be awarded third-party accreditation for its Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System, the international standard for food safety. Latrobe Brewing is a unit of Labatt USA and a part of the Labatt brewing organization of Canada. Labatt is part of Interbrew S.A. of Belgium, the world's third largest brewer.

"Being the first brewery anywhere in the Americas to achieve HACCP accreditation is a tremendous accomplishment and a tribute to the people of Latrobe Brewing," said Brad Hagan, director of brewery operations.

While HACCP accreditation is required in certain parts of the food manufacturing industry, it is not mandatory in the brewing industry. The Labatt organization made a voluntary pro-active commitment in 2000 to have all nine of its North American breweries achieve HACCP accreditation as part of an expanded consumer-focused food-safety program. "The system has become the basis for food safety regulations in a number of countries including the U.S., Canada and Japan," Dr. Dowhanick said.

The HACCP effort was managed internally by Jessica Hudale, HACCP coordinator for Latrobe Brewing, working with a team of employees.


07 February, 2003