ST. LOUIS — Purina on May 22 announced its Beyond pet food line is the manufacturer’s first brand to earn the Marine Stewardship Council’s Chain of Custody Group Certification. The brand’s regionally sourced formulas include Alaskan cod, Pacific tuna and Pacific Northwest hake fish, which now feature the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) blue fish label for certified sustainability.

“Sustainability and ingredient transparency are important to us,” said Ana Garcia, brand director for Beyond. “The Beyond team wanted to find third party verification that ensured the ingredients we were sourcing came from sustainable sources and gave our consumers the same level of confidence in our foods that we have.”

The MSC facilitates the Chain of Custody Standards through independent certification bodies that audit each company involved in a supply chain. The companies must meet five key principles to achieve the certification: certified supply; clearly identifiable products; separation between certified and non-certified products; records of certified products for traceability; and a good management system to maintain requirements of the Chain of Custody Standard.

Purina’s Beyond brand was audited by Intertek over a three-day period. The audit included 60 questions about suppliers, ingredient sourcing and procurement practices, traceability, labeling, storage practices and ingredients receipt procedures, according to Purina.

More than 300 employees involved in the Beyond supply chain were trained throughout the certification process and will be annually re-trained to maintain current MSC standards.

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