Mira’s Turmeric Products, a turmeric, ginger, and other herbal products producer in Barangay San Salvador, Lipa City strengthened their food safety system implementation through a refresher training on food safety facilitated by Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Batangas.
The company is one of the cooperators of the DOST-Batangas’ Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) and has always been consistent in ensuring their compliance to food safety standards through acquisition of various accreditations such as license to operate (LTO) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and HALAL compliance certificate, among others. To them, consumers’ safety is part of their business’ bloodline, and it must always be secured at all times.
Hence, the refresher training served as a platform for reviewing and updating of the company workers’ understanding on the current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) requirements, the importance and the benefits of GMP implementation in their food business, and compliance to the stipulations of the Food Safety Act of 2013 RA 10611.
Topics covered during the training were GMP organization, education and trainings, premises, plant construction and design, equipment, sanitation and hygiene, supervision, sanitary facilities, maintenance and sanitation, process control, chemical control, quality management, testing of reprocessed product, testing of returned goods, laboratory facilities and control, documentation, quality audits, warehouse and distribution, receiving and shipping, recall and traceability, retention of samples, and subcontracting of manufacture.
All the production and non-production workers attended the training facilitated by Mr. John Michael A. Florendo, DOST CALABARZON Food Safety Team Member. The company expressed its appreciation for the technical assistance that DOST-Batangas continuously provides. The workers, on the other hand, promised to apply all the learnings they gained from the training. Mira’s Turmeric Products is a two-time adoptor of DOST SETUP, first in 2016 and second in 2021. Through the years, they have penetrated good markets such as pasalubong outlets, stores overseas, and big supermarkets such as Robinsons, All Day, Fisher Mall and SM. At least five other big companies also get their turmeric products from Mira’s. What makes the company more relevant to local economic development is the livelihood opportunity they provide to farmers who supply their raw materials and to housewives who serve as one of their distributors.