The mission of the National Department of Health is to improve health status through the prevention of illness, disease and the promotion of healthy lifestyle by overseeing food & drug safety.

Basically USDA is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry and egg products, while the FDA regulates all other foods. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates the production and importation of meat, poultry and egg products.

The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring the safety of United States food supply.

FDA regulates the production and importation of non-meat foods, non-specified red meats, birds, and seafood products.

GFSI Benchmarked Standards include third party certifications not mandatory by law, that help your business adopt the highest standards in food safety and facilitate access to global markets.

Some examples of a GFSI certification may include: SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000 among others.

A GMP audit is a comprehensive, third-party inspection of a production company. It is meant to identify operational flaws and legal violations.

Some examples of a GFSI certification may include: SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000 among others.

The FDA's GMP Audit checklist consists of nine parts, covering:

1. Personnel. 
2. Plant and Grounds. 
3. Sanitary Operations.
4. Sanitary Facilities and Controls. 
5. Equipment and Utensils.
6. Processes and Controls. 
7. Warehousing and Distribution.
8. Holding and Distribution of Human Food By-Products for use as Animal Food. 
9. Defect Action Levels.

The USDA organic label is backed by a certification system that verifies farmers or handling facilities located anywhere in the world comply with the USDA Organic Regulations. Certification entails five steps:

• STEP 1: Develop an organic system plan.
• STEP 2: Implement the organic system plan. Have it reviewed by a certifying agent.
• STEP 3: Receive inspection.
• STEP 4: Have a certifying agent review the inspection report
• STEP 5: Receive a decision from the certifier

Your choice to commit to a certain level of strictness will determine your level of Kosher Certification. Through its relationship with Star-K Kosher Certification, NSF offers manufacturers and retailers the strictest kosher assurance available. But there are also non-GFSI certifications available, as well as certification agencies like SGS that offer those services.

The Safe Quality Food (SQF) Program is a food safety and quality program recognized by GFSI, retailers and food service providers world-wide. The programs are designed to meet customer, industry, and regulatory requirements, with the application of HACCP for control of food-quality hazards. SQF offers different programs tailored to each industry and business size: 

• Fundamentals Program for food manufacturing and primary producers
• Food Safety Program for all suppliers in the food industry:
• Primary plant and animal production 
• Aquaculture
• Food manufacturing 
• Animal product manufacturing 
• Dietary supplement manufacturing 
• Pet food and animal feed manufacturing 
• Manufacturing of food packaging 
• Storage and distribution 
• Quality Program to monitor and control food quality related threats.
• Food Service Program In partnership with the National Restaurant Association.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is a global brand that provides assurance to customers that food and non-food products are safe, legal and of high quality, by harmonising safety standards across the supply chain.

BRC offers several global standards recognized by GFSI: 

• Food Safety
• Packaging Materials
• Storage and Distribution
• Consumer Products
• Agents and Brokers
• Retail
• Gluten Free
• Plant-Based
• Ethical Trading