NWI Participates In Annual GMP Training; Pursues New Quality Certification

The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) is building upon its strong foundation of quality-based manufacturing practices by pursuing the Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standard (BRCGS) Certification for Packaging Materials, which is recognized under the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). In line with this goal, the NWI team recently attended its annual GMP training, presented by Lynette Johnston, Ph.D., assistant professor and Food Safety Extension specialist in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University.

Of particular interest during the training was discussion of food-contact packaging and materials, as nonwovens are commonly employed in these scenarios. In this regard, Dr. Johnston covered best practices for ensuring food-contact packaging and materials are manufactured in a way that ensures food and consumer protection.

NWI has been following GMP requirements since 2019, and its most recent audit, completed on July 11, resulted in a rating of “Excellent” with a score of 962/1000, according to an independent third-party auditor.

“Here at NWI we are continuously striving to improve our quality measures,” said Jamie Plummer, lab research specialist. “Over the past several years, we’ve implemented a full suite of Standard Operating Procedures, not only in our labs, but across all our operations. Our goal with BRCGS Packaging Materials Certification is to align our business with GFSI to meet the needs of our current and prospective customers who are serving the food and beverage industry.”

“Here at NWI we are continuously striving to improve our quality measures,” said Jamie Plummer, lab research specialist. “Over the past several years, we’ve implemented a full suite of Standard Operating Procedures, not only in our labs, but across all our operations.”

The BRCGS Packaging Materials Global Standard helps a site or operation to demonstrate they are providing products that are quality assured, legally compliant, and authentic.

The first to be recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), BRCGS Packaging Materials is now in its 6th edition and has become the global industry benchmark.

In addition to GMP, NWI’s Analytical and Physical Testing, Meltblown and Spunbond and Hydroentangling labs follow and are accredited for ISO 9001, and the Institute’s Filtration Testing Lab follows and is A2LA Accredited for ISO 17025*.

Learn more about NWI’s Fabrication and Testing capabilities at https://bit.ly/3s8c8WF.

NWI is the world’s first accredited academic program for the interdisciplinary field of engineered fabrics. Based at the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NWI is an innovative global partnership between industry, government and academia. NWI is supported by more than 45 industry-leading member companies/organizations spanning the breadth of the nonwovens value chain.

* For a full list of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited test methods available in NWI’s Filtration Testing Lab, see https://bit.ly/43Yt92w.