Parent Company of Red Lobster and Olive Garden Will Require
Certification of Shrimp Suppliers' Environmental and Social Responsibility
ST. LOUIS, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Aquaculture Alliance
announced today that Darden Restaurants, Inc. -- the world's largest casual
dining company in sales and market share -- supports GAA's newly revised Best
Aquaculture Practices standards and will begin requiring its farmed shrimp
suppliers to become BAP-certified.
The Best Aquaculture Practices certification standards provide
quantitative international guidelines and auditing procedures that limit
environmental impacts and protect the wholesomeness of shrimp throughout the
production process. Developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance with input
from technical experts and non-governmental organizations, the BAP program
includes participating shrimp hatcheries, farms and processing plants
worldwide.
"It isn't surprising that Darden Restaurants was the first company in the
restaurant industry to adopt the BAP standards," Global Aquaculture Alliance
President George Chamberlain said. "Darden has been a pioneer in supporting
responsible aquaculture and seafood safety."
Darden, which owns and operates more than 1,400 Red Lobster, Olive Garden,
Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones and Seasons 52 restaurants, adds the BAP standards
to its already stringent internal program of food quality assurance testing.
"BAP certification benefits consumers, buyers and the diverse aquaculture
supply chain by providing a uniform set of standards to assure that shrimp are
responsibly produced," Chamberlain said.
"This certification program will improve sustainable practices across a
wide range of shrimp-farming activities, such as wetland conservation,
effluent management and drug and chemical management," Darden Vice President
of Environmental Relations George Williams said. "These practices represent
continuous improvement in the environmental, social and food safety aspects of
shrimp farming."
The Best Aquaculture Practices standards are exclusively implemented
through site inspections and ongoing audits carried out by Aquaculture
Certification Council, Inc. During inspections, its global team of independent
certifiers reviews facility procedures and infrastructure, samples effluents
and checks records for compliance. ACC also requires traceability of shrimp
products from processing plants back through the supply chain to the farms and
ponds where the animals were raised.
"In keeping with Darden's ongoing commitment to quality assurance and
responsible production, we are joining these efforts," Darden Senior Vice
President of Seafood Purchasing Bill Herzig said. "We aim to help the entire
industry come together around quantitative standards and certification of
compliance."
Global Aquaculture Alliance is an international non-profit trade
organization dedicated to advancing responsible fish and shellfish farming.
GAA plans to build on the current BAP standards with additional components for
shrimp feed mill certification and laboratory verification of the food safety
of final shrimp products. Once the comprehensive standards for farmed shrimp
are complete, GAA will begin to introduce parallel standards for farmed fish
and mollusks.
For additional information on the Best Aquaculture Practices standards,
contact BAP Standards Coordinator Daniel Lee: telephone +44-1248-713591,
e-mail dangaelle@aol.com; or the Global Aquaculture Alliance office: telephone
+1-314-293-5500, e-mail homeoffice@gaalliance.org . For more on BAP facility
certification, visit the Aquaculture Certification Council, Inc. website at
http://www.aquaculturecertification.org or contact ACC Vice President William
More at +1-425-825-7935, e-mail wrmore@aquaculturecertification.org .
SOURCE Global Aquaculture Alliance
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Related links:
http://www.aquaculturecertification.org
CONTACT:
Daniel Lee, BAP Standards Coordinator,
+011-44-1248-713591, or dangaelle@aol.com; or Global Aquaculture
Alliance office, +1-314-293-5500, or homeoffice@gaalliance.org ;
or William More, ACC Vice President, +1-425-825-7935, or
wrmore@aquaculturecertification.org
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