The World Sustainability Organization and The Good Food Institute Sustainable Seafood Initiative have announced the launch of a joint certification program for plant-based seafood.
The certification will come under a new ‘Golden Standard’ in WSO’s Friend of the Sea certification program. With the Friend of the Sea Golden Standard, plant-based seafood companies will be able to certify their products as per sustainable certification criteria of the WSO’s Friend of the Earth agriculture standards.
The new standard was announced at GFI India’s Smart Protein Summit, and is aimed at strengthening the global alternative protein sector. Lately, major food companies and investors have shown keen interest in this category.
The Golden Certification is based on SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) guidelines set by UN FAO (Food & Agricultural Organisation). Intensive agriculture leads to the loss of biodiversity, degrades ecosystems and causes a reduction or extinction in animal and plant species. It also results in increased greenhouse gas emissions.
The Golden Standard for plant-based seafood is aimed at assuring consumers that the products have been made using sustainable practices without causing any harm to the environment. To get the certification, companies are required to meet the following requirements:
- A well organised environmental management procedure
- A system to protect the ecosystem, with implementation of areas dedicated to the conservation of wild flora and fauna
- The reduction in the use of chemically synthetic substances according to the principles of organic or integrated agriculture
- Biological control, the rational use of water resources
- Minimization of mechanical operations on the ground and its compaction
- The use of energy from renewable resources
- Control of gas emissions, greenhouse effect and the implementation of the systems to reduce them
- Social responsibility
