CERTIFICATIONS
B1Material Source
At BÉSICS®, our goal is to be transparent and informative about the composition of our products, all of which are made from mostly plant-based, renewable ingredients. As we grow, we want all of our products to meet (and where possible exceed!), international standards for sourcing and sustainability. The source material standards we look to for our products include the Forest Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forest Initiative, and where possible the availability of Non-GMO material. For a detailed listing of certifications and the products they apply to, keep reading!
Renewable – biobased
The biobased content of a material indicates how much it is made out of renewable carbon sources, and not fossil fuels! Our BÉSICS® products are all made from raw plant sources, and biobased testing is planned for all of our products. For more information on biobased certifications, visit Vincotte OK Biobased and USDA Biopreferred Program
Recycled content
Whether it’s a bio-plastic or a paper fibre product in the BÉSICS® line, Product recyclability and the use of recycled materials in products is a goal. Today we are limited in the use of recycled materials, as they must always support food safety in material composition & material strength. This priority means that today, recycled materials are limited in BÉSICS® products to non-food contact applications (like our packaging!). We look forward to the growth of improved recycling systems that will produce clean viable materials for our products.
Sustainable Forest Management (FSC/SFI)
When sourcing virgin fibre materials, the most commonly used fibre comes from trees. For us, it becomes important to ensure that the trees are sourced from sustainably managed forests.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) are two separate independent third party certification on sustainable forest management, tracing the supply chain to verify products right from their forest of origin. These are internationally acknowledged as reliable, unbiased sources for assessing sustainable forestry.
For more information, visit the FSC Website or the SFI website
Non-GMO Choices
We source non-GMO plant materials where possible for our products. While there is not (yet!) a universal GMO labelling guideline for packaging products, we believe you’ll make your best decisions when you’re most informed. So, we prioritize non-GMO plant resources where possible. Our sugarcane, cellulose, and paper products come from non-GMO trees and sugarcane plants, so if you are no-go for GMOs, stick to those materials. Our bio-plastic material supplier, Ingeo, supports both GMO and non-GMO corn farming.
Got more GMO questions? Please contact us!.
B2Manufacturing Health & Safety
It’s important to us that every stage of BÉSICS® manufacture meets our standards for health and safety in the facility. That means both of the people working there and the facilities themselves are suitable to create products for contact with your food. With every product, BÉSICS® processors develop a Global Food Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for their operations. GMPs ensure that materials and articles are being consistently produced and controlled to achieve compliance with applicable regulations and standards. BÉSICS® manufacturers maintain food-safe requirements from entry to exit through GMP’s, along with a range of internationally recognized third party standards and certifications.
British Retail Consortium (BRC)
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is a globally recognized third party food safety and quality certification program. Certification to the standard helps manufacturers demonstrate compliance with customer, regulatory and statutory requirements and hence assists in providing a due diligence defence.
The standard is prescriptive and specifies safety, quality and operational criteria expected of compliant food manufacturing organizations.
ISO
The International Organisation for Standardization develops and publishes International Standards to guide external certification bodies in their roles of administering certifications. ISO standards “ensure that products and services are safe, reliable, and of good quality.” ISO itself does not issue certifications or conformity assessments; instead these are carried out by independent, external bodies.
For more information, visit the ISO Website
ISO 14001
The ISO 14001 is an environmental management standard. It provides tools to assess environmental performance to identify and control negative impacts to the environment at the company level. This standard applies to the operations of our manufacturers and material suppliers.
For more information, visit the ISO Standard 14001 Page
ISO 9001
ISO 9001 verifies quality management systems. It was designed to demonstrate the ability of a company to consistently meet customer demands for quality, as well as meeting applicable legal and regulatory requirements. It guides the effective application of, improvement, and conformity to relevant regulations and requirements.
For more information, visit the ISO Standard 9000 Page
NSF International
NSF certification assures suppliers, retailers, regulators and consumers that an independent organization has reviewed a product’s manufacturing process and determined that the product complies with specific standards for safety, quality, sustainability or performance.
From extensive product testing and material analyses to plant inspections and auditing, NSF evaluates every aspect of a product’s development.
For more information, visit the NSF Website.
B3Workplace Standards
National and international organizations host standards for quality of the workplace. Since our products come from several different manufacturers, we chose to develop an internal standard that reflects the workplace values we have at our home office in Canada. Aside from our on-site BÉSICS® assessment, we encourage our manufacturers to hold independent certifications for workplace standards.
BÉSICS® Assessed
BÉSICS® workplace standards are brought to every factory visit both before we choose a manufacturing partner and throughout the relationship. Some of the things we’re on the lookout for are the legal age of workers, no prison or forced labour, fair pay, time off, overtime, and where appropriate, factory accommodations.
B4Product Safety
It’s our responsibility to ensure that every item we produce is fit for your food! BÉSICS® works within the guidelines of regulatory agencies to confirm that all our final products are food safe.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The FDA is the review board in the USA which reviews products and ingredients to assess for any obvious concern to public health. They regulate how substances and products can be categorized, labeled, and provide a “safe” list of ingredients for items coming into contact with food. They do not submit certifications, but provide the guidelines for product development and help us check that our product matches their requirements.
For more information, visit the FDA Website
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Governmental regulatory bodies, Health Canada and the CFIA accomplish the same purposes as the FDA does for the United States by regulating products designed for food contact. CFIA regulates commercial products (for business), and Health Canada handles retail (for home). By creating regulatory systems and maintaining a ‘safe ingredients’ list they protect public health and safety by controlling what can be sold and labeled as a food contact item. They do not provide certifications, but provide the guidelines for product development and may issue letter of no objection.
For more information, visit Health Canada or CFIA.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Point System (HAACP)
HAACP is the world’s most recognized and accepted method of assuring food safety developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Its principles apply to the product chain from source to store to ensure that no foreign materials enter the food chain. When this applies to a BÉSICS® product, it means that the manufacturer has undergone HAACP training and employs methods to remove risk to the consumer throughout the creation of our product.
For more information, visit the HAACP Page
ISO Standard 2200:2005
This standard sets the requirements for a food safety management system where an organization in the product manufacturing chain demonstrates its ability to control hazards which could jeopardize safety of the final product when in contact with food. Meeting this standard means that the manufacturers are in alignment with the requirements of the standard, and that the product is internationally recognized as safe for food contact.
For more information, visit the ISO Catalogue, 2200:2005 Page
UK’s Food Standards Agency
The Food contact materials authorization guidance, published by UK’s Food Standards Agency, outlines the procedure for authorizing new food contact materials to be placed on the market in Great Britain (GB).
European (EU) Framework Regulation
All food contact materials CMs and articles (manufactured, imported and sold in the EU) intended to come into contact with food, comply with the Framework Regulation (Regulation (EC) 1935/2004). In addition, all FCMs should be manufactured according to the principles of good manufacturing practices (GMPs) stated in Regulation (EC) 2023/2006.
B5Compostability
Composting is the process of decomposing (biodegrading) into natural, nutrient rich components that serve as a valuable soil amendment. Compostability means that an items biodegradation happens within a specific time frame, and within a selective environment balancing temperature, pH, oxygen, and humidity for optimal decomposition.
Our goal is that each BÉSICS® product be composted at the end of its life, so we only make and sell products that have undergone third party testing and received certifications for industrial aerobic composting.
Beyond certification, we know it’s important to know where it can be composted, so we’ve done our own in-house research to bring you a BÉSICS® composter’s database that you can explore on our Where to Compost page.
ASTM Compostability Certifications
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has two standards which relate to compostability. A plastic under the ASTM standards is considered compostable if its degradation through biological processes yields carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds and biomass at a rate consistent with other organic compostable materials and without toxic residues that could inhibit or negatively affect plant growth. Both standards ensure that the entire product has been designed to compost in industrial aerobic composting facilities.
For more information, visit the ASTM Website
ASTM D6400
ASTM D6400 is the compostability standard for any materials and products made of plastics and bio-plastics.
For more information, visit the ASTM D6400 Page
ASTM D6868
ASTM D6868 refers to compostability of plastic films or coatings attached to compostable products like pulp and fibreware. This is also the standard applied for products that do not have plastic coatings but still desire compostability certification.
For more information, visit the ASTM D6868 Page
European Norm: EN 13432
European Norm EN13432 is an internationally recognized standard used to attest to the compostability of plastics. It differentiates the ways that plastics can degrade based on: their end products, conditions to degrade fully, and time taken to fully degrade. Their criteria for compostability is that the product will, within 3 months, have no more than 10% residue remaining compared to the original mass, that no negative influence on the composting process occurs, and that the resultant compost be tested for ecotoxicity, having no inhibitory effect on plant growth.
For more information, visit the European Bioplastics Website
Vincotte OK Compost Industrial
The Vincotte OK biobased certification indicates that a product has been proven to contain majority plant-based materials in its final makeup. This contrasts to oil-based products, and indicates a product is crafted from renewable resources.
For more information, visit the Vincotte OK Biobased Page
Vincotte OK Compost Home
Although there are currently no international standards for backyard/home composting, Vincotte developed their own testing system for this certification. The OK Compost HOME certification uses tests that simulate home conditions. It is issued for products that degrade to a maximum of 10% the original dry weight in a maximum of 180 days (~6 months) when in a composting vessel kept between 20-30°C.
For more information, visit the Vincotte OK Compost Page
Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)
BPI is a U.S. 3rd party composting standard developed by the Biodegradable Product Institute and the U.S. Composting Council. The standard is designed to certify plastic products that biodegrade and compost completely and safely in municipal and commercial compost facilities. BPI certified logos are ASTM tested and must meet ASTM D6400 or D6868 standards, depending on the product type. BPI currently does not certify for home or backyard composting.
For more information, visit the BPI Website
DIN Certco
DIN Certco is a German company which issues certifications for products tested to meet the European standard EN 13432. To meet the requirements of these standards, DIN includes tests on chemical characterization, ultimate biodegradability, disintegration in pilot composting conditions, quality of compost, and earthworm toxicity tests.
For more information, visit the DIN Compostability Page
B6Carbon Footprint
BÉSICS® is developing an in-house carbon footprint assessment that will be applied to our whole product line. We’re starting with our at-home operations, and then going to expand our analysis upstream and downstream of our supply chain for each product.
BÉSICS®® assessed
In 2016, we conducted a Scope 1 emissions assessment with the help of Climate Smart. Through that program, we set targets and started tracking metrics to see how we improve over time.
As we grow, we hope to conduct further assessments and compile our metrics into biannual reports. Our goal is to calculate our carbon footprint to both ends of our supply chain, for each product.
Material Source
At BÉSICS®, our goal is to be transparent and informative about the composition of our products, all of which are made from mostly plant-based, renewable ingredients. As we grow, we want all of our products to meet (and where possible exceed!), international standards for sourcing and sustainability. The source material standards we look to for our products include the Forest Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forest Initiative, and where possible the availability of Non-GMO material. For a detailed listing of certifications and the products they apply to, keep reading!
Renewable – biobased
The biobased content of a material indicates how much it is made out of renewable carbon sources, and not fossil fuels! Our BÉSICS® products are all made from raw plant sources, and biobased testing is planned for all of our products. For more information on biobased certifications, visit Vincotte OK Biobased and USDA Biopreferred Program
Recycled content
Whether it’s a bio-plastic or a paper fibre product in the BÉSICS® line, Product recyclability and the use of recycled materials in products is a goal. Today we are limited in the use of recycled materials, as they must always support food safety in material composition & material strength. This priority means that today, recycled materials are limited in BÉSICS® products to non-food contact applications (like our packaging!). We look forward to the growth of improved recycling systems that will produce clean viable materials for our products.
Sustainable Forest Management (FSC/SFI)
When sourcing virgin fibre materials, the most commonly used fibre comes from trees. For us, it becomes important to ensure that the trees are sourced from sustainably managed forests.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) are two separate independent third party certification on sustainable forest management, tracing the supply chain to verify products right from their forest of origin. These are internationally acknowledged as reliable, unbiased sources for assessing sustainable forestry.
For more information, visit the FSC Website or the SFI website
Non-GMO Choices
We source non-GMO plant materials where possible for our products. While there is not (yet!) a universal GMO labelling guideline for packaging products, we believe you’ll make your best decisions when you’re most informed. So, we prioritize non-GMO plant resources where possible. Our sugarcane, cellulose, and paper products come from non-GMO trees and sugarcane plants, so if you are no-go for GMOs, stick to those materials. Our bio-plastic material supplier, Ingeo, supports both GMO and non-GMO corn farming.
Got more GMO questions? Please contact us!.
Manufacturing Health & Safety
It’s important to us that every stage of BÉSICS® manufacture meets our standards for health and safety in the facility. That means both of the people working there and the facilities themselves are suitable to create products for contact with your food. With every product, BÉSICS® processors develop a Global Food Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for their operations. GMPs ensure that materials and articles are being consistently produced and controlled to achieve compliance with applicable regulations and standards. BÉSICS® manufacturers maintain food-safe requirements from entry to exit through GMP’s, along with a range of internationally recognized third party standards and certifications.
British Retail Consortium (BRC)
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is a globally recognized third party food safety and quality certification program. Certification to the standard helps manufacturers demonstrate compliance with customer, regulatory and statutory requirements and hence assists in providing a due diligence defence.
The standard is prescriptive and specifies safety, quality and operational criteria expected of compliant food manufacturing organizations.
ISO
The International Organisation for Standardization develops and publishes International Standards to guide external certification bodies in their roles of administering certifications. ISO standards “ensure that products and services are safe, reliable, and of good quality.” ISO itself does not issue certifications or conformity assessments; instead these are carried out by independent, external bodies.
For more information, visit the ISO Website
ISO 14001
The ISO 14001 is an environmental management standard. It provides tools to assess environmental performance to identify and control negative impacts to the environment at the company level. This standard applies to the operations of our manufacturers and material suppliers.
For more information, visit the ISO Standard 14001 Page
ISO 9001
ISO 9001 verifies quality management systems. It was designed to demonstrate the ability of a company to consistently meet customer demands for quality, as well as meeting applicable legal and regulatory requirements. It guides the effective application of, improvement, and conformity to relevant regulations and requirements.
For more information, visit the ISO Standard 9000 Page
NSF International
NSF certification assures suppliers, retailers, regulators and consumers that an independent organization has reviewed a product’s manufacturing process and determined that the product complies with specific standards for safety, quality, sustainability or performance.
From extensive product testing and material analyses to plant inspections and auditing, NSF evaluates every aspect of a product’s development.
For more information, visit the NSF Website.
Workplace Standards
National and international organizations host standards for quality of the workplace. Since our products come from several different manufacturers, we chose to develop an internal standard that reflects the workplace values we have at our home office in Canada. Aside from our on-site BÉSICS® assessment, we encourage our manufacturers to hold independent certifications for workplace standards.
BÉSICS® assessed
BÉSICS® workplace standards are brought to every factory visit both before we choose a manufacturing partner and throughout the relationship. Some of the things we’re on the lookout for are the legal age of workers, no prison or forced labour, fair pay, time off, overtime, and where appropriate, factory accommodations.
Product Safety
It’s our responsibility to ensure that every item we produce is fit for your food! BÉSICS® works within the guidelines of regulatory agencies to confirm that all our final products are food safe.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The FDA is the review board in the USA which reviews products and ingredients to assess for any obvious concern to public health. They regulate how substances and products can be categorized, labeled, and provide a “safe” list of ingredients for items coming into contact with food. They do not submit certifications, but provide the guidelines for product development and help us check that our product matches their requirements.
For more information, visit the FDA Website
All BÉSICS® products meet the FDA guidelines for food contact.
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Governmental regulatory bodies, Health Canada and the CFIA accomplish the same purposes as the FDA does for the United States by regulating products designed for food contact. CFIA regulates commercial products (for business), and Health Canada handles retail (for home). By creating regulatory systems and maintaining a ‘safe ingredients’ list they protect public health and safety by controlling what can be sold and labeled as a food contact item. They do not provide certifications, but provide the guidelines for product development and may issue letter of no objection.
For more information, visit Health Canada or CFIA.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Point System (HAACP)
HAACP is the world’s most recognized and accepted method of assuring food safety developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Its principles apply to the product chain from source to store to ensure that no foreign materials enter the food chain. When this applies to a BÉSICS® product, it means that the manufacturer has undergone HAACP training and employs methods to remove risk to the consumer throughout the creation of our product.
For more information, visit the HAACP Page
ISO Standard 2200:2005
This standard sets the requirements for a food safety management system where an organization in the product manufacturing chain demonstrates its ability to control hazards that could jeopardize user safety of the final product when in contact with food. Meeting this standard means that the manufacturers are in alignment with the requirements of the standard, and that the product is internationally recognized as safe for food contact.
For more information, visit the ISO Catalogue, 2200:2005 Page
UK’s Food Standards Agency
The Food contact materials authorization guidance, published by UK’s Food Standards Agency, outlines the procedure for authorizing new food contact materials to be placed on the market in Great Britain (GB).
European (EU) Framework Regulation
All food contact materials CMs and articles (manufactured, imported and sold in the EU) intended to come into contact with food, comply with the Framework Regulation (Regulation (EC) 1935/2004). In addition, all FCMs should be manufactured according to the principles of good manufacturing practices (GMPs) stated in Regulation (EC) 2023/2006.
Compostability
Composting is the process of decomposing (biodegrading) into natural, nutrient rich components that serve as a valuable soil amendment. Compostability means that an items biodegradation happens within a specific time frame, and within a selective environment balancing temperature, pH, oxygen, and humidity for optimal decomposition.
Our goal is that each BÉSICS® product be composted at the end of its life, so we only make and sell products that have undergone third party testing and received certifications for industrial aerobic composting.
Beyond certification, we know it’s important to know where it can be composted, so we’ve done our own in-house research to bring you a BÉSICS® composter’s database that you can explore on our Where to Compost page.
ASTM Compostability Certifications
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has two standards which relate to compostability. A plastic under the ASTM standards is considered compostable if its degradation through biological processes yields carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds and biomass at a rate consistent with other organic compostable materials and without toxic residues that could inhibit or negatively affect plant growth. Both standards ensure that the entire product has been designed to compost in industrial aerobic composting facilities.
For more information, visit the ASTM Website
ASTM D6400
ASTM D6400 is the compostability standard for any materials and products made of plastics and bio-plastics.
For more information, visit the ASTM D6400 Page
ASTM D6868
ASTM D6868 refers to compostability of plastic films or coatings attached to compostable products like pulp and fibreware. This is also the standard applied for products that do not have plastic coatings but still desire compostability certification.
For more information, visit the ASTM D6868 Page
European Norm: EN 13432
European Norm EN13432 is an internationally recognized standard used to attest to the compostability of plastics. It differentiates the ways that plastics can degrade based on: their end products, conditions to degrade fully, and the time taken to fully degrade. Their criteria for compostability are that the product will, within 3 months, have no more than 10% residue remaining compared to the original mass, that no negative influence on the composting process occurs, and that the resultant compost be tested for ecotoxicity, having no inhibitory effect on plant growth.
For more information, visit the European Bioplastics Website
Vincotte OK Compost Industrial
The Vincotte OK biobased certification indicates that a product has been proven to contain majority plant-based materials in its final makeup. This contrasts to oil-based products, and indicates a product is crafted from renewable resources.
For more information, visit the Vincotte OK Biobased Page
Vincotte OK Compost Home
Although there are currently no international standards for backyard/home composting, Vincotte developed their own testing system for this certification. The OK Compost HOME certification uses tests that simulate home conditions. It is issued for products that degrade to a maximum of 10% the original dry weight in a maximum of 180 days (~6 months) when in a composting vessel kept between 20-30°C.
For more information, visit the Vincotte OK Compost Page
Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)
BPI is a U.S. 3rd party composting standard developed by the Biodegradable Product Institute and the U.S. Composting Council. The standard is designed to certify plastic products that biodegrade and compost completely and safely in municipal and commercial compost facilities. BPI certified logos are ASTM tested and must meet ASTM D6400 or D6868 standards, depending on the product type. BPI currently does not certify for home or backyard composting.
For more information, visit the BPI Website
DIN Certco
DIN Certco is a German company which issues certifications for products tested to meet the European standard EN 13432. To meet the requirements of these standards, DIN includes tests on chemical characterization, ultimate biodegradability, disintegration in pilot composting conditions, quality of compost, and earthworm toxicity tests.
Carbon Footprint
BÉSICS® is developing an in-house carbon footprint assessment that will be applied to our whole product line. We’re starting with our at-home operations, and then going to expand our analysis upstream and downstream of our supply chain for each product.
Besics Assessed
In 2016, we conducted a Scope 1 emissions assessment with the help of Climate Smart. Through that program, we set targets and started tracking metrics to see how we improve over time.
As we grow, we hope to conduct further assessments and compile our metrics into biannual reports. Our goal is to calculate our carbon footprint to both ends of our supply chain, for each product.