ConAgra Foods Earns 2011 Quality Achievement Award from Safe Quality Food Institute

ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) announced today it has been recognized for its commitment to food safety by the Safe Quality Food Institute, who awarded the company its SQFI 2011 Quality Achievement Award for Manufacturer of the Year. SQFI recognized ConAgra Foods for its commitment to food safety embraced throughout the entire organization, as well as its early and widespread adoption of SQF certification in the U.S. Award winners, who were all peer-nominated, were notified Nov. 10 at SQFI’s annual conference in St. Louis, Mo.

“I was most pleased to award the 2011 Food Manufacturer of the Year award to ConAgra Foods,” said Robert Garfield, senior vice president, SQFI. “ConAgra Foods embraces a dynamic food safety culture at all levels of the organization. The employees’ goal of continuously improving their company’s food safety system and ConAgra Foods’ comprehensive commitment to food safety are to be applauded.”

The Quality Achievement Awards recognize organizations that are able to demonstrate outstanding achievement toward SQFI’s Mission of delivering consistent, globally recognized food safety and quality certification programs. ConAgra Foods was an early adopter of the SQF program, which is the only certification system recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative that offers certificates for primary production, food manufacturing, distribution and agent/broker management. The maker of Slim Jim®, Peter Pan® and Healthy Choice® and many other consumer-loved brands first obtained SQF 2000 certification for all 48 of its consumer foods plants in 2008 and sent all consumer foods plant managers to SQF training. The company now requires all of its co-manufacturers to achieve and maintain GFSI certification and has set an expectation with its suppliers to achieve GFSI certification by 2014.

Joan Menke-Schaenzer, chief global quality officer, ConAgra Foods, explained that in addition to SQF certification, ConAgra Foods has made significant investments in its food safety programs over the past three years. Between 2007 and 2010, the company spent $275 million in plant upgrades and safety improvements. Frequent evaluations and audits from internal and external parties help ensure that equipment and processes continue to meet the Company’s safety standards.

In addition to investing in food safety programs and infrastructure, ConAgra Foods has also invested in employee training programs such as Behavior Trend Observation Performance (BTOPS), which helps build a strong safety culture at the plant level. This system enables the tracking and trending of safe and at-risk behaviors. The plants and the company can then use the information to update and expand training, procedures, processes and equipment. Additionally, plant leadership teams attend BTOPS training sessions where they learn how to reinforce food safety behavior in their facilities.

SQFI’s third-party auditors noticed ConAgra Foods’ strong safety culture when they audited the company’s plants this year. “They went into our plants and said, ‘Wow, your plants get it. They’re proud of their work, they’re excited about food safety and they welcome the opportunity to continually improve,’” said Menke-Schaenzer.

“Awards like SQF validate that we’re making significant strides in food safety,” said Mike Tracy, vice president, Operations, ConAgra Foods. “Our robust food safety and quality systems, processes and procedures go beyond the requirements set by any SQF audit. We’re honored that this award recognizes us as truly best-in-class in SQF’s eyes, and we’ll keep getting better.”

ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE: CAG) is one of North America's leading food companies, with brands in 97 percent of America's households. Consumers find Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Snack Pack and many other ConAgra Foods brands in grocery, convenience, mass merchandise and club stores. ConAgra Foods also has a strong business-to-business presence, supplying frozen potato and sweet potato products as well as other vegetable, spice and grain products to a variety of well-known restaurants, foodservice operators and commercial customers. For more information, please visit us at www.conagrafoods.com.

The Safe Quality Food (SQF) program is recognized by retailers and foodservice providers around the world as a rigorous, credible food safety management system. It is the only certification system recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) that offers certificates for primary production, food manufacturing, distribution and agent/broker management. This enables suppliers to assure their customers that food has been produced, processed, prepared and handled according to the highest possible standards, at all levels of the supply chain. Additionally as a division of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the SQF program incorporates continual retailer feedback about consumer concerns. This information is passed on to SQF certified suppliers, keeping them a step ahead of their competitors. www.sqfi.com

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