Food Technologist/Labeling Specialist

$65,000 - $80,000/Yr

Golden West Food Group (GWFG) - Vernon, CA

Full-time - Mid Level

Vernon, CA

About the position

Headquartered in Vernon, CA, we are a premium full spectrum manufacturer and distributor of fine food and beverage products. Family owned and operated since 1977, our Company offers more than 4,000 products to a variety of customers in both the foodservice and retail channels. We are committed to providing the highest quality food products with an unrelenting commitment to fresh, nutritious ingredients and promotion of eco-friendly business practices.

Responsibilities

• Submit labels to the USDA and keep USDA approvals on file.
• Review and revise product labels to comply with USDA/FDA regulations.
• Create and update in-house Product Specification Sheets as well as Product Specification sheets for customers.
• Manage files of Suppliers Product Specification Sheets, Letter of Guarantees, and COAs, claim substantiation documents and records.
• Create nutritional facts panels using USDA nutrient database and/or Genesis software.
• Keep records of product, component, and ingredient assembly information.
• Create formulation sheets for production.
• Work cross functionally with operations, QA, production, marketing, and sales to ensure compliance on label and packaging and facilitate new product launches.
• Work with chefs, culinary consultants, and agencies in taking recipes from concept to production.
• Maintain working knowledge of and follow industry regulations and customer requirements in development and commercialization of products.
• Develop specifications for all raw materials, process controls, and finished goods.
• Independently review changes in products, product specifications, and manufacturing processes to evaluate regulatory implications of the change. Advise team and implement changes accordingly.
• Represent Regulatory Affairs in project team meetings to guide regulatory compliance during product development and launch.
• Analyze changing regulatory requirements and their impact on the organization.
• Coordinate, review, and manage regulatory documents to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal regulatory requirements.
• Ensuring that the internal regulatory department database for new products is kept updated with back up information for all formulations to ensure that all necessary paper work is available for labeling, and registration.
• Successfully assist the company during several annual external regulatory examination and audits covering compliances of BRC, FSIS, USDA, Organic and FDA standards.
• Develop, implement, and manage risk assessments for suppliers, raw materials, ingredients and packaging, and assist in periodically evaluating and updating the organization action plan to address risks.
• Manage regulatory approval process for marketing/advertising material and packaging to ensure accuracy of claims/labeling and compliance with regulations related to food, food safety, specifications, product usage, nutrition, and health claims in the USA.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• BA/BS in Food Science, Applied Science, Nutrition, or Business
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in food labeling and regulations (both USDA and FDA as well as NIST, CBP, FTC)
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the food and beverage industry
• Strong organizational, analytical, critical thinking, communication skills are required.
• Strong working knowledge of food Federal, State and Local regulations with specific emphasis on nutritional labeling food ingredients under both USDA and FDA.
• Must be proficient in knowledge of food processing, preparation, quality assurance and quality control with extensive and proven record in maintaining the highest standards of documentation, applications of regulatory requirements and policies in the USA.
• Knowledge of physical properties and chemical composition of food and ingredients.
• Project management experience in a team setting to work effectively in accomplishing company and department objectives under tight deadlines.

Benefits

• Holiday Pay
• Paid Time Off
• Health Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Accident Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• 401k