As a Company engaged in the FMCG and Hospitality sectors, its products and services reach out to a large number of consumers. The Company has stringent processes and systems to ensure that all products and services are in compliance with relevant regulatory requirements. In addition, product and service attributes are constantly evaluated against international standards and best practices.
ITC's commitment towards ensuring compliance with relevant standards of health and safety commences at the design stage. Appropriate health and safety elements across procurement, manufacturing and delivery are identified and evaluated, based on which control measures are implemented as necessary. Global developments in health and safety are also reviewed constantly to provide appropriate insights. This is supported by comprehensive research and testing facilities at the ITC Life Sciences & Technology Centre, whose laboratories conform to ISO/IEC 17025 and are certified by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration (NABL). Manufacturing units and hotels have state-of-the-art facilities and technology as well as internationally benchmarked quality management systems. These are constantly reviewed to keep them contemporary and relevant. The quality performance of third party manufacturing facilities is also monitored on a daily basis.
| Business | Initiatives for improvement of health and safety impacts of products/ services |
|---|---|
| Agri - Business | The Business primarily engages in sourcing of agri-commodities like Wheat, Coffee, Potato, Shrimps, Soya and Processed Fruits. These commodities are sourced and supplied based on customer requirements of quality, quantity and packaging. Stringent process control and quality inspection norms have been established to ensure compliance with customer requirements. Systems and processes are in place to ensure the hygiene of the stored stocks. Products are shipped after meticulous testing either in-house, or at accredited labs or agencies, if required by the customers. For organic and sustainable farm practices in the processed fruits business catering to specific customer segments, the Business has received the following international certifications:
|
| Branded Packaged Foods | 61 out of 69 manufacturing locations, including third party manufacturing units, are Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)/ ISO 22000 certified, ensuring that products use the best quality ingredients and utilise the highest quality processes. The objective is to continuously provide consumers with products that not only "Taste Good" but also "Do Good". Consequently, large investments have been made in R&D to deliver relevant functionalities based upon specific formulations for identified health needs, like reducing salt, sugar and oil across all products. These investments are likely to show results over the medium to long term. Products like 'Sunfeast Oats Marie' and 'Sunfeast Farmlite' attempt to seamlessly integrate healthy ingredients like oats and fibre into consumer snacking preferences. Market surveys for determining customer preference for products with specific functionalities were completed in 2014-15 and the market release for such products will be determined based on production viability. As on date, 90% by volume of ITC's biscuits are trans-fat free. In 2014-15, daily staple food products like multigrain atta and fortified atta started reaching larger areas of the country. Smaller packs of these products also helped in gaining access to a wider section of society. |
| Cigarettes | The Business uses proprietary software to regularly monitor and review product specifications of all raw materials. With consistent focus on product innovation, new product development in the Business involves consideration of global developments and is supported by comprehensive research and testing facilities at the ITC Life Sciences & Technology Centre. |
| Leaf Tobacco | Product hygiene standards in tobacco cultivation are accorded the highest importance. Accordingly, awareness among tobacco farmers on the importance of sustainably producing residue-free quality tobacco is constantly reinforced during field-level trainings and seminars in ITC's operating regions. For frequent assessment on product integrity, farm-level and packed-level toxicant audit studies are undertaken wherein all leaf samples from farmlands and packed cases of finished products are closely monitored for toxic residues. Several additional measures were implemented across the value chain during the year towards minimisation of Non Tobacco Related Matter. |
| Personal Care Products |
The Business follows a comprehensive approach for improving the health and safety impacts of its products in each of the life cycle stages including R&D, certification as well as manufacturing and production. All safety tests from prototype development to final product are conducted in accordance with standard international guidelines. Ingredients used in products undergo rigorous analysis, based on existing scientific literature, for their toxicity and skin sensitisation prior to clearance for use in product development. Product safety and efficacy is certified through external accredited laboratories. Products are manufactured in a highly automated environment under strict hygienic conditions. Documented Quality Management System, including procured material checks, in-process checks and finished goods quality checks, ensures that the manufactured products are consistent and of high quality. |
| Hotels | ITC Hotels have established food safety management systems certified as per HACCP/ ISO 22000. In addition, ITC Hotels R&D endeavours to adhere to GHP & GMP (Good Hygiene Practices & Good Manufacturing Practices). The Hotels Business also conforms to relevant applications of PAS 220 (Prerequisite programmes on food safety for food manufacturing). ITC has elaborate fire safety guidelines which all hotels comply with. These guidelines are based on National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Codes and other international best practices. They supplement the general EHS Guidelines applicable to all ITC businesses, the compliance of which is audited by the Corporate EHS Department on a regular basis. |
| Education and Stationery Products | The Business uses only approved non-hazardous materials like ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) paper, ink, dyes, etc. Since the primary consumers of these products are children, stringent processes and quality control measures are in place to ensure their safety. |
| Lifestyle Retailing | All raw materials and garments are tested at the in-house laboratory for post usage experience and conformance to quality standards. The standards and product specifications are periodically validated by international testing agencies. Quality is monitored through an internal Product Quality Rating System (PQRS) together with the external Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) norm that is followed internationally by apparel businesses. The Wills Lifestyle range (excluding the Wills Signature garments) has received the "Oeko-Tex" certification (w.e.f. January 2012), becoming the first brand in the domestic apparel retail segment in India to obtain such a recognition. The certification has been conferred by Hohenstein Textile Testing Institute GmbH & Co. KG, Germany. It guarantees that the products are free from more than 100 harmful substances and ensures that Wills Lifestyle garments are completely safe for consumers, without compromising on relevant style quotient of its products. |
| Packaging and Printing | Various initiatives have been undertaken in developing packaging solutions that use environment friendly raw materials such as water-based varnishes and reduction in material usage in terms of mass and thickness of products. The Business engages with customers on a continuous basis to provide solutions that help protect functional needs like product integrity and visual imagery, whilst providing scope for use of alternate materials. The bulk of board packaging is already being done with non-toluene based inks. In the area of flexibles packaging, joint projects with customers have been undertaken to promote sustainable flexibles and printing with non-toluene and non-ketone based inks. In order to strengthen the health & safety requirement of products (Quality and Hygiene), all key operations at Haridwar and Tiruvottiyur factories have been certified as per British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Material. |
| Paperboards and Specialty Papers |
ITC has been the pioneer in manufacturing Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) pulp in India. This ensures that the levels of dioxins and furans in the pulp are less than 1 PPT (Parts Per Trillion). The global migration test is conducted periodically on all food-grade paper and paperboards for compliance with the US FDA standards and to adhere to prescribed limits for presence of heavy metals. All manufacturing ingredients for applications involving direct / indirect food contact are procured from reputed suppliers and conform to US FDA and equivalent standards. The Business ensures that the components of food allergens listed in the EC directive 2003/89/ EC and the US FDA Act are not used in any virgin grade boards and papers. The Bollaram Unit, which manufactures food grade board for direct food contact, is 'third party' certified in accordance with BRC/IoP (British Retail Consortium/Institute of Packaging) standards. Smithers Pira, a renowned testing and consultancy firm, certifies ITC's 'Indobarr' and 'Cyber Propac' brands to be compliant with German BFR standards for Food Packaging. |
| Matches and Agarbatti | Chemicals approved by IFRA (International Fragrance Resource Association, Geneva) are used to prepare fragrances, which are required in the manufacture of dipped Mangaldeep agarbattis. The manufacturing processes of the Matches and Agarbatti Business are designed to ensure product safety and consistency. |
