Pork producers in the United States have developed a new food safety and animal care certification program that builds on the current Pork Quality Assurance (PQA') program. Working with the pork industry's customers, pork producers have created a workable, credible and affordable solution to assure food safety and animal care and at the same time meet the needs of customers including restaurants, food retailers and, ultimately, consumers. The industry's solution is a continuous improvement system focused on producer education and premises assessment, which is called PQA Plus™.