Validus Certified

Our read

The finding that matters most about Validus is corporate, not technical. Validus Verification Services, LLC is a division of Where Food Comes From, Inc., the same Nasdaq-listed company that owns Care Certified. A pack carrying a Validus Animal Welfare Review badge next to a Where Food Comes From Care Certified badge is showing one company's assurance twice, not two independent checks. fairlife's site does exactly this: both badges sit in its footer. Stated neutrally, that is a labelling decision, not a compliance problem, but a reader counting badges will over-count the assurance behind the product. On content, the published Animal Welfare Review dairy standard is the stronger of the two WFCF programmes. It sets measured outcome thresholds rather than asking only for written plans, caps lameness and body-condition failures at defined percentages, prohibits tail docking, tethering, branding and rBST outright, and requires a cumulative score above 80% with no critical failures. It is nonetheless a confinement-compatible welfare standard with no space allowance and no outdoor access requirement. It carries no environmental scope at all: no emissions, no packaging, no land use. Validus sells a separate Environmental Review, and that standard is not published.

The scheme

What we read

Validus Animal Welfare Review Dairy Audit Standards, 15 pp., copyright 2012 and 2026 Validus Verification Services, LLC, file dated 02/09/2026; Amtivo ISO 9001:2015 certificate 251581 issued 28 October 2024, expiry 27 October 2027

• issuer — Validus is a division of Where Food Comes From, Inc. — As a division of Where Food Comes From, the industry's go-to provider for third-party certification and verification services, we leverage our collective strength to deliver integrated services and products.
• issuer — Validus listed among WFCF's own divisions — Validus Verification Services - 'provides expertise in a variety of areas of certification, including animal welfare, worker care, environmental stewardship, and feed and food safety.'
• yko_assessment — fairlife displays both the Validus and Care Certified badges — All co-op member farms that supply to fairlife must continually adhere to fairlife's stringent animal care expectations and be FARM and Validus certified from 3rd party auditors. ... footer badges: 'Animal Welfare Review. ValidusCertified.c
• what_it_covers — audit structure and statistical sampling — The number of animals to be observed will be based on a statistical sampling process to ensure that areas are evaluated thoroughly and accurately. Animals are observed in key groups that are located on the premises (pre-weaned calves, heife
• what_it_covers — critical failure list — Willful acts of abuse and neglect will result in an automatic failure of the audit. ... Tail docking is practiced on the dairy (owned or purchased replacements). ... Tethers are used on this facility. ... Branding (hot or freeze) is conduct
• what_it_covers — rBST prohibition — Dairies audited to the Validus Dairy Animal Welfare Standards must not include the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) hormones.
• rigor_score — numeric outcome thresholds — 4.1. *≤5% of lactating cows score >3.0 on observation (leaving the parlor) ... 4.19. *≤2% of lactating cows observed score a 3.0 on observation
• renewal_period and pass threshold — The Validus process includes an annual audit (per calendar year). Dairies must have a cumulative score of >80% and no critical issues identified on the day of the audit to retain certification.
• enforcement_score — graded corrective action and escalation — A written corrective action plan must be submitted within 24 hours of the audit. A verification audit to evaluate areas of deficiency that were identified in the previous audit will be completed within 30-60 days of the audit date. ... Cert
• independence_score — published accreditation is an ISO 9001 management-system certificate, not a scheme accreditation — Validus Verification Services, LLC ... has been assessed and certified as meeting the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 — Audit Services Performed for and Provided to Food Producers, Processors and Retailers to Ensure Socially Responsible Food
• independence_score — Validus's own independence claim — Validus is an ISO 9001: 2015 and 17065 certified company that delivers socially responsible, scientifically based and economically viable solutions.
• what_it_omits — Environmental Review and Worker Care Review are separate programmes — Validus Certified Programs — Animal Welfare Review, Environmental Review, Worker Care Review

What we could not establish

The Animal Welfare Review dairy standard is fully published and was read in full; the Environmental Review, Worker Care Review and On-Farm Security standards are not published, so claims about them are limited to their existence and titles. Validus's homepage states it is 'ISO 9001: 2015 and 17065 certified'; the only certificate published in its own document library is the ISO 9001:2015 management-system certificate from Amtivo (USA) Inc. under ANAB accreditation. No ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation certificate or accreditation-body listing was located. That absence is the basis for the independence score; it is not a finding that accreditation was refused or lapsed, and the 17065 claim may well be substantiated in a document not published on the site. Could not establish: fee schedule, number of certified operations, auditor qualification requirements in writing, or whether auditors are Validus employees or contractors. Validus lists PAACO-certified audits among its services but the AWR dairy standard does not state that AWR auditors must hold PAACO certification. The acquisition date of Validus by WFCF was not found on either site.

Who holds it

Scored companies carrying this mark, highest first. Holding it is not the same as scoring well — the mark is one input of six.

If you hold this certification, it is already on your record. What a buyer cannot see there yet is the evidence behind the parts this standard does not reach.

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