Food safety management systems
There are many standards related to the safety of food products, as well as many options for their implementation and certification schemes. The international standardization organization ISO, having extensive experience in harmonizing standards, was the first to pay attention to solving the issue of diversity of standards by developing ISO 22000 «Food safety management systems. Requirements for any organizations in the product chain». Since its publication in 2005, this standard has been successfully implemented by hundreds of companies around the world, involved in one or more stages of the product chain, directly or indirectly.
On the other hand, the recognition of the certification scheme of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) plays an important role for companies that plan to supply or supply their products to large international food companies, large retailers such as Tesco, Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro, etc. The Global Initiative for Food Safety, having analyzed the requirements of the ISO 22000 standard, concluded that it is necessary to develop more specific requirements for food manufacturers for previous programs. This is how the specification PAS 220:2008 «Programs of preliminary food safety conditions for food production» was created (now PAS 220 has been replaced by ISO/TS 22002-1-2009).
A certification scheme based on the ISO 22000:2005 standard, the PAS 220:2008 specification (now PAS 220 has been replaced by ISO/TS 22002-1-2009) and additional requirements has been recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and named FSSC 22000.
The FSSC 22000 scheme is owned and supported by the non-profit, independent Food Safety Certification Foundation based in the Netherlands. The Foundation owns the copyright to the FSSC 22000 certification scheme through license agreements.
Initially, the FSSC 22000 scheme was only applicable to manufacturers of food products and food ingredients. As ISO and commercial organizations develop technical specifications with Prerequisite Program (PPP) requirements for other parts of the food chain, the FSSC is expanding the scope of the scheme. The following industry specifications are currently applicable to the FSSC 22000 scheme:
- ISO/ТS 22002-1:2009, Pre-required food safety programs. Part 1: Food production;
- ISO/TS 22002-2:2013, Pre-required food safety programs. Part 2: Catering;
- ISO/TS 22002-3:2011, Pre-required food safety programs. Part 3: Agriculture;
- ISO/TS 22002-4:2013, Pre-required food safety programs. Part 4: Production of food packaging;
- ISO/TS 22002-5:2019, Pre-required food safety programs. Part 5: Transport and storage;
- ISO/TS 22002-6:2016, Pre-required food safety programs. Part 6: Animal feed and nutrition production
- BSI PAS 221:2013Prerequisite Food Safety Programs for Food Retailers.
In May 2019, a new 5th version of the FSSC 22000 certification scheme was released, containing 6 parts:
- Part 1: Schematic overview;
- Part 2: Requirements for organizations to be audited;
- Part 3: Requirements for the certification process;
- Part 4: Requirements for certification bodies;
- Part 5: Requirements for accreditation bodies;
- Part 6: Requirements for training organizations.
Benefits of Implementation and Certification:
- the FSSC certificate is a prerequisite for the supply of food products to international food companies and large retailers, including PepsiCo, Unilever, Kraft Foods Inc., Mars, Incorporated, Metro C&C, etc.
- recognition by all organizations that are part of the global food supply chain;
confidence in the quality of food products; - confidence in the quality of food products;
- demonstrating commitment to the production of safe food products, strengthening brand authority and corporate image;
- increasing the level of confidence of consumers, retail chains, supervisory authorities and potential partners;
- reducing risks in the field of food safety;
- improving supply chain management.