WHAT IS ISO 22000?

ISO 22000 is a set of guidelines that help businesses to set out and manage a Food Safety Management System (FSMS). The processes and procedures that a business implements through ISO 22000 will help them to identify, monitor, reduce and prevent food safety hazards at any stage of the food chain.

By helping you improve communications along your food supply chain, the ISO 22000 framework will help you deliver safe and healthy food to your customers. This globally recognised standard complies with the Codex HACCP Principles and has regulatory approval.

Using a Food Safety Management System will help you ensure the food you supply is of a high standard and free from contamination.

THE BENEFITS OF ISO 22000

  1. Embed internationally recognised Food Safety Management processes in your business
  2. Strengthen risk management controls across your food supply chain
  3. Improve the confidence of customers, suppliers and other stakeholders in the safety of your food and your ability to reduce health risks
  4. Improve transparency and accountability in your organisation by clarifying responsibilities
  5. Help you optimize and update your systems through a process of continuous improvement, so they remain effective
  6. Reassure your management team that the organisation has robust and effective food safety procedures across its supply chain
  7. Ensure your entire food supply chain has robust controls that prevent the introduction of hazardous materials and contamination

THE REQUIREMENTS OF ISO 22000

The ISO 22000 standard uses a structure of ten clauses called Annex SL which, roughly grouped together, cover four key areas:

  1. Food safety– the processes and procedures your business needs to follow throughout its supply chain in order to keep food safe for consumption
  2. Management Responsibility– the areas where your management team need to focus on, be involved with and be accountable for
  3. Resource Management– how resources such as people, infrastructure and facilities must be assigned to ensure the best possible performance
  4. Measurement, Analysis and Improvement– the final clauses cover how you can determine if your Management System is working as expected.

What is the difference between HACCP and ISO 22000?

Both ISO 22000 and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems are similar in a variety of ways in that they are both focused on make food safe to consume. The differences lie in how they go about this.

HACCP is focused on the control of hazards at specific points in food production. By removing hazards, you are improving the safety of the food products that you produce.

ISO 22000 is more generalized than HACCP, looking at food safety across the supply chain rather than at identified critical points. ISO 22000 does use HACCP principles in its guidelines but it expands upon them. ISO 22000 also covers areas not specifically mentioned by HACCP such as guidance on dealing with allergens.

 

The FSSC 22000 Food Safety System Certification

The FSSC 22000 Food Safety System Certification is based on ISO 22000, ISO Technical Standards for prerequisite programs and other FSSC additional requirements. While ISO 22000 applies to a broad range of organizations, FSSC 22000 is more limited in scope. The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognizes FSSC 22000 but not ISO 22000. The Food Business Forum CIES, a global network of food retailers and manufacturers, coordinates GFSI. Current scopes GFSI addresses include, production of (bio)chemicals, food manufacturing, feed production, transport and storage and food packaging material manufacturing.