ISO 22000 FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Introduction:
ISO 22000 is a generic food safety management system standard. It defines a set of general food safety requirements that apply to all organizations in the food chain.
The goal of ISO 22000 is to control, and reduce to an acceptable level, any safety hazards identified for the end products delivered to the next step of the food chain. (An end product is defined as a product that will not undergo any further processing or transformation by the organization.) The standard combines the following generally-recognized key elements to ensure food safety at all points of the food chain:
- Requirements for good manufacturing practices or prerequisite programs
- Requirements for HACCP according to the principles of the Codex Alimentarius (an international commission established to develop food safety standards and guidelines)
- Requirements for a management system
- Interactive communication between suppliers, customers, and regulatory authorities
Benefits of ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System
- Meets food industry expectations: It is now widely known that safety hazards can develop at any point in the food chain. ISO 22000’s broad applicability helps any organization to control these hazards.
- Imposes structured and targeted communications: Interactive communication, both internally and externally, is essential for the identification and control of food safety hazards.
- Subjects all control measures to hazard analysis: This thorough analysis helps the organization to more easily determine which safety hazards need to be controlled, and which combination of control measures is most effective in doing so.
- Fills the gap between ISO 9001 and HACCP: ISO 9001 does not provide guidelines for determining and controlling food safety hazards, like the critical control point (CCP) method in HACCP. But HACCP does not include ISO 9001’s key concepts of continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. ISO 22000 covers all of these points.
- Lower risk of liability: When an unsafe food product enters the market, the entire food chain suffers from consumers’ exposure to hazards. By implementing ISO 22000, all organizations in the food chain can take responsibility for consumer safety, consequently lowering their risk of having to cover insurance payments and legal costs. Some of the advantages of third-party certification to ISO 22000 include:
- Expanded market access: The demand for certified suppliers in the food industry is growing. Since ISO 22000 is supported by government and food safety experts worldwide, your certification will open the door to many domestic and international business opportunities.
- Reduced cost of sales: Your certification establishes your company’s credibility and commitment to safety from day one. Because the task of explaining the specifics and demonstrating the effectiveness of your management system is more straightforward, it takes less time to earn your prospective customers’ trust and confidence.
- Streamlined quality management: Certification to ISO 22000 reduces the complexity and overhead required to administer separate proprietary programs for individual customers. This leads to a reduction in both second and third-party system audits and, ultimately, a common quality system approach among all suppliers in the food chain.
Your advantages in working with us:
- Security in planning and execution at an individual fixed price
- Compact, unbureaucratic, and flexible approach
- Fast implementation through years of audit expertise
- Shortened audit duration and certification in 6-12 weeks