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Food Safety


ISO 22000:2018

ISO 22000 sets out the requirements for a food safety management system and can be certified to it. It maps out what an organization needs to do to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe. It can be used by any organization regardless of its size or position in the food chain.

 

BRCGS Food Safety v.9

The BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETΥ is a Private Standard for certification of food safety and quality, and it is managed by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The Standard sets the requirements for production, processing and packaging of own-brand or customer-branded food, raw materials or food ingredients, primary production products such as fruit and vegetables, and pet food.

BRC is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

 Detailed description

BRC Food is an internationally recognized food quality and safety Standard that includes rules on:

  • Commitment of Senior Management
  • HACCP plan/Food Safety Plan
  • Quality Management System
  • Prerequisite programmes/Systems for auditing environmental and operational conditions, Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Hygiene Practices
  • Personnel training and awareness of people
  • High-risk, High-care and Ambient High-care production risk zones
  • Requirements for traded products

 

BRCGS Packaging Materials 6

The BRCGS Packaging Materials Global Standard helps a site or operation to demonstrate they are providing products that are quality assured, legally compliant, and authentic.

The first to be recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), BRCGS Packaging Materials is now in its 6th edition and has become the global industry benchmark. It is not only used by food packaging producers but also by producers of packaging for all applications, across the supply chain.

The standard is applicable for operations that:

  • Produce packaging materials for conversion or printing
  • Supply packaging materials from stock where additional product processing or repacking occurs
  • Manufacture and supply of other unconverted or semi-converted and used or incorporated

 

BRCGS Agents and Brokers v.3

Agents and Brokers (non-manufacturing traders) who buy, sell or facilitate the trade of products, provide a critical link in the movement and trade of products, and influence supplier product safety and quality standards, as well as being responsible for maintaining an effective chain of traceability.

The Agents and Brokers Global Standard provides a framework to manage product safety, authenticity, quality and legality for businesses in the food, packaging and consumer products industries that buy, sell or facilitate the trade of products, but do not manufacture, process or store the products in their own facilities or on their own sites. These companies play an essential role in the movement and trade of products, providing a critical link in their chain of custody. They can influence their suppliers’ product safety and quality standards and are responsible for maintaining an effective chain of traceability. Where the activities include importation, there are often specific legal obligations regarding the products they import. There are also requirements to maintain records, which may be requested later by authorities or customers.

BRCGS Agents and Brokers Certification is recognised by many retailers, food service companies and manufacturers around the world when assessing the capabilities of their suppliers, covering certification for the following categories of products:

•       Food products, including raw materials, processed foods, and fruit and vegetables

•       Packaging materials – primary, secondary and tertiary materials, and raw materials for the manufacture of packaging materials

•       Pet foods for domestic animals

•       Consumer products

 

BRCGS Storage and Distribution v.4

The Global Standard for Storage and Distribution allows the chain of product certification to be completed, from primary processor to manufacturer, and from manufacturer to retailer (or food service company in the case of food).

Issue 4 has been developed by a multi-stakeholder group including retailers, food service companies, industry trade associations, independent experts and certification bodies, and builds upon the experience from the previous issue.

 

IFS (International featured standards)

IFS standards are uniform global safety and quality standards that provide transparency and comparability along the food supply chain. Protect companies reputation by ensuring the safety and quality of products.

IFS Food Standard v.8

FS Food is a private standard for certification of food safety and quality. It is managed by IFS Management GmbH and has been developed by the German Retail Federation (Handelverband Deutschland – HDE) and the French Retail Federation (FCD), with the participation of the Italian federations (CONAD, COOP).

IFS Food can be applied by companies that process food or companies that pack loose food products. It is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

IFS Food is an internationally recognized food quality and safety standard. The fundamental goals of IFS Food and the other IFS standards are:

  • To establish a common standard with a uniform evaluation system
  • To work with accredited Certification Bodies and approved IFS auditors
  • To ensure comparability and transparency throughout the entire supply chain
  • To reduce costs and time for both suppliers and retailers

 

It includes requirements for:

  • Senior management responsibility
  • Quality and food safety management system (HACCP system based on Codex Alimentarius)
  • Resource management
  • Planning and production process
  • Measurements, analysis, improvements
  • Food Defence and external audits

 

IFS Logistics v. 2.3

The IFS Logistics standard was developed specifically for food storage, distribution and transportation, as well as loading and unloading activities, even though it can be implemented in environments managing both food and non-food products.

It applies to all types of transport: delivery by road, rail, ship or plane; frozen/refrigerated products or ambient stable products.

The application of the standard ensures that appropriate measures have been taken to maintain the product quality and safety during storage and transportation.

 

IFS Broker v. 3.1

The IFS Broker Standard is applicable for brokers (food, HPC, packaging), agents, trade agencies, and importers, whose activities have key position between production and distribution and is able to be implemented for managing both food and non-food products.

IFS Broker has the following scopes under certification;

Trading;

  1. Food
  2. Household and Personal Care Products
  3. Packaging Materials
  4. A combination of above products.

IFS Broker is a Standard for auditing / assessing services compliance of companies / persons who carry out trading activities related to food, household and personal care products and / or packaging materials. Companies or people may be listed as;

  • Broker / Middleman: person or company who acts as an agent for others, as in negotiating contracts, purchases or sales in return for a fee or commission.
  • Sales Agent: person or company who is authorized or appointed by a manufacturer to sell or distribute his products in a given territory but who is in business for himself, takes title of the goods and does not act as agent for a principal.
  • Trader / Dealer: person or company whose business is buying and selling or bartering.
  • Importer: person or company who brings goods into a place or country from another country with the purpose of selling.

 

FSSC 22000 v 6.0

The Foundation Food Safety System Certification 22000 (FSSC 22000) offers a complete certification scheme for Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) and is managed by the non-profit, Netherlands-based Foundation for Food Safety Certification.

The scheme is based on the ISO 22000 standard for “Food safety management systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain,” the technical specifications for sector-specific Pre-Requisite Programs (PRPs) and the additional requirements of the Scheme.

FSSC 22000 is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

FSSC 22000 provides a complete certification model that can be applied throughout the food supply chain, in sectors where there are technical specifications for the prerequisites, e.g. In production, processing and manufacture of foods and ingredients, in food packaging materials, catering, transport, storage, etc.

The FSSC 22000 scheme consists of:

  • ISO 22000
  • The Technical Specifications for the Pre-Requisite Programs (PRPs) (ISO/TS 22002 series) in each sector of the food supply chain, e.g. ISO TS 22002-1: 2009, Prerequisite programmes on food safety Part 1: food manufacturing, ISO/TS 22002-4:2013, Prerequisite programmes for food safety – Part 4: Food packaging manufacturing, ISO/TS 22002-2:2013, Prerequisite programmes for food safety – Part 2: Catering, etc.
  • The additional requirements of the FSSC 22000 Scheme

 

PAS 220:2008 (Publicly Available Specification)

Prerequisite programs are programs and practices put in place to address the role the production environment plays in producing safe food products. Many companies have Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) in place; these would be part of the prerequisite programs.

PAS 220 was developed to provide specific prerequisite program requirements for food processors and manufacturers. The PAS 220 has now been withdrawn and replaced by ISO/TS 22002-1, which has requirements identical to those originally published in the PAS 220.

The requirements of ISO/TS 22002-1 must be addressed by companies preparing for FSSC 22000 Certification, and is an excellent document to use to develop PRP programs for any food manufacturer or processor.

In order to prepare for certification you will need to have documentation that specifies how the activities included in the PRPs are managed.

In order to prepare for certification you will need to have documentation that specifies how the activities included in the PRPs are managed.

Prerequisite programs in ISO/TS 22002-1 include requirements for:

  1. Construction and layout of building
  2. Layout of premises and workspace
  3. Utilities – air, water, energy
  4. Waste disposal
  5. Equipment suitability, cleaning and maintenance
  6. Management of purchased material
  7. Measures for prevention of cross contamination
  8. Cleaning and sanitizing
  9. Pest control
  10. Personnel hygiene and employee facilities
  11. Rework
  12. Product recall procedures
  13. Warehousing
  14. Product information
  15. Food defense, biovigilance and bioterrorism

 







 

 


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