GFSI Explained Your organization has been asked to achieve Certification to a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognized standard. What does this mean?

Choose a Certification Program: GFSI is not a standard, and your organization cannot be “GFSI Certified”. GFSI is an organization that identifies Certification Programs that meet its rigorous requirements. These Certifications are “GFSI Recognized” SQF Code, 7th Edition, Level 2 or 3 BRC Global Standard, Issue 7 FSSC 22000 Others..(see www.mygfsi.com) www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Why GFSI? Many large retailers and multinational food manufacturers are demanding that their suppliers are certified to a GFSI recognized standard. Obtaining a GFSI recognized Food Safety Certification is a “must” to do business with these organizations. Food processors, manufacturers, and packaging manufacturers are all finding that more and more customers want to see this type of certification. www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Comparing the programs In this presentation we will focus on three popular certification programs: SQF BRC FSSC 22000 www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Comparing the Programs: SQF is a program managed by the Safe Quality Food Institute, SQFI SQF can be applied to all industry sectors through the use of the applicable GMP module in the standard SQF has two levels that are recognized by GFSI Level 2 - Food Safety Plan Level 3 - Food Safety and Quality Plan The Code and guidance documents are available to download from the SQFI website free of charge More than 5000 certified organizations worldwide http://www.sqfi.com/ www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Comparing the Programs: BRC is managed by BRC Global Standards The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety applies to food packing and processing organizations. For food packaging manufacturers and converters, the standard “BRC/IOP Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials applies. Purchase the standard and guidance documents from the BRC website More than 18000 certified companies worldwide http://www.brcglobalstandards.com/ www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Comparing the Programs: FSSC 22000 is managed by the Foundation for Food Safety Certification FSSC 22000 applies to food processors and manufacturers, manufacturers of food packaging materials and manufacture of animal feeds FSSC 22000 is an ISO Based program that uses ISO 22000 and additional requirements for Prerequisite Programs Download scheme documents at the FSSC 22000 website, and purchase the ISO Standards from ISO or www.techstreet.com More than 14,000 certified companies worldwide Fastest Growing program worldwide! www.fssc22000.com www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Comparing the Programs: All of these programs include the principles of HACCP found in the Codex Alimentarius All the programs include management systems requirements and GMP/Prerequisite Programs The organization of the standards vary The SQF code has modules. Every company must comply with module 2 containing the management system elements and choose the module that applies to their sector for GMPs The BRC standard has the management system requirements, prerequisite program requirements and site standards in one document. The FSSC 22000 scheme requirements are found in several standards, FSSC 22000, ISO 22000 and one of the prerequisite program documents (ISO/TS 22002-1 or ISO/TS 22002-4) www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Comparing the Programs: Because they are GFSI Benchmarked, the programs are all well recognized To choose the best certification program for your organization, you may want to consider what program your customers use Consider the target market (geographic, product) GFSI has benchmarked these standards and determined that they meet the requirements outlined by GFSI, leading to a similarity of requirements between the programs, though they are not exactly the same Lets take a closer look at GFSI www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

GFSI requires procedures for: Food Safety Management Food Safety Policy Food Safety Manual Management Responsibility Management Commitment Management Review Resource Management Documentation Specifications Procedures Internal Audits Corrective Action Control of Non-conformity Product Release Purchasing Supplier Performance Monitoring Traceability Complaint Handling Serious Incident Management Control of Measuring and Monitoring Product Analysis Prerequisite Programs (PRPs) Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

First steps: Establish prerequisite programs and GMPs If you do not already have these in place, start by implementing programs. Use the standard as a guide. Each standard includes requirements for PRPs and GMPs Develop and implement your HACCP Plan This will be your next step if you do not have one in place already. Be sure someone in your facility is HACCP trained and can develop your HACCP plan. Follow the requirements in the standard you have chosen. www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Next Steps Train your project leader on the requirements of the standard that you chose. Online training programs are available at www.22000-tools.com for each of the standards. Train your team leader: SQF Practitioner “Introduction to SQF System Elements” and “Food Safety Fundamentals” FSSC 22000 Food Safety Team Leader “Understanding FSSC 22000” BRC HACCP Team Leader “Introduction to BRC” www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Build your Food Safety Management System Perform a Gap Analysis Develop your processes and document procedures to address requirements Train employees Implement the system Start Internal Audits and Management Reviews All-in-One kits provide you with tools to complete all these tasks. Available for SQF, BRC and FSSC 22000 Available for: SQF BRC FSSC 22000 at www.22000-Tools.com www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Contact a Certification Body Choose a certification body to perform your certification audit and Certify your organization Check the webpage for your standard for a list of accredited certification bodies Your certification body will work with you to schedule your audits. Most will require two audits, a preliminary, desk audit or stage 1 audit, followed by the certification audit. www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

Celebrate your achievement After your audit you may have some nonconformances. If so, you will need to submit your corrective action plan to the auditor. Once they have approved your corrective action plans you will be recommended for certification. Your certification auditor will come in once a year or according to your plan with them to ensure continuing compliance and improvement. www.22000-Tools.com 800-746-3174

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