Choosing a GFSI Recognized Standard

What is GFSI? The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is a division of the Consumer Goods Forum and a collaboration of retailers, manufacturers and food service companies that has been working on harmonization of food safety standards.

The food safety schemes currently recognized are: FSSC 22000 SQF BRC Canada GAP Dutch HACCP International Food Standard Global Red Meat Standard Global Aquaculture Alliance BAP PrimusGFS

GFSI Certification GFSI benchmarks the various food safety standards against a basic set of criteria. Standards meeting the criteria are recognized. Many large retailers and manufacturers are requesting GFSI recognized certification from their suppliers. We will look in more detail at two of the standards that are growing in popularity, FSSC 22000 and SQF

Food Safety System Certification (FSSC 22000) FSSC 22000 is one of the benchmarked standards rising in popularity. FSSC 22000 applies to food manufacturers. FSSC 22000 uses the requirements in ISO 22000 and the ISO/TS 22002-1. (formerly available as the PAS 220)

ISO 22000 and the PAS 220 ISO 22000 contains the requirements for the Food Safety Management System ISO/TS 22002-1 contains specific requirements for Prerequisite Programs for food manufacturers. Note: The requirements of the PAS 220 are now documented as the ISO Technical Specification ISO/TS 22002-1:2009. PAS 220 has been withdrawn.

SQF Edition 7 SQF contains the requirements for the Food Safety Management System and Food Safety Fundamentals. SQF has recently released Edition 7 of the Code. 7

SQF Edition 7 Management System Requirements are found in Module 2 of the SQF Code, and apply to all organizations Food Safety Fundamentals (Prerequisite Programs and GMPs) are found in Modules 4 through 15, depending on your products. Module 4: GAP for Compound Feed Production Module 5: GAP for Farming of Animal Products Module 6: GAP for Farming of Fish Module 7: GAP for Farming of Plant Products Module 8: GAP for Farming of Grains and pulses Module 9: GMP for Pre-processing of Animal Products Module 10: GMP for Pre-processing of Plant Products Module 11: GMP for Processing of Food Products Module 12: GMP for Transport and Distribution of Food Products Module 13: GMP for Production of Food Packaging Module 14: GMP for Brokers or Agents Module 15: GMP for Food Catering, Wholesale and Retail 8

Choosing a Scheme When choosing a certification scheme keep in mind the scope of the certification. FSSC 22000 now has schemes for processing, food packaging manufacturers and animal feed producers. SQF Can be applied to a variety of industry segments. ISO 22000 applies to all industries in the food chain Determine which your customer base prefers. For GFSI recognition, choose FSSC 22000.

How does a company achieve certification?

Preparing for Certification Once you have determined certification is right for your organization and picked the certification scheme, you will need to implement the food safety management system processes to meet requirements of the standard that you choose.

These processes must address: 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)

Steps to Certification A company will generally begin by conducting a Gap Analysis. This is an audit to compare your current system to the requirements of the standard. The analysis will provide important information on what you will need to implement or change in your organization to prepare for certification. Tools to help you: www.22000-Tools.com

After the Gap Analysis.. The next step is to develop processes or modify current processes to address requirements that are not currently in compliance with the standard. Tools to help you: www.22000-Tools.com

Assigning Responsibilities A Team Structure will make project management organized and efficient. Steering Team Led by Project Manager Food Safety Team Led by Food Safety Team Leader Procedure Teams Tools to help you: www.22000-Tools.com

Design and Document Processes The Steering Team, led by the project manager, will coordinate the other teams, assign responsibilities and address management requirements. The Food Safety Team is assigned specific responsibilities by the standard, and will be responsible for some of the procedure development. Each procedure team will design and document the new, compliant process for the procedure they have been assigned. Tools to help you: www.22000-Tools.com

Obtaining Certification Once the procedures are complete and implemented you will have a registrar come to your facility and perform a certification audit. Tools to help you: www.22000-Tools.com

Getting Started An effective project will begin with providing the training, knowledge and resources needed to guide your project manager and your teams through each step of the process. This includes: Training Guidance on requirements Presentations Checklists and Task lists Templates: Procedures, Manual and Forms Project Planning Tools All available in “Premium All-in-One Package” by www.22000-Tools.com

Getting Started Get all of the training, documentation, tools and guidance that you need at www.22000-Tools.com FSSC 22000 Premium All-in-One Templates & Training Package ISO 22000 Premium All-in-One Templates & Training Package SQF 2000 Premium All-in-One Templates & Training Package