ISO 22000 Food Safety
ISO 22000 is an international standard that defines the requirements of a food safety management system covering all organizations in the food chain from “farm to fork”.
The standard combines generally recognized key elements to ensure food safety along the food chain, including:
Interactive communication
System management
Control of food safety hazards through pre-requisite programmes and HACCP plans
Continual improvement and updating of the food safety management system
Who can implement?
ISO 22000 is a truly international standard relevant for any business regardless of size in the entire food chain, including inter-related organizations such as producers of equipment, packaging material, cleaning agents, additives and ingredients.
The Benefits of implementing ISO 22000
Certifying your food management system against the requirements of ISO 22000 will bring the following benefits to your organization:
A truly global international standard
Provides potential for harmonization of national standards
Covers the majority of the requirements of the current retailer food safety standards
Complies with the Codex HACCP principles
Provides communication of HACCP concepts internationally
An auditable standard with clear requirements which provides a framework for third-party certification
Suitable for regulators
The structure aligns with the management system clauses of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
Enables communication about hazards with partners in the supply chain
More specific benefits include:
System approach, rather than product approach
Resource optimization – internally and along the food chain
All control measures are subjected to hazard analysis
Better planning - less post process verification
Improved documentation
Systematic management of prerequisite programmes
Increased due diligence
Dynamic communication on food safety issues with suppliers, customers, regulators and other interested parties
A systematic and proactive approach to identification of food safety hazards and development and implementation of control measures
How do you start to implement ISO 22000? What is involved?
Below you will find 10 general steps that will take you down the road to certification:
Obtain a standard
Obtain and read a copy of the standard to familiarise yourself with the requirements. Then you should decide if certification/registration to this standard makes good sense for your organisation.
Review literature
There is a large amount of published information available that is designed to assist you in understanding and implementing a standard.
Assemble a team and define your strategy
The adoption of a management system needs to be the strategic decision of the whole organisation. It is vital that your senior management is involved in the creation process. They decide the business strategy that an efficient management system should support. In addition, you need a dedicated team to develop and implement your management system.
Determine training needs
Your team members responsible for implementing and maintaining the management system(s) will need to know the full details of the applicable standard(s). There is a wide range of courses, workshops, and seminars available designed to meet these needs.
Review consultant options
Independent consultants will be able to advise you of a workable, realistic, and cost-effective strategy plan for implementation.
Develop management systems manual
Your management systems manual should describe the policies and operations of your company. Through the manual, you will provide an accurate description of the organisation and the best practice adopted to consistently satisfy customer expectations.
Develop procedures
Procedures describe the processes of your organisation, and the best practice to achieve success in these processes. These procedures should answer the following questions about each process:
why
who
when
where
what
how
Implement your management system
Communication and training are key to a successful implementation. During the implementation phase, your organisation will be working according to the procedures that were developed to document and demonstrate the effectiveness of the management system.
Consider a pre-assessment
You can choose to have a preliminary evaluation of the implementation of your management system by a certification body as Vericert Company. The purpose of this is to identify areas of non-conformance and allow you to correct these areas before you begin the accredited certification process. Receiving a non-conformance means that a particular area of your management systems is not compliant with the requirements of the standard.
Select a certification body/registrar
Your business relationship with the certification body will be in place for many years, as your certification has to be maintained. To have an efficient management system, continual improvement is key. Vericert will help you get maximum value out of the certification process, evaluating strengths and improvement opportunities. For top management this means increased knowledge of the organisation’s ability to meet its strategic objectives.
When you have implemented your management system, prepared it for certification, and chosen your certification body/registrar, than you are ready to begin the accredited certification.
Initial Certification Audit (Assessment to) ISO 22000
Initial certification consists of several stages:
Input dialogue
To tailor the audit, we as certification body need to know what is important to your organisation. We have to get a clear understanding of your business strategy and conditions that affect your ability to reach said strategy. Subsequently 1-3 focus areas on which the audit will focus are identified. The focus areas should be linked to the management system and reflect the risks or opportunities that are most important to you. Agreeing on focus areas is a collaborative effort, and our auditors can help suggest focus areas if necessary. Top management should be involved at this stage.
Documentation review
Our lead auditor evaluates your management system manual. The documentation review report summarises any findings from this process. The report indicates if your organisation is ready to proceed with the certification audit. The documentation review can be performed prior to or conducted as part of the initial visit.
Initial visit
Before the actual certification audit, we will make a preliminary visit to your organisation. The initial visit can be combined with the documentation review. The purpose of the initial visit is twofold:
To check your readiness for the certification audit, i.e. to review your manual, check procedures, to see your facilities, and briefly check the implementation of your management system.
To review focus area input and to agree on three to five particular focus areas upon which the audit will focus.
Based on this, the scope and audit plan are agreed upon.
Certification audit
The certification audit consists of informal interviews, examinations, and observations of the system in operation. During this process, we assess your management system’s degree of compliance with the requirements of the elected standard and performance in identified focus areas. When found compliant, we issue the certificate. Findings related to the focus areas will be presented at the end of the audit in a closing meeting and included in the audit report. At the closing meeting, you can also provide input regarding the focus areas, i.e. should any new focus area(s) be included in future audits.
Maintenance of certificate
At this stage you have completed the initial certification and can move on to maintenance of your certification.
Periodic audits
After a successful audit, a ISO 22000 certificate will be issued. Each issued certificate has a three-year life period, because of that there will be continual surveillance visits (usually once a year) to ensure that the system is maintained and continues to be effective and to support in the continual improvement of your systems.
Re-certification audit
After the three years are up, your certification will be extended through a re-certification audit.
Where to obtain further information or help
For more information about this service feel free to contact us by phone We will be pleased to help you.