Choosing a Food Safety Management System Certification Program

The Global Food Safety Initiative, GFSI plays an important role in Food Safety Systems Certification. This organization has “benchmarked” existing food safety schemes. Once a system is “benchmarked” it means that certification to the scheme is accepted by organizations requiring a GFSI scheme. Recognized certification schemes include:

• SQF - Safe Quality Food
• FSSC 22000 - Food Safety System Certification
• BRC - Britsh Retail Consortium
• And more
  

Having a GFSI recognized certification can be important to a company that is selling to one of the major retailers that has chosen to require a GFSI scheme. Because this list includes such giants as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Tesco, Metro, Migros, Ahold, and Delhaize, the GFSI recognition is very important to many food companies.

Although it is not recognized by GFSI, ISO 22000 is also an important certification program to consider. The ISO 22000 standard can be applied to any company in the food chain, and is recognized worldwide. If your market does not require GFSI recognition, this is a standard to consider. It can also be very useful for companies if the scope of the other registrations does not apply to their industry segment.

The different schemes have similar contents, but the specifics of the requirements vary. The organization of the requirements and managment of the certification program and audits are also different between the various standards.

To begin choosing the appropriate standard:

• Determine if GFSI recognition is important for your organization. Are your customers requesting it, or does your market favor those schemes?
• Review the programs and see if your industry segment is included in the scope of the certification. For example: Safe Quality Food, (SQF) can be applied to many different industry segments including food processing and manufacturing, manufacturing of food packaging materials, distribution of food products, animal feed manufacturers and more.
• Identify the scheme documents that apply to your business. For example, FSSC 22000 uses the ISO 22000 Standard and an additional document with requirements for the Prerequsite Program requirements. The document with the Prerequisite Program requirements is specific to your business segment.
  • ISO/TS 22002-1 - For food processors and manufacturers
  • PAS 223 - For food packaging manufacturers
  • PAS 222 - For animal feed producers

The certification schemes are continually evolving, adding more businesses to their scope and issuing new revisions of documents. Call us for the latest information and to identify what documents apply to your business segment and where to find them. 1-800-746-3174