Users appreciate the ease of use. In the words of the customer “I have found the information very pleasing in that it is clearly understood, set out in a very computer friendly manner as the various fields flow nicely into each other helping one to understand the organization that ISO 22000 requires before the implementation.”

22000 Certification is the new, globally recognized certification that ensures that food suppliers are in compliance with the requirements of an effective, standardized food safety system. This certification now provides peace of mind for suppliers, retailers, and consumers world-wide, as it ensures the integrity and safety of food products throughout each link in the food chain. The documented internal food safety processes that are required to receive this certification provide a systematic, proactive, ongoing approach to food safety that ensures that the highest possible food safety standards are met.

Achieving this certification allows a food related business to sell product to the growing number of major national and international manufacturers and retail chains that require this 22000 Certification. It also ensures food safety for your consumers, and will reduce the risks associated with costly food recalls. The food safety processes that are required to receive certification provide a systematic, proactive, ongoing approach to food safety that ensures that the highest food safety standards are met and maintained. 22000 Certification is for all companies with services and products that are involved in the food supply chain including: feed production, food manufacturing, food ingredients, transportation of food, packaging or selling food (retail or wholesale), serving prepared food (restaurants, grocery stores), and food equipment production.

• Print a gap analysis plan
• Download the checklist template
• View the gap analysis tutorial

This is a great place to start as you begin to explore food safety system standards for your company.

When you are evaluating 22000 Registration, you will need to know what it will take for your organization to build the Food Safety Management System (FSMS), and what the benefits of registration will be. The answer will be different for every company. It depends on the current system that you have in place, the size and complexity of your organization and the products that you produce.

Find the answer for your organization by first understanding what the standard asks of you, and then by comparing it to what you have in place. Start by gathering information and learning what the standard requires. Have you reviewed our introductory presentation? You can watch that presentation right here through our blog. You may also download a copy to present to your team.

Once you have a basic idea of what the standard requires, it is time to understand the requirements in more detail. For a computer-based training that you can download and use right  away, I recommend our “Introduction to 22000 Food Safety Management  Systems“. This Computer-based training program covers all of the requirements of the standard so you know what you will need to  include in your FSMS. This is also a great program to use to train employees on the basics of ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000.

More detail on making the decision

All of our products are available worldwide by easy download.

ISO 22000 and FS22000 (Formerly known as FSSC 22000) are both standards for Food Safety Management Systems registration schemes. That means that the standards contain requirements for a Food Safety Management System that can be certified by an accredited body.

Any food organization will benefit from ISO 22000 Certification; it is an independent verification that the organization has an effective Food Safety Management System in place. The worldwide recognition of ISO 22000 Certification and FS22000 Certification means that all of the organization’s potential customers will be likely to recognize the registration.

Note: The abbreviation FSSC 22000 has recently been changed to FS22000 for simplicity. They are the same certification scheme.

Differences between ISO 22000 and FS22000 standards

The ISO 22000 scheme and the FS22000 scheme differ slightly. ISO 22000 Certification applies to all organizations in the food chain. FS22000 Certification applies only to food manufacturers, and is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative, GFSI. The FS22000 scheme requirements are made up of the ISO 22000:2005 standard and one more document, the PAS 220:2008.

Although ISO 22000 includes a section on Prerequisite programs(PRPs) , it does not call out specific requirements on what must be in them. It puts the responsibility on the organization to determine the necessary elements of the PRPs. This helps make the ISO 22000 applicable to all organizations in the food chain.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarks certification or registration schemes. Many large retailers and multinational food organizations require suppliers to use a GFSI benchmarked scheme. When GFSI looked at the ISO 22000 standard, they determined that they would like to see more specific requirements for PRPs, applying to food manufacturers. Because ISO 22000 lacked this detail, GFSI assisted in the creation of the Publicly Available Specification, PAS 220, published by BSI. This document contains detailed requirements for PRPs. When the two documents are combined they make up the FSSC 22000 Scheme, which has been fully recognized and accepted by GFSI.

ISO has now published a document similar to the PAS 220, a technical specification called ISO/TS 22002-1. This has the same requirements as the PAS 220, and may be used by food manufacturers seeking registration to ISO 22000.

ISO 22000 makes up the majority of the FS22000 system. We will focus on these requirements in this blog on ISO 22000 and FS22000, and will refer to the system as ISO 22000. Remember that ISO 22000 is part of FS22000 and the information applies to both of the registration schemes. For the additional PAS 220 document and requirements see our page on PRPs.

What is ISO 22000?

The current version of ISO 22000 is ISO 22000:2005. It is a set of requirements for a Food Safety Management System (FSMS) established to address the need for a worldwide standard that is supported by an independent international organization to encourage harmonization of national and private standards.

Worldwide, many different standards exist. Because of this various HACCP requirements or criteria are applied in individual countries, and can differ in content and levels, some calling for 3rd party auditing. In different countries the auditors have different levels of experience and knowledge, resulting in various levels of implementation. By having the internationally constant ISO 22000 the hope is to overcome these variations and provide one system that is recognized worldwide.

ISO 22000 applies to all stages of the supply chain. It is aligned with ISO 9001 to enhance compatibility with existing management system approaches. ISO 22000 can be applied to any stage of the supply chain, from feed producers and food manufacturers to transporters.

Where can you get more information on the requirements of ISO 22000?

Watch and/or download “Introduction to ISO 22000″

Where can you purchase the ISO 22000 standards?

Purchase ISO 22000:2005

Purchase ISO/TS 22002-1

Purchase ISO Food Safety Pack of Standards

The information from the gap analysis will help you prepare a project time-line and to assign responsibilities. Our experts explain that you will want to use a checklist based on the requirements of the standard, and evaluate each area of your facility to determine which requirements are already being met, and which need to be addressed. Make a project task list that contains all of the items that need to be addressed.

Using this task list, the project leader should meet with management to discuss the resources needed for the project, goals for the completion date, and project management approach. Successful projects involve people from throughout the company; they do not depend on one person to implement the whole system. Discuss with management who to involve to complete each of the tasks, and how to ensure they are given the time and resources to complete the task. Prepare a Gantt chart to outline the project time-line and responsibilities. For more detail on this topic, see  "Using a Team Approach".

The presentation covers:

• 22000 Food Management Systems: The Basics
• Implementation Techniques
• Requirements
• Tools to Simplify Your Project

• Download a PowerPoint version
  

Download your free action plan

In this training, the focus is an overview of the requirements, and the goal is to give attendees a good feel for what the standard is actually asking the company to do in order to implement the system. It is important that those supporting the project, and that will be providing resources to the project understand what they are committing to.

If you are responsible for this phase of the project, use a good PowerPoint training or Computerized Training that summarizes the requirements. I also recommend reading ahead in the next posts to get an idea of the steps you will follow so you can also answer questions about how the project plan as they come up