FSSC 22000

It is the responsibility of every food producer to ensure the safety of the products placed on the market. This is a priority issue and is a necessary condition for the marketing of any product. This requirement is non-negotiable and, alongside health, hygiene and nutritional value, is one of the most important issues in the European Union.

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Companies in the food industry have a legal obligation to implement and apply Good Hygiene Practice, Good Manufacturing Practice and the HACCP system. This is the necessary minimum. However, in order to meet the strong competition on the market, companies implement and certify food safety management standards, which are voluntary and not regulated by Community rules. IFS, BRCGS and FSSC 22000 are recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), a coalition of 39 retailers and manufacturers from the Consumer Goods Forum and the food safety community to oversee food safety standards and thereby ensure access to safe food. IFS, BRCGS or FSSC 22000 standards are recognized worldwide, and certificates confirming compliance with them are a gateway to the market of the best food manufacturers. FSSC 22000 has received full GFSI recognition since 2010, which guarantees compliance with the highest standards worldwide and is widely accepted by the food industry and accreditation bodies.

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Food Safety System Certification 22000 is a complete food safety management system certification program that has been developed through extensive and open consultation with many global stakeholders. The program uses international as well as independent standards such as ISO 22000, ISO 9001, ISO/TS 22003 and technical specifications for sectoral Prerequisite Programs (PRPs). The system provides a certification model that can be used throughout the food supply chain, from animal husbandry, feed production, food production, food packaging, transportation and storage to catering, retail and wholesale.
As part of an approach based on ISO management systems, FSSC 22000 can also integrate a food safety management system
with other ISO management systems, such as ISO 9001 quality management, ISO 14001 environmental management or ISO 45001 occupational health and safety management.

The FSSC 22000 certification scheme is based on 3 components:

· ISO 22000 standards.

· technical specifications (ISO/TS or BSI PAS) suitable for each sector of the company's activity.

· additional requirements of FSSC 22000.

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ISO 22000 “Food safety management systems. Requirements for every organization in the food chain” combines the structure of the ISO 9001 standard, which includes a quality management system, with the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). The standard places a strong emphasis on leadership, including the involvement of top management and increasing responsibility for the effectiveness of the system in the company. It specifies the requirements for risk analysis at the operational level (HACCP) and at the strategic (business) level. The structure of the standard is based on the PDCA cycle (Plan - Execute - Check - Act) to ensure that all processes are properly managed and that opportunities for continuous improvement are exploited.

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In the FSSC 22000 certification system, the ISO 22000 standard is supplemented by a technical specification dedicated to a given sector of activity. For food manufacturers, this is ISO/TS 22002-1 “Preliminary programs for food safety. Food production.” These are detailed requirements of Good Hygiene Practice and Good Manufacturing Practice applicable in every food industry establishment.

Additional requirements of FSSC 22000 include the management of purchased materials, product labeling, food defense, evaluation of susceptibility to product fraud, use of the FSSC 22000 logo and, depending on the food category, allergen management, environmental monitoring or storage, verification of preliminary programs and product development.

The entire FSSC 22000 certification scheme ensures a consistent plant audit process monitored by an integrity program to ensure that food safety management is maintained worldwide.

The current edition of FSSC 22000 introduces unannounced audits — one of two supervisory audits during the three-year certification cycle is unannounced. The audit of plants for compliance with FSSC 22000 is carried out by accredited certification bodies. Accreditation is carried out by national bodies such as the Polish Accreditation Centre or the Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS) in Germany.