Introduction
Supporting services are also important, including providers of food transportation, storage and distribution, catering services, product suppliers for equipment, additives, raw materials, cleaning and sanitizing products and packaging. If your products touch the food industry or the food we eat, part or all of the ISO 22000 requirements will apply.
It is the one standard that encompasses both consumer and market needs. It speeds and simplifies processes without compromising other quality or safety management systems. By integrating multiple principals, methodologies and applications, ISO 22000 is easier to understand, apply and recognize. That makes it more efficient and effective as an entry-to-market tool than previous combinations of national standards.
The standard has become necessary because of the significant increase of illnesses caused by infected food in both developed and developing countries. In addition to the health hazards, food-borne illnesses can give rise to considerable economic costs covering medical treatment, absence from work, insurance payments and legal compensation.
Background
In 2001, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) started the development of a management standard for the food industry, building on HACCP’s role in food safety management systems. This resulted in the ISO 22000:2005 standard, which defines food safety management requirements for companies that need to meet and exceed global food safety regulations.
These range from feed producers, primary producers, food manufacturers, transport and storage operators and subcontractors to retail and food service outlets – together with related organizations such as producers of equipment, packaging material, cleaning agents, additives and ingredients.
Basic requirements
ISO 22000:2005 outlines the Food Safety Management System Requirements for any organization in the food chain, and is one of a family of standards focused on the development, implementation and improvement of a food safety management system.
The system combines well-recognized key elements to ensure food safety along the food chain, up to the point of final consumption:
Provides interactive communication, internationally and across the supply chain.
Complies with the HACCP principles, i.e., hazard analysis, identify critical control points, establish critical links, monitor critical control points, establish corrective action, keep records.
Harmonizes voluntary and prerequisite standards creates a structure that aligns with ISO 9001 controls processes
Key benefits
Provides a clear, auditable, global standard providing a framework to bring together all parts of your Food Safety Management System (FSMS)
Tests compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and your own systems through internal audits and management reviews
Requires regular testing of data integrity / lot recall programs and process audits
Aligns with other management systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001)
Benefits
Benefits of implementing ISO 22000:2005 include:
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Demonstrates commitment to customer satisfaction.
- Improves your organization’s image.
- Shows commitment to manage food safety hazards and risks.
- Improves customer confidence.
- Integrates easily with other standards, including ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
- Improves recognition as a supplier of choice throughout the global food chain.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Coint (HACCP)
Introduction
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification is synonymous with food safety. HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. HACCP is designed for use in all segments of the food industry from growing, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, distributing, and merchandising to preparing food for consumption.
HACCP is a preventative approach to food safety and pharmaceutical safety which addresses physical, chemical, and biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than finished product inspection. HACCP is compatible with management systems, such as ISO 9001and certification is recognized worldwide by government food authorities and food businesses.
Background
HACCP was developed as a microbiological food safety system for astronauts at the beginning of the manned US space program. The Pillsbury Company, NASA and the US Army Laboratories at Natick pioneered the original system. At that time food safety systems were based on end-product testing. Ensuring full safety required testing 100 percent of the product. The preventive food safety system was born to ensure high level of food safety without using the entire product.
HACCP principles, developed by the Codex Alimentarius of the World Health Organization, demand that organizations establish effective food safety systems through the application of a systematic approach to hazard and risk analysis. This standard is used in the food industry to identify potential food safety hazards, so that key actions, known as Critical Control Points (CCP’s) can be taken to reduce or eliminate the risk of the hazards.
Food safety and public health agencies recognize HACCP as the preferred tool for food safety assurance and improving regulatory food standards. The Food Safety and Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture (FSIS-USDA) mandated HACCP in meat and poultry processing in 1996. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later mandated HACCP for seafood and juices. The World Health Organization (WHO) advises the incorporation of HACCP into international and national food legislation to improve food inspection efficiency.
Basic requirements
HACCP operates on seven standards:
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Conduct hazard analysis: identify potential hazards and develop measures to control them.
- Establish critical control points (CCPs) or points in a process at which hazards can be controlled or eliminated.
- Determine acceptable limit(s) for each CCP.
- Establish systems to monitor each CCP.
- Formulate corrective actions.
- Establish verification procedures for the entire HACCP system.
- Document procedures related to these principles.
- Five tasks must be implemented before the application of the HACCP principles:
- Assemble a multidisciplinary, trained HACCP team.
- Determine product lines and distribution channels that should be included in the HACCP plan.
- Describe the intended use and consumers of products to help identify risk factors.
- Develop the process flow diagram to ensure no safety hazard point has been overlooked.
- Verify the accuracy of the diagram.
Benefits
- Provides employees with an understanding of the importance of producing safe food.
- Reduces spoilage costs.
- Helps reduce and possibly eliminate food safety liabilities.
- Improves consistency in product quality and safety.
- Improves business that relies on compliance with HACCP.
- Gives customers increased confidence in your food safety.
- Improves competitiveness and makes your company a supplier of choice.