WHAT IT IS
FSSC 22000 - The Food Safety Certification Scheme 22000 is a certification standard developed by the Foundation for Food Safety Certification in order to certify food producing organizations and aims to harmonize certification requirements and methods
for obtaining food safety systems in the production chain.
In 2009, the Foundation published a new independent standard, called FSSC 22000, incorporating the ISO 22000 standard, the BSI-PAS 220 technical specification, and the ISO/TS 22004 standard, that is, the guideline for the application of ISO 22000.
Under version 3, the present revision of the standard, additional and detailed requirements have been incorporated. All reference documentation can be downloaded from
www.fssc22000.com.
The standard has been published with the aim
to harmonize certification requirements and
food-safety-related methodologies throughout the supply chain, and to have certificates which are comparable with regards to the content and goals.
FSSC 22000 was originally designed to be applied to food processing organizations, however, the publication of dedicated technical specifications covering the unique PRPs of different manufacturing sectors, allows the
application of the standard to multiple sectors and makes it extremely flexible.
In March 2012, the British Standards Institution withdrew the
PAS 220 technical specification that was replaced by ISO/TS 22002-1, "Prerequisite Programmes on Food Safety - Food Manufacturing" and as of October 31st, 2015
the document of reference on prerequisite programs for the production of packaging and food contact grade materials is ISO/TS 22002-4 which replaces the PAS 223.
The content of ISO/TS differs only slightly from previous PASs, resulting in minimal impact on Certified Companies and Certification Bodies.
Starting from February 2010, FSSC 22000 is recognized by the GFSI - Global Food Safety Initiative, which was created in May 2000 for the will of the Consumer Goods Forum, a global independent network that operates with the aim, among others, of ensuring the distribution of adequate consumer products (e.g. safe) to consumers.
It brings together the Board of Directors and Executives of about
400 retailer and producer organizations in 150 countries. The forum currently represents companies with a
total value of 2.1 trillion Euros.
In addition, since October 2010,
FSSC 22000 has been recognized by EA (European Cooperation for Accreditation).
FSSC 22000 is the first food safety management system standard recognized by GSFI to receive EA's recognition.
This means that
all accreditation bodies in Europe will accept FSSC 22000.
CSQA is recognized by the FSSC Foundation and accredited by ACCREDIA.
CSQA can issue internationally recognized certifications through
IQNet, being a member of CISQ.
BENEFITS
The FSSC 22000 standard:
- allows organizations to focus on improving food safety through continuous updating to scientific and technical state-of-the-art;
- is recognized globally as the system is based on an ISO (International Standardization Organization) standard;
- allows the implementation of a systematic PRP management protocol, focused on the true critical aspects of the Organization;
- improves communication throughout the supply chain;
- applies flexibly to specific customer requests.