LA 22001 training

Courtesy: LA 22001 training

ISO 22000 is a Food safety management system which is outcome focused, providing requirements for any organization in the food industry with objective to help to improve overall performance in food safety.

Food safety

Food safety refers to all those hazards, whether chronic or acute, that may make food injurious to the health of the consumer.

ISO 22000 standard

ISO 22000 is the most popular voluntary food safety international standard in the food industry with 42,937 sites certified (as per the ISO Survey 2021). The ISO 22000 family are international voluntary consensus standards which align to Good Standardization Practices (GSP) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Principles for the Development of International Standards. Defining the requirements for a Food Safety Management System (FSMS) and incorporating the following elements which as defined as FSMS principles:

• interactive communication
• system management
• prerequisite programs
• HACCP principles

Critical reviews of the above elements have been conducted by many scientists. Communication along the food chain is essential to ensure that all relevant food safety hazards are identified and adequately controlled at each step within the food chain. This implies communication between organizations both upstream and downstream in the food chain. Communication with customers and suppliers about identified hazards and control measures will assist in clarifying customer and supplier requirements.

Recognition of the organization’s role and position within the food chain is essential to ensure effective interactive communication throughout the chain in order to deliver safe food products to the consumer.

ISO 22000 and HACCP

ISO 22000 has two Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycles which operate one inside the other, the first covering the management system, the second the operations (described in ISO 22000:2018, Clause 8), which simultaneously cover the HACCP principles. ISO 22000 references the Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene, CXC 1-1969 which includes HACCP principles and 12 HACCP application steps. The following table explains the relationship and alignment between ISO 22000 and the Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene, CXC 1-1969. The task, Validate the control measure(s) or combination(s) of control measures, also references Guidelines for the Validation of Food Safety Control Measures, CXG 69-2008

ISO 22000 family of standards

ISO published additional standards that are related to ISO 22000. These standards are known as the ISO 22000 family of standards. At the present time, the following standards will make up the ISO 22000 family of standards:

• ISO 22000 – Food safety management systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain.
• ISO 22001 – Guidelines on the application of ISO 9001:2000 for the food and drink industry (replaces: ISO 15161:2001 Withdrawn).
• ISO/TS 22002- Prerequisite programmes on food safety—Part 1: Food manufacturing; Part 2: Catering; Part 3: Farming; Part 4: Food packaging manufacturing; Part 5: Transport and storage; Part 6: Feed and animal food production
• ISO/TS 22003 – Food safety — Part 1: Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems; Part 2: Requirements for bodies providing evaluation and certification of products, processes and services, including an audit of the food safety system
• ISO/TS 22004 – Food safety management systems – Guidance on the application of ISO 22000:2005.
• ISO 22005 – Traceability in the feed and food chain – General principles and basic requirements for system design and implementation.
• ISO 22006 – Quality management systems – Guidance on the application of ISO 9002:2000 for crop production.

ISO 22000 is also used as a basis for the Food Safety Systems Certification (FSSC) Scheme FSSC 22000. FSSC 22000 is a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) approved scheme, also referred to as a certification programme owner (CPO). The differences between ISO 22000 and schemes with GFSI recognition are explained in a paper from ISO, International standards and private standards. 

ISO 9001 vs ISO 22000

In comparison with a Quality Management System ISO 9001, the Food Safety Management System, initially a standard (ISO 22000:2005 version) that was a more procedural-orientated guidance than a principle based one. The 2018 revision (ISO 22000:2018) addressed this by including the ISO general management principles, in addition to the FSMS principles, which are also referred to as the Quality Management Principles