ISO 22000 2005

IN PLAIN ENGLISH

INTRODUCTION

ISO

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization. It was set up in 1947 and is located in Geneva, Switzerland. Its purpose is to develop standards that facilitate international trade.

ISO 22000 2005 was developed by ISO TC 34 (Technical Committee 34). TC 34 is responsible for food products. ISO 22000 2005 (first edition) was formally approved during 2005 by over 75% of the ISO member bodies who participated in the voting process. ISO published this international standard on September 1, 2005.

ISO 22000

ISO 22000 is a generic food safety management system standard. It defines a set of general food safety requirements that apply to all organizations in the food chain. These requirements are listed in sections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of ISO 22000.

If your organization is part of the food chain, ISO 22000 wants you to establish a food safety management system (FSMS). It then wants you to use this system to ensure that food products do not cause adverse human health effects.

ISO 22000 is designed to be used for certification (registration) purposes. In other words, once you’ve established a FSMS that meets ISO’s requirements, you can ask a registrar to audit your system. If your registrar agrees that you’ve met the ISO 22000 requirements, it will issue an official certificate that states that your FSMS meets the ISO 22000 food safety requirements.

However, you don’t have to be certified (registered). ISO does not require certification (registration). You can be in compliance without being formally registered by an accredited auditor. You can self assess your system and simply declare to the world that your FSMS complies with ISO 22000 (if it does). Of course, your customers and business partners are more likely to believe that you have an effective FSMS if an independent auditor says so.

WHO SHOULD USE ISO 22000

Since ISO 22000 is a generic food safety management standard, it can be used by any organization directly or indirectly involved in the food chain. It applies to all organizations in the food chain. It doesn’t matter how complex the organization is or what size it is, ISO 22000 can help ensure the safety of its food products.

The food chain consists of the entire sequence of stages and operations involved in the creation and consumption of food products. This includes every step from initial production to final consumption. More precisely, it includes the production, processing, distribution, storage, and handling of all food and food ingredients.

The food chain also includes organizations that do not directly handle food. These include organizations that produce feed for animals that produce food and for animals that will be used as food. It also includes organizations that produce materials that will eventually come into contact with food or food ingredients.

ISO 22000 can be used by:

• Primary producers
  • Farms
  • Ranches
  • Fisheries
  • Dairies
     
• Processors
  • Fish processors
  • Meat processors
  • Poultry processors
  • Feed processors
     
• Manufacturers
  • Soup manufacturers
  • Snack manufacturers
  • Bread manufacturers
  • Cereal manufacturers
  • Dressing manufacturers
  • Beverage manufacturers
  • Seasoning manufacturers
  • Packaging manufacturers
  • Frozen food manufacturers
  • Canned food manufacturers
  • Confectionery manufacturers
  • Dietary supplement manufacturers

• Food service providers
  • Grocery stores
  • Restaurants
  • Cafeterias
  • Hospitals
  • Hotels
  • Resorts
  • Airlines
  • Cruise ships
  • Seniors lodges
  • Nursing homes

• Other service providers
  • Storage service providers
  • Catering service providers
  • Logistics service providers
  • Transportation service providers
  • Distribution service providers
  • Sanitation service providers
  • Cleaning service providers

• Product suppliers
  • Suppliers of tools
  • Suppliers of utensils
  • Suppliers of equipment
  • Suppliers of additives
  • Suppliers of ingredients
  • Suppliers of raw materials
  • Suppliers of cleaning agents
  • Suppliers of sanitizing agents
  • Suppliers of packaging materials
  • Suppliers of other food contact materials

Of course, the previous catalogue does not exhaust the list of organizations that could benefit from the use of this standard. ISO 22000 applies to all organizations directly or indirectly involved in the food chain, not just the ones listed here.

WHY USE ISO 22000

ISO 22000 will help you to achieve the following objectives:

• To establish a food safety management system (FSMS).
  • To plan and implement a FSMS for your organization.
  • To operate and maintain your organization’s FSMS.
  • To update and improve your organization’s FSMS.
• To ensure that products do not cause adverse health effects.
• To demonstrate compliance with external safety requirements.
  • To demonstrate compliance with legal safety requirements.
    • To demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements.
    • To demonstrate compliance with statutory requirements.
  • To demonstrate compliance with customer requirements.
• To evaluate your customers’ food safety requirements.
• To provide safe products and enhance customer satisfaction.
• To export food products and penetrate international markets.
• To communicate safety issues throughout the food chain.
  • To communicate with your organization’s customers.
  • To communicate with your organization’s suppliers.
  • To communicate with other relevant interested parties.
• To ensure that you comply with your food safety policy.
  • To demonstrate compliance to all interested parties.

ISO 22000 uses roughly the same basic structure as the ISO 9001 quality management standard. This should make it a bit easier for ISO 9001 certified organizations to pursue ISO 22000 certification.

ISO 22000 AND HACCP

ISO 22000 uses HACCP. HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. It was developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. HACCP is a methodology and a management system. It is used to identify, prevent, and control food safety hazards. HACCP management systems apply the following methodology:

1. Conduct a food safety hazard analysis.
2. Identify your critical control points (CCPs).
3. Establish critical limits for each critical control point.
4. Develop procedures to monitor critical control points.
5. Design corrective actions to handle critical limit violations.
6. Create a food safety record keeping system.
7. Validate and verify your system.

This methodology is used to develop an HACCP plan. An HACCP plan is a document that describes how an organization plans to manage and control its food safety hazards. An HACCP plan contains at least the following information:

1. Critical control points (CCPs)
2. Hazards that will be controlled at each CCP
3. Control measures that will be used at each CCP
4. Critical limits that will be applied at each CCP
5. Procedures that will be used to monitor CCPs
6. Actions that will be taken when limits are violated

ISO 22000 shows organizations how to combine the HACCP plan with prerequisite programs (or programmes) and operational prerequisite programs into a single integrated food safety management strategy.

Prerequisite programs (PRPs) are the conditions that must be established throughout the food chain and the activities and practices that must be performed in order to establish and maintain a hygienic environment. PRPs must be suitable and be capable of providing food that is safe for human consumption. PRPs are also referred to as good hygienic practices, good agricultural practices, good production practices, good manufacturing practices, good distribution practices, and good trading practices.

Operational prerequisite programs (OPRPs) are prerequisite programs (PRPs) that are essential. They are essential because a hazard analysis has shown that they are necessary in order to control specific food safety hazards. OPRPs are used to reduce the likelihood that products will be exposed to hazards, that they will be contaminated, and that hazards will proliferate. OPRPs are also used to reduce the likelihood that the processing environment will be exposed to hazards.

YOUR GENERAL APPROACH

The following material presents a brief food safety management system development plan. It briefly explains how a food safety management system (FSMS) can be established. If you use our plain English standard (Title 55) to establish your organization’s FSMS, you will take the following steps:

1. Demonstrate a commitment to food safety.
2. Document your organization’s food safety policy.
3. Support the establishment of a complete FSMS.
4. Define the scope and boundaries of your FSMS.
5. Plan the establishment of your organization’s FSMS.
6. Document FSMS responsibilities and authorities.
7. Appoint your organization’s food safety team leader.
8. Appoint your organization’s food safety team.
9. Establish food safety communication arrangements.
10. Provide the resources that your FSMS needs.
11. Provide competent food safety personnel.
12. Provide training and awareness programs.
13. Provide infrastructure and work environment.
14. Establish your prerequisite programs (PRPs).
15. Perform a food safety hazard analysis.
16. Document your food safety hazards.
17. Specify acceptable hazard levels.
18. Assess your food safety hazards.
19. Select measures to control hazards.
20. Establish operational prerequisite programs (OPRPs).
21. Prepare your organization’s unique HACCP plan.
22. Establish a product lot traceability system.
23. Develop food safety emergency procedures.
24. Identify and correct nonconforming products.
25. Evaluate data and take corrective actions.
26. Control products that are potentially unsafe.
27. Control your monitoring and measuring methods.
28. Validate your food safety control measures.
29. Verify that your FSMS has been implemented.
30. Evaluate the results of your verification activities.
31. Perform regular internal audits of your FSMS.
32. Carry out food safety management reviews.
33. Document your organization’s unique FSMS.
34. Control food safety management documents.
35. Control your food safety management records.
36. Continually update and improve your FSMS.

To see a detailed version of the above FSMS development plan, please see our plain English standard (Parts 4 to 8).

Of course, you may already have an existing FSMS. If this is true, you don’t need to follow a detailed FSMS development plan. You would probably find it easier and more efficient to use a gap analysis approach, instead.

A gap analysis would compare your existing FSMS with the ISO 22000 requirements. Such a comparison would pinpoint the areas that fall short of the standard (the gaps). By focusing on filling your unique food safety gaps, you will soon comply with the ISO 22000 standard.

If you already have an existing FSMS, a gap analysis is more targeted and efficient. It is more targeted and efficient because it takes an incremental approach and ignores areas that already comply with the standard.

Overview of ISO 22000 2005 Food Safety Management Standard

ISO 22000 2005 Plain English Food Safety Management Definitions

ISO 22000 2005 Food Safety Standard Translated into Plain English

ISO 22000 2005 Food Safety Management Audit Program

ISO 22000 2005 Food Safety Gap Analysis Tool

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