ISO 22000 is an international standard that defines the requirements of a food safety management system covering all sizes of all organizations throughout the food chain.
This document specifies requirements for a food safety management system (FSMS) to enable an organization that is directly or indirectly involved in the food chain:
- To plan, implement, operate, maintain and update a FSMS providing products and services that are safe, in accordance with their intended use;
- To demonstrate compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory food safety requirements;
- To evaluate and assess mutually agreed customer food safety requirements and to demonstrate conformity with them;
- To effectively communicate food safety issues to interested parties within the food chain;
- To ensure that the organization conforms to its stated food safety policy;
- To demonstrate conformity to relevant interested parties;
- To seek certification or registration of its FSMS by an external organization, or make a self-assessment or self-declaration of conformity to this document.
All requirements of this document are generic and are intended to be applicable to all organizations in the food chain, regardless of size and complexity. Organizations that are directly or indirectly involved include, but are not limited to, feed producers, animal food producers, harvesters of wild plants and animals, farmers, producers of ingredients, food manufacturers, retailers, and organizations providing food services, catering services, cleaning and sanitation services, transportation, storage and distribution services, suppliers of equipment, cleaning and disinfectants, packaging materials and other food contact materials.
This document allows any organization, including small and/or less developed organizations (e.g. a small farm, a small packer-distributor, a small retail or food service outlet) to implement externally-developed elements in their FSMS.
Internal and/or external resources can be used to meet the requirements of this document.
FSMS principles:
Food safety is related to the presence of food safety hazards at the time of consumption (intake by the consumer). Food safety hazards can occur at any stage of the food chain. Therefore, adequate control throughout the food chain is essential. Food safety is ensured through the combined efforts of all the parties in the food chain. This document specifies the requirements for a FSMS that combines the following generally recognized key elements:
- Interactive communication;
- System management;
- Prerequisite programmers;
- Hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) principles
The adoption of a food safety management system (FSMS) is a strategic decision for an organization that can help to improve its overall performance in food safety.
The potential benefits to an organization of implementing a FSMS based on this document are:
- The ability to consistently provide safe foods and products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements;
- Addressing risks associated with its objectives;
- The ability to demonstrate conformity to specified FSMS requirements
- Introduce internationally recognized processes to your business
- Give suppliers and stakeholders confidence in your hazard controls
- Put these hazard controls in place across your supply chain
- Introduce transparency around accountability and responsibilities
- Continually improve and update your systems so it stays effective
- ISO 22000 contains the food safety management system requirements of FSSC 22000 (which is a Global Food Safety Initiative, GFSI recognized scheme) and is used along with requirements for prerequisite programs for the appropriate industry sector
- Improved control over food safety activities
- Customer, statutory and regulatory compliance
- Facilitated market growth
- Increased customer, stakeholder and consumer confidence in products
- Improved risk management
- Integration with other ISO management systems