FSSC 22000

New Global Food Safety Standard for Food Manufacturing

Essentially a combination of certification to ISO 22000 and PAS 220, FSSC 22000 is the first global food safety standard specifically targeted at the food manufacturing sector and is intended for the certification of manufacturing and processing of food ingredients and food products.

Essentially a combination of certification to the ISO 22000:2005 standard and the PAS 220:2008 food safety specification, FSSC 22000 will be the first global food safety standard specifically targeted at the food manufacturing sector and is intended for the certification of manufacturing and processing of food ingredients and food products.

FSSC 22000 uses existing standards for certification to ISO 22000, PAS 220 and ISO 22003, and will be accredited under ISO guide 65 (process certification).

The requirements and guidelines of FSSC 22000 are described in four parts:

• Part I – requirements of food safety system and guidance on how to apply for certification

• Part II – requirements for providing certification, including the regulation for certification bodies and the harmonization committee

• Part III – requirements for providing accreditation, including the regulation for accreditation bodies

• Part IV – regulations for the Board of Stakeholders

Is FSSC 22000 recognized by the GFSI?

The FSSC scheme, managed by the Foundation for Food Safety Certification based in The Netherlands, has been benchmarked by the GFSI, against the requirements laid out in the GFSI Guidance Document Version 5.  The GFSI Board of Directors has granted conditional recognition of this scheme, based on the content of the scheme meeting the Guidance Document requirements, and the Board is now encouraging the Foundation for Food Safety Certification to move the new scheme to full implementation.

Once fully implemented, FSSC is expected to become the sixth standard to join the stable of GFSI recognized schemes. 

How and why was FSSC 22000 developed?

When the ISO 22000 food safety management system standard was reviewed by the GFSI for consideration of acceptance into it’s list of recognized standards (which include BRC, IFS, SQF and Dutch HACCP) it wasn’t seen to cover in detail the pre-requisite programs required to satisfy specific food safety concerns for food manufacturers. This led to the development of the PAS 220, designed to be used in conjunction with ISO 22000, which defines the pre-requisite programs not included within the ISO 22000 standard.

The second requirement for the standard to be accepted within the GFSI program was that the scheme must have a designated owner. To enable this, the FSSC has been designated to manage the accreditation and certification activities of the FSSC 22000 standard along with its acceptance into the GFSI program.

How is certification to FSSC 22000 achieved?

Manufacturers already ISO 22000 certified will only need an additional analysis against the PAS 220 to enable certification to the FSSC 22000 standard.  Manufacturers not certified to ISO 22000 will require a gap analysis to determine their most practical route to FSSC 22000 certification. 

How Can LRQA Help?

As a contributor to the development of the PAS 220 specification, LRQA offers gap analysis to help determine how your organization may achieve FSSC 22000 certification.