The ISO 22000 standard is a combination of the ISO 9001:2008 standard and the HACCP standard for establishing and managing food safety aimed at the entire food chain from production to retailer, including the supply companies such as packing materials industry.
The contents of this standard consists mainly of:
• A pre-requisite program (PRP) such as the HACCP standard.
• An analysis of the HACCP management system to control hazards.
• The management from the ISO 9001:2008 standard.
The standard is applicable throughout the total chain and is recognized worldwide.
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points'. All companies producing, processing, transporting or storing food products can introduce a HACCP system in their company. HACCP is also primarily a system for the food industry to ensure food safety. This quality of products and processes are described relating to this foodsafety. Specific business process step will be described in order to produce food safety products. The companies hazards will also be identified, including physical, chemical and microbiological hazards.
The British Retail Consortium has developed, together with a number of major UK retailers, a technical inspection standards to which suppliers of food must comply. The BRC is a code inspection list where elements of the HACCP and ISO system are included. The BRC scheme consists of an inspection protocol and a technical standard. The inspection protocol is designed for inspecting bodies. Technical standards is an extensive checklist in which all requirements for suppliers and producers of food are listed. The content of the BRC standard is similar to HACCP, but extended with practical demands towards hygienic work, personal hygiene etc. In January 2008, the 5th version of the standard was published. This 5th version is titled: "Global Standard for Food Safety".
BRC IoP stands for Institute of Packaging. BRC IoP has been prepared in a collaboration between the British Retail Consortium and the Institute of Packaging. In all stages of the foodchain, packaging is part of the product. It is natural that packaging materials must meet the same requirements as the food products that are produced and packed. The BRC IoP standard is a technical standard for companies that produce packaging.
From the legal requirements, each company in the Netherlands that is involved in food, requires a HACCP analysis. For many companies (especially small businesses) this is a difficult task. Therefore the dutch government has decided to accept industry-wide HACCP analysis. This industry-wide HACCP analysis are called hygiene codes. The difference is that they are a lot easier than a self-designed HACCP system. The Hygiene Code is a comprehensive inventory of all firms in a given sector (fruit and vegetable farms, bakeries or fruit and vegetables dealers). The Hygiene Code provides a guidance for hygienic work.
In August 2006, the BRC Storage and Distribution Standard was published. BRC S&D is like the other BRC- standards established by British retailers. Storage and distribution is the link between all links in the food chain and retail world. The implementation of BRC S&D provides the industry food safety and integrity towards the chain. BRC S&D is applicable to all types of transport: trucks, trains, ships, aircraft or other forms of transport.
The standard is divided into 4 modules:
• Storage;
• Distribution;
• Wholesale;
• Contracted services (re-packaging).
GlobalGAP stands for Global Good Agricultural Practice. GlobalGAP is established by a number of European supermarkets (Albert Heijn, Laurus, Schuitema). They have combined basic guidelines for a "Good Agricultural Production" (GAP) of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, resulting in the GlobalGAP standards and guidelines. These are the requirements for farmers and growers worldwide, regarding food safety, durability and quality. The aim of GlobalGAP is to maintain consumer confidence on food safety. After introduction, the grower can demonstrate that his products are established in a responsible way. This international production standard for growing spends besides foodsafety attention to:
• Minimize pollution.
• More efficient use of natural resources.
• Good personnel management of health, welfare and safety.
• Conservation of flora and fauna in the area.
• Reducing the use of pesticides.
IFS is a standard, written for food safety and quality of private label products. The standard is called International Food Standard (IFS). This standard applies to all stages of food processing. IFS is similar to the BRC standard, but has a different scoring technique, in which a basic level certificate or higher level can be achieved. Comparison and difference with BRC: As shown above IFS strong resemblance to BRC norm. There are still some differences. The IFS and BRC guidelines are largely (approximately 85%) in both documents. As seen from the above is the big difference especially in the way of assessing the criteria from the standard. The requirements are mostly convergent. If the company holds a BRC certificate it will be an easy step to fulfil the IFS requirements.
Q & S stands for qualität und sicherheid. Q & S was initially created for the meat industry. Unlike Global GAP Q & S is a chain system where the entire chain must be certified. In 2004 was the release of Q & S for the food industry. Q & S for nurseries is very similar to GlobalGAP. Companies that are already GlobalGAP certified can also be easily certified for Q & S.