WHAT IS ISO 22000 CERTIFICATION?

Everything that we consume, affects our body in some way or the other. Thus, it becomes very important for us to ensure the safety of the food that we buy. There are certain standards that look after such requirements. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) publishes ISO 22000 standard that helps in implementing the Food Safety Management System (FSMS) in an organization. It aims at establishing certain controls in the processes so that the product turns out to be safe for consumption. Certain management tools such as PDCA cycle and SWOT analysis are integral part of ISO 22000 certification, which helps in identifying the risks and preparing the organizations for its prevention and mitigation.

WHO CAN SEEK ISO 22000 CERTIFICATION?

Any organization that is a part of the food supply chain is eligible for ISO 22000 certification. This includes:

• Producers of feed, animal food, any farmers
• Manufacturers of food
• Catering services,
• Transporters and distributors of food, sanitation services providers, food storage units, equipment suppliers
• Those who supply packaging materials
• Retailers
• Restaurants

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF ISO 22000 CERTIFICATION?

• It helps in keeping up with the latest requirements in food safety.
• By risk identification, ISO 22000 Certification improves controls in processes to ensure food safety.
• It increases the customers’ trust in your products or services.
• Reduces downtime & product recall.
• Its international recognition opens up huge market all over the globe.
• It boosts the image of your organization, thereby helping in branding and marketing.
• ISO 22000 lays down specifications for continual improvement of your system
• The common High-Level Structure (HLS) with other standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, makes the integration easier.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR OBTAINING ISO 22000 CERTIFICATION?

The very first step at acquiring ISO 22000 certification is the implementation of FSMS in your organization. Once you have built and executed the requirements of ISO 22000 certification in your FSMS, you may perform an internal audit of your system. This is done to identify any gaps and plan effective actions to close those gaps. When you are satisfied with the performance of your system, you may invite an external certification body to perform audits and certify you at the successful completion of the audits.

There are some mandatory steps to obtain ISO 22000 certification. Once the formality of documentation has been taken care of, following steps should be followed to acquire the certification:

1. Internal Audit- Here, the data provided by you in the form is verified.

2. Management Audit- this is done to understand the practical realities of your FSMS. The administration conducts survey for this purpose.

3. Corrective activities- At this stage, you are required to plan and perform appropriate actions to close the gaps that were identified by the previous audits.

The process of obtaining ISO 22000 certification comprises of two stages:

4. Stage one (documentation survey) — The executives from the external certification body of your choice will review your documentation to verify its compliance with the requirements of ISO 22000 certification.

5. Stage two (Primary audit) — At this stage, the consistency between your stated data and the requirements of ISO 22000 is verified. This is done by thorough investigation of reports, records and company practices.

It must be noted that the International Organization for Standardization does not certify, it just publishes the ISO standards. An external body performs the certification. SIS Certifications is one such body which has a reputation for being one of the best in the world. Our vast pool of auditors is recognized for their expertise in comprehensively auditing the compliance of your management systems against the required standards and awarding you with the certifications at the end. The smoothness in the process, our integrity, and our commitment to deadlines make us stand apart from other certification bodies.

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