BSI revises global safety standard

The updated standard, ‘ISO 22000:2018 Food safety management systems – requirements for any organisation in the food chain’, is designed to provide a best-practice framework for any organisation, from a small, family-owned farm to a multinational foodservice outlet, to implement a food safety management system

The standard, first published in 2005, was created to help reduce the one in 10 people who fall ill or the 420,000 individuals who die every year due to contaminated food, according to World Health Organization estimates.

Complex supply chains​

BSI believes that long and complex supply chains in today’s food production have led to food incidents and scares, impacting consumers and causing economic loss to businesses.

David Fatscher, BSI head of sustainability and food, said: “ISO 22000 is a global standard which addresses a global need: a food safety management system that recognises food supply chains are increasingly cross-border, with a typical supermarket stocking lamb slaughtered in New Zealand and asparagus picked in Peru.”​

Guidance​

The ISO 22000 offers guidance on how to plan, implement, operate, maintain and update a food safety management system.

It advises how to demonstrate compliance with statutory and regulatory food safety requirements; evaluate and assess mutually agreed customer food safety requirements and demonstrate conformity; and communicate food safety issues to interested parties effectively.

It also offers guidance on ensuring an organisation conforms to its stated food safety policy; seeking certification or registration of food safety management systems by an external organisation or making a self-assessment or self-declaration of conformity to the standard.