Food Safety systems are key to organisations in order to control the risk associated with microbiological, chemical, allergenic and foreign body hazards. If these hazards are not controlled not only can food safety be compromised, but significant brand damage and financial loss can result.

The ISO22000 standard is well established but until recently has lacked approval by GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) as a “once certified, accepted everywhere” standard for retailers globally. The issue that the GFSI had with the standard was the lack of detail in the area dealing with pre-requisite standards for the food safety system. With the advent of PAS 220 (a standard for pre requisites for food manufacturers) a new scheme has been set up to incorporate the requirements of both ISO22000 and PAS220. This scheme is the FSSC scheme which is in turn recognised by the GFSI. This is therefore an accepted alternative to the BRC Global Standard, IFS, SQF and Dutch HACCP.

We are well positioned to help with the implementation and ongoing support of these standards including help with:

• Gap analysis between existing systems and the requirements of the standards.
• Setting of Food Safety Policy and identification of Food Safety objectives
• Participation in reviews of Food Safety performance and support with identifying meaningful KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) which indicate how the business is performing.
• The creation and maintenance of HACCP (Hazard Analysis by Critical Control Point) systems
• The identification and monitoring of Pre requisite programs
• Planning and execution of internal audit programs for the business.
• Setting up supplier monitoring programs and their execution. This may be related to a specific supplier issue or a broader based scheme.
• “Hands on” Internal Auditor training which is customised to the client business.

We have supplied Lead Auditor resource to certification bodies to conduct audits against ISO 22000, PAS 220 and the FSSC schemes. We have also conducted gap analyses for all these standards and schemes.

The list of clients includes:

Nestlé UK and Ireland, Danisco, Cereal Partners, LRQA and SAI Global.