ISO
22000 is a Food Safety Management System that can be applied to any
organization in the food chain, farm to fork. Becoming certified to ISO 22000
allows a company to show their customers that they have a food safety
management system in place. This
provides customer confidence in the product. This is becoming more and more
important as customers demand safe food and food processors require that
ingredients obtained from their suppliers to be safe. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed
the Food Safety Management System Certification: ISO 22000. ISO and its member
countries used the Quality Management System approach, and tailored it to apply
to Food Safety, incorporating the widely used and proven HACCP principles and
Good Manufacturing Principles (addressed by Prerequisite Programs in ISO
22000). The standard has requirements for Food Safety Management Systems
processes and procedures, and requires that the organization implement
prerequisite programs and HACCP. The consequences of unsafe food can be serious
and ISO’s food safety management standards help organizations identify and
control food safety hazards. ISO 22000:2018 sets out the requirements for a
food safety management system and can be certified to. It maps out what an organization
needs to do to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order
to ensure that food is safe. It can be used by any organization regardless of
its size or position in the food chain.
The
Benefits of ISO 22000 to the Food Industry. There is an international standard
that is intended to be used within the food industry called ISO 22000. It
allows organizations to understand what traditional quality assurance and
preventive food safety measures should be implemented within their industry.
The laws for food safety and control have been making progress since 1883 when
Dr. Harvey Wiley became chief chemist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
He spent his time campaigning for federal laws to be enacted. He was referred
to as the “Crusading Chemist†and “Father of the Pure Food and Drug Act.â€
Before
laws were put into place to protect consumers from unsafe foods, ancient
Greece—specifically Athens—had beer and wine regulations and inspections for
purity. The evolution of food safety laws has come a long way since those
ancient times.
ISO 22000 is the international standard today and is benefiting businesses in many ways. Companies that develop their products by following these rules and specifications are increasingly free to compete within many markets around the world. For trade officials, ISO 22000 levels the playing field within regional and global markets. This is due to technically refined international standards and placement of political agreements, and, when followed, they create successful practices that ensure the highest quality of food and safety.
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