FSSC 22000: Food Safety Certification

Improve your capability to consistently meet customer expectations for products safety and quality while reducing costs of supply chain management.

Certification of your food safety management system to FSSC 22000 demonstrates your commitment to food safety, quality, legality and on continual improvement.

What is FSSC 22000?

FSSC 22000 is a food safety certification scheme based on the existing internationally recognized standard ISO 22000 and complemented by technical standards, such as ISO TS 22002-1 for food manufacturing and ISO TS 22002-4 for packaging manufacturing.  It is also fully consistent with other standards, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 (including the alignment with ISO High Level Structure).

In addition to ISO 22000 and the industry relevant Pre-Requisite Program (PRP), FSSC 22000 contains requirements that help companies address risk in multiple areas from food fraud, food defense, food safety and quality culture, quality control, allergen management and environmental monitoring programs. The latest version has also added requirements on food loss and waste to help companies deliver on their UN SDG commitments.

FSSC 22000 specifically targets the food, feed and packaging manufacturing sector as well as the storage and transport, catering and retail/wholesale sectors. While the first editions of FSSC 22000 only applied to food manufacturers, the scope for current version has been extended to other segments of the supply chain, and it’s recognized by Global Food Safety Initiative – GFSI.

When already certified against ISO 22000, an organization only needs an additional review against technical specifications for sector PRPs, and the FSSC additional requirements to meet all scheme requirements.

The requirements are related to the food safety management system and the HACCP system (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points). Furthermore, a voluntary additional Quality Module is available, based on ISO 9001 and, if a company is manufacturing both food and non-food packaging material, the additional module HPC420 if available for the non-food packaging material.

Benefits of becoming certified

FSSC 22000 provides a certification scheme that ensures a robust food safety management system to control food safety hazards, minimize risks, and ensure safe food production. Reliability in delivering safe food contributes to consumer trust and, eventually, consumer loyalty. The standard enables your organization to:

• Provide evidence of commitment to identify, evaluate, and control the food safety hazards that may be expected to occur in order to avoid harming the consumer directly or indirectly.
• Build and operate a management system capable of helping you to better meet food quality/safety requirements and legal compliance
• Provide a tool for food safety performance improvement, and the means to monitor and measure food safety performance effectively
• Develop a good food safety culture which in turn improves customer confidence and aids in acquiring competitive advantages.

Getting started

To be certified, you first need to implement a food safety management system complying with the standard’s requirements. DNV is an independent third-party certification body accredited for the FSSC 22000 standard and can help you throughout the journey starting from relevant training to self-assessments, gap analysis and certification services.

Learn more about how to get started on the road to certification.