ISO 22000 Food Safety Information Center

Steps to ISO 22000

How does a company start down the path to ISO 22000? There are three different answers to this question that depend on your companies current quality management system. Are you complying with ISO 9001? Are you using HACCP now? If the answer to either one of these is yes, you will have a head start on the project. But lets talk about how to approach the project if the answer to these questions is no. (If either answer was yes, you can modify this plan to account for what you already have in place) This is one way to approach the project:

1. The first key step is for management to recognize the need for a Food Safety Management System. This is critical to having management commitment. Without management commitment you will not have a successful project. Management will need to provide resources as well as playing a key role in the development of the system.
2. Top Management designates a Food Safety Team Leader, this person will be the project leader or project manager for the implementation. The Food Safety Team Leader and Top Management make up the "ISO Steering Team" that will lead the project. Top management will identify and document the members of this team.
3. Gather resources:  Required - ISO 22000 Standard (www.iso.org).  Other helpful material: ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System Small Business Checklist (www.iso.org), Prepared ISO 22000 templates (www.22000-tools.com)
4. The Food Safety Team Leader schedules and coordinates a Steering Team Meeting to determine the scope of the FSMS. All applicable regulatory, statutory and customer requirements will also be identified.
   
5. The Steering Team will meet to determine the makeup of the Food Safety Team. Detailed consideration will be given to the necessary qualifications and training for an effective team. Team members will be identified. If expertise is not available internally, the steering team will determine how to bring in the expertise or resources needed.
6. The Steering Team will establish a time line and resources for the project.
   
7. The Steering Team will identify the responsibilities of The Food Safety Team. This team will play a large role in development of the system, with most of their efforts related to the Hazard Analysis, HACCP plan and related items.
   
8. The Steering Team will designate teams to design and document the remaining processes required by the standard.  For example, a document control team can evaluate the current process, compare to the requirements of the standard and design and document the new process.
   
9. The Steering Team puts together a list of team members and a time line for each of these teams.
10. The Steering Team established the Food Safety Policy and objectives, along with a communication plan.
    
11. The Food Safety Management Team starts on the Hazard Analysis, Prerequisite Programs and HACCP Plan.
12. The Steering Team documents a process for Management Review and coordinates the development of an organizational chart and job descriptions.
    
13. As each team completes a new procedure, they submit it to the Steering Team for review and approval.
    
14. The Steering Team meets on a regular basis to watch the time line and review procedures.
15. The Steering Team will select a Registrar.
16. As the system nears completion, the Steering Team coordinates employee training on ISO 22000 and the new system as well as the training of an internal audit team.
17. As the new processes are put in place, the internal audits and management review meetings can begin.
18. The Food Safety Team leader will coordinate with the Registrar to schedule a Registration Audit. The timing for this audit will be approximately 3 months after the system is complete, so that sufficient records will be available to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system. At least one cycle of internal audits and management review will be completed before the audit.

What does ISO 22000 Require?

ISO 22000 requires that you design and document a Food Safety Management System (FSMS). The standard contains the specific requirements to be addressed by the FSMS.

Generally the standard addresses:

• Having an overall Food Safety Policy for your organization, developed by top management.
• Setting objectives that will drive your companies efforts to comply with this policy.
• Planning and designing a management system and documenting the system.
• Maintaining records of the performance of the system.
• Establishing a group of qualified individuals to make up a Food Safety Team.
• Defining communication procedures to ensure effective communication with important contacts outside the company (regulatory, customers, suppliers and others) and for effective internal communication.
• Having an emergency plan
• Holding management review meetings to evaluate the performance of the FSMS
• Providing adequate resources for the effective operation of the FSMS including appropriately trained and qualified personnel, sufficient infrastructure and appropriate work environment to ensure food safety
• Following HACCP principles
• Establishing a traceability system for identification of product
• Establishing a corrective action system and control of nonconforming product
• Maintaining a documented procedure for handling withdrawal of product
• Controlling monitoring and measuring devices
• Establishing and maintaining and internal audit program
• Continually updating and improving the FSFM

What is ISO 22000?

The international organization ISO (International Organization of Standardization) has decades of experience developing standards for many different types of applications. One of the most popular and most recognized is the Quality Management System standard ISO 9001. This standard was developed to provide a uniform standard worldwide for quality management. A buyer in one part of the world would have a degree of confidence in the quality practices of a registered company in another part of the world. This standard was used as the basis for other more specific standards for quality management in the automotive industry, the medical device industry, and the aerospace industry.

Now this approach has been taken for Food Safety Management. 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 into the quality management system. The resulting standard is ISO 22000. Many companies will find parts of this document very familiar. If your organization uses a HACCP system, you will be building from that foundation. If your organization is ISO 9001 registered you will add HACCP into that system.