ISO 22000- 2018

Food safety management systems — Requirements for any organization in the food chain

The adoption of a food safety management system (FSMS) is a strategic decision for an organization that can help to improve its overall performance in food safety. The potential benefits to an organization of implementing a FSMS based on this document are:
a) the ability to consistently provide safe foods and products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements;
b) addressing risks associated with its objectives;
c) the ability to demonstrate conformity to specified FSMS requirements.
This document employs the process approach, which incorporates the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle and risk-based thinking.
This process approach enables an organization to plan its processes and their interactions.
The PDCA cycle enables an organization to ensure that its processes are adequately resourced and managed, and that opportunities for improvement are determined and acted on.
Risk-based thinking enables an organization to determine the factors that could cause its processes and its FSMS to deviate from the planned results, and to put in place controls to prevent or minimize adverse effects

FSMS principles
Food safety is related to the presence of food safety hazards at the time of consumption (intake by the consumer). Food safety hazards can occur at any stage of the food chain. Therefore, adequate control throughout the food chain is essential. Food safety is ensured through the combined efforts of all the parties in the food chain. This document specifies the requirements for a FSMS that combines the following generally recognized key elements:
— interactive communication;
— system management;
— prerequisite programmes;
— hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) principles.
In addition, this document is based on the principles that are common to ISO management system standards. The management principles are:

— customer focus;
— leadership;
— engagement of people;

— process approach;
— improvement;
— evidence-based decision making;
— relationship management.