ISO 22000 Food Safety Policy
ISO 22000 represents a set of food safety management standards published by the International Organization for Standardization. This non-governmental organization, based in Geneva Switzerland, aims at harmonizing industry standards at a global scale. ISO 22000 came out in 2005 to guide the food industry with producing, distributing and trading safe foods internationally. ISO 22000 encourages the implementation of a Food Safety Management System (FSMS) within each corporation playing a role in the handling of food.
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Context
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The industry leverages climate opportunities to provide supplies of seasonable products 365 days a year. Food has become a conveyor channel of food-related diseases that cross the borders of countries that are thought to have a good handle of food safety within their country. Processing steps between the raw food and the table where consumers digest the food include many points where contamination may invade the food inadvertently.
Compelling Need
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The World Health Assembly stated in 2000 that food safety has become an essential health function. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention paints a concerning outlook with more than 75 millions of Americans experiencing food related illnesses each year, five thousand of them dying from their sickness. Some of the more recent scares include E. coli contamination of spinach and salmonella infection of tainted peanut butter.
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History
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The Pillsbury Company pioneered the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) food management system in 1959 for the manned space programs to produce food that would remain intact in a zero gravity environment and would comply with strict bacteria and pathogen control requirements. During the 1990s, European countries and the United States evolved the HACCP principles and developed their own national food safety systems supplemented with advice from non-governmental groups such as the National Food Processors Association. ISO stepped in to provide an overarching umbrella to harmonize the various systems.
Requirements
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ISO 22000:2005 represents the latest version applying to all organizations involved in animal or food chain from first suppliers all the way to distribution. These standards call for documented safety goals for the organizations, substantiated with procedures for the receiving, handling, packaging and distribution of the products. They enforce continuous training of personnel to ensure compliance. Furthermore, they request frequent checkpoints in the chain of processing steps to verify the integrity and safety of the food at each stage of manipulation. Immediate corrective actions must be implemented and all appropriate parties informed.
Compliance
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An accreditation firm verifies compliance to ISO 22000:2005. It contracts auditors who review the food chain and analyze documentations, procedures, and control feedback mechanisms. Great attention focuses on management's commitment to endorse food safety throughout the handshakes with business partners. Examiners measure the degree of endorsement to the 22000 principles at all levels of the hierarchy. Auditors scrutinize hazard analyses and preventive measures selected to protect the food. In closure, auditors issue a report that presents areas of disconnects and recommended corrective actions. Upon a positive report, the accreditation firm issues the ISO 22000 certification.
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References
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