Food-Safety Management: ISO 22000 To Be Revised
By Melissa Lind, contributing writer
ISO 22000, an international standard for food-safety management, is currently under revision with publication set for 2017. Pet food makers, as well makers of bottled water, are being asked for comments before the revision’s final publication.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a standards agency with 163 member countries. The agency’s food-safety management system, ISO 22000, is intended to be used by international agencies to define the requirements for food-safety management throughout each aspect of the food supply chain. The standard is used in a number of regions worldwide as the official requirement, as not all areas have unique regulations such as FSMA within the U.S. In some cases, U.S. facilities wishing to conduct business in areas adhering to ISO must meet certification requirements.
ISO 22000, first published in 2005 is currently under review for revision to update the standard to comply with new food-safety regulations. The ISO working group (ISO/TC 34/SC 17/WG) in charge of the revision is consulting with members of the food industry to identify and correct gaps in the current version and to clarify confusion language and concepts, while eliminating unnecessary repetition. The group has identified that small- and medium-sized enterprises are still not fully integrated and a limited understanding of risk evaluation may be present with need for improvement. The ISO working group held its most recent meeting in Dublin back in February with plans for its next meeting to be held in Paris in October. A majority of the group’s focus is to provide clarification for key concepts such as Critical Control Points (CCPs). Other issues to be addressed include programs needed for operational standards, risk evaluation approach, product recall and withdrawal, and external control measures.
After revision, ISO 22000 will have updated terms and definitions to provide a more concise and simple standard which is not as prescriptive and ensures greater coverage of small to medium enterprises. It will also follow the same format as other ISO standards with an identical structure in terms, definitions, and common texts, making the standard easier to implement and easing the way for companies desiring ISO certification to different standards, such as ISO 9001. The ISO group believes that a uniform format will ensure cohesiveness between standards and will make it easier for facilities to comply with multiple certification requirements.
Food industry experts are heavily involved in the revision, but the ISO group has also included a number of industry participants including feed producers, pet food manufacturers, regulatory agencies, and other manufacturers whose normal course of business falls within of the scope of the standard. The ISO working group plans to publish a final revised standard in 2017.