What To Consider When Choosing A GFSI Recognized Food Safety Management Scheme

By Sam Lewis

Choosing which GFSI benchmarked standard your company should implement can be an intimidating decision. Further, once a recognized scheme is decided upon, preparing for your company’s first audit against those schemes can be unnerving. Here are some considerations for choosing which GFSI benchmark is right for you and preparing for that scheme’s audit.

One of the main reasons food manufacturers and processors are seeking GFSI certifications is their customers, or potential customers, are demanding it. Food companies should investigate which GFSI benchmarked standard(s) their customers require before developing a food safety management system that is not recognized by their current or potential customers.

At a base level, GFSI benchmarked standards are very similar to one another. However, there are distinct differences in the amount of strictness each standard follows, as well as differences in the phases of certification each standard requires. GFSI’s vision is “Safe food for consumers everywhere,” but there are different roads to travel that will lead manufacturers, retailers, and consumers to the end destination of safe food, worldwide. Each relationship between food manufacturer and customer presents unique challenges and it is important for food manufacturers to understand those obstacles so they are able to expand their product portfolio.

Once you know and understand which GFSI requirements are being demanded by your customer(s), you should begin evaluating what needs to be done at your facility to achieve that certification. The resources available and commitment to implement the standards might not align with management objectives, depending on which standard is being adopted. Every GFSI benchmark requires your company to develop and implement a food safety management system (FSMS) to become certified. But, some GFSI schemes go beyond just food safety requirements, extending their reach into both food safety and food quality management systems (FSQMS). Two GFSI standards following these criteria are BRC’s Global Standard for Food Safety and SQF Level Three. Understanding the differences in schemes will help you gauge management commitment, what resources will be required for implementation, how long implementation will take, and any upkeep the system will need once in place.

Check out How Cavalier Candies Achieved Its Level Two SQF Certification

The characteristics of your company also play a big part in determining which GFSI standard is right for your company. When choosing which GFSI standard your company should implement, consider the following:

• What type of operation(s) does your company perform?
• How many locations does your company have?
• What is the physical size of each of your company’s facilities?
• How many employees does your company have?
• Do you produce high-risk or low-risk products?
• How many HACCP plans does your company have?
• What products will be included within your certification?
• Does your company’s staff have the ability to respond to unannounced audits?

Creating, executing, and maintaining a FSMS is a significant financial commitment, and because of this, budgeting for the FSMS is essential. Among these investments include training staff to the selected standard, consultation, assigning responsibilities and time spent to those duties to staff, and the cost of the initial audit. Further, maintaining the selected standard requires ongoing training and this should be incorporated into the financial investment. Finally, you should account for the costs associated with new editions of the standard, annually reviewing the system, revisions and verification of the standard, as well as the cost of annual recertification.

Of course, your company cannot become certified if it isn’t audited by a Certification Body (CB). According to GFSI, “Certification to a GFSI recognized scheme is achieved through a successful third-party audit against any of the schemes listed as being recognized by GFSI. The Certification Bodies are authorized to audit against the recognized scheme through a formal agreement with the Scheme Owner (SO) combined with the scope of their accreditation.” To ensure you are ready for your chosen scheme’s audit, be sure to review the following checklist:

• Is the standard you want to achieve the one that best fits your company and its culture? Are you up-to-date with the most recent version of the standard?
• Is your company’s management committed to implementing and maintaining requirements of that standard?
• Does your company have a HACCP team created from every department of the company, a HACCP team leader, and individuals chosen to lead the food safety team through the chosen FSMS?
• Are the HACCP and food safety management leaders trained to the current version of your chosen GFSI standard?
• Are your HACCP systems’ prerequisite programs — allergen control, internal auditing, Good Manufacturing Practices, etc. — created, implemented, and documented?
• Is there a date set to receive your certification?
• Do your company’s resources allow for the implementation of a successful FSMS meeting the requirements of your chosen standard? If not, do you have a consultant ready to help you meet those requirements?
• Has the food safety team completed internal audits of the FSMS? Are there aspects of the FSMS that may lead to non-compliance (gaps)? If so, are documented corrected actions for them?
• Do you require a third-party, such as a CB, to perform an assessment prior to the audit of the system against the chosen standard?

Ensuring your company is producing safe food is certainly an enormous responsibility. Becoming certified to one of GFSI’s recognized food safety management schemes is one way to help ease that burden. As previously mentioned, the road to becoming certified can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. By understanding what your customers demand, recognizing the needs and characteristics of your company, and preparing your company both culturally and financially for your chosen scheme, you create a much clearer path to producing safe food and achieving your certification.