How to prepare for Food Safety Certification? 

The preparation for food safety certification or accreditation (e.g. BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS or ISO 2200, HACCP, SALSA) involves a structured process to ensure that a food manufacturing or handling facility complies with specific food safety standards and regulations. The steps for preparing for food safety certification typically include: 

1. Choose the Appropriate Certification Standard

Determine which food safety certification standard is most relevant to your business. Some common standards include BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS which is also globally recognised by GFSI. Or some specific standards like ISO 22000, ISO 9001, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), SALSA. The choice of standard may depend on your industry, location, and customer requirements. If you haven’t done any certification before you should comply with legal requirements and always check most up to date information on legal resources like https://www.food.gov.uk/. To be able to grow your business and receive approval from retailers, wholesalers, distributors, you would need to get Food Safety Certification.

• If you are small-medium size business in UK the best will be to apply for SALSA, which is lighter version of BRCGS and then grow towards BRCGS.
• If you are bigger company or your customer’s requirements is GFSI certification you can apply for BRCGS START! which is lighter version of BRCGS Food, where you can choose basic or intermediate level.
• Some of on-line companies like Amazon are required HACCP or GFSI certification.

2. Gather Resources

Allocate the necessary resources, including personnel, time, and budget, to support the certification process. To be able effectively implement the standard requirements, you would need a knowledgeable person. Therefore, you may need to find resource within existing team and organise appropriate training or hire food safety, quality or technical person to be responsible for managing the certification process. Keep in mind, that all team will be involved into the implementation and further maintaining standard process. If hiring new stuff is not within your resources, there is another option available. Based on experience, during standard implementation there are a lot of changes organisation need to go though and the most effective/lower cost way is to hire Food Safety Consultant who specialise to implement standards. This option will give you a ‘taster’ of potentially having a technical employee and what to expect from this addition.

3. Conduct a Gap Analysis

Assess your current food safety practices and systems against the requirements of the chosen certification standard. This gap analysis identifies areas where your organization needs to make improvements to meet the standard’s criteria. Usually within each standard there is a check list available to be able to evaluate, what is needed.

4. Training and Education

Provide training to employees on food safety practices and the specific requirements of the chosen certification standard. Ensure that all relevant staff understand their roles and responsibilities in maintaining food safety. In case of hiring Food Safety Consultant, training process will be better optimised to ensure that implementation and training runs smoothly.

5. Document and Develop Procedures

Create or update documentation for your food safety management system. This includes developing procedures, policies, and records that align with the certification standard’s requirements. Ensure that these documents are accessible to employees. 

6. Implement Food Safety Management Systems

Put in place the necessary systems, processes, and controls to meet the standard’s requirements. This often involves implementing HACCP plans, monitoring critical control points, conducting risk assessments, including your suppliers and establishing corrective and preventive actions.

7. Internal Audits

Conduct internal audits to assess your food safety management system’s effectiveness and identify any non-conformities. Internal audits help ensure that your systems are functioning as intended and allow you to address issues proactively. 

8. Corrective Actions

Address any non-conformities or issues identified during internal audits. Implement corrective actions to resolve problems and prevent their recurrence. 

9. Pre-assessment Audit

Some organizations opt for a pre-assessment audit before the official certification audit. This helps identify any remaining gaps or issues and provides an opportunity to make final adjustments. 

10. Select a Certification Body

Choose a reputable certification body accredited to provide the specific certification you are seeking. Schedule the official certification audit with them. 

11. Certification Audit

The certification body will conduct an on-site audit to evaluate your food safety management system’s compliance with the chosen standard. They will review documentation, interview personnel, and assess the effectiveness of your systems and practices. At the end of the audit, you will receive the report and non-conformances identified. Timing for the reporting may vary depending on Certification Body.

12. Certification Decision

Following the audit, the certification body will make a certification decision. If your organization meets the standard’s requirements, you will receive food safety certification. 

13. Continuous Improvement

After certification, continue to monitor and improve your food safety management system. Conduct regular internal audits and stay updated on changes in regulations and industry best practices. Re-Certification usually will be scheduled on annual basis and depending on the scheme, more and more schemes of certifications are doing unannounced audits when re-certification is taking place.

Food safety certification is an ongoing process, and maintaining certification requires ongoing commitment and diligence. It demonstrates your organization’s dedication to ensuring the safety and quality of food products, building consumer confidence and brand reputation, enhancing market access, meeting regulatory requirements and mitigating risks in food production process. Food safety certification also improves operational efficiency and fostering Food Safety Culture, making it valuable investment for food businesses aiming to drive innovation, enhance product quality, thrive in a competitive and safety-conscious market.