ISO 22000: Requirement, Prerequisite Condition and PDCA Cycle

Posted by Charles Wilson on November 27th, 2023

The existence of food safety dangers at the moment of consumption is the key issue surrounding food safety; these hazards can occur at any stage along the food chain. As a result, proper controls must be in place across the food chain, and all organizations involved must work together to ensure safety.

The following are the major elements of an FSMS, as defined by ISO 22000:

•         Communication that is interactive within the organization
•         System administration, which includes documentation
•         Programs that are required to ensure a clean and sanitary environment
•         HACCP principles, which aid in identifying, preventing, and eliminating food safety concerns

This standard also covered other principles like,

•         Consumer focus
•         Management
•         Enhancement
•         Management of Relationship
•         Participation of individuals
•         Methodological approach
•         Making decisions based on evidence

What Does the ISO 22000 Require?

An FSMS, as defined by ISO 22000, defines a method for managing food safety that is applicable throughout the organization. ISO 22000 processes that an organization may consider include:

•   A comprehensive food safety policy
•   Goals that will motivate the company's efforts to adhere to its policy
•   A management system is planned, designed, and documented.
•   Putting together a trained food safety team and allocating responsibilities
•   Establishing communication protocols for internal communication as well as communication with other parties like customers,    suppliers, and regulatory organizations.
•   A plan for an emergency
•   A strategy for assessing the FSMS's performance regularly.
•   A strategy for providing sufficient resources to enable the FSMS to operate, such as trained and competent personnel,          infrastructure, and a suitable work environment.
•   A strategy for adhering to HACCP principles
•   A system for regulating product nonconformities.
•   A documented procedure for product withdrawal
•   A program for internal auditing
•   A strategy for continuously enhancing the FSMS
•   Prerequisite courses

Prerequisite Conditions of ISO 22000

Organizations seeking ISO 22000 certification must implement precursor programs aimed at reducing the probability of contamination. While ISO outlines key areas and programs that organizations must examine, it does not define each program's exact needs. Instead, each organization will create its programs based on its own needs.

ISO 22000 identifies the following areas for organizations to consider when creating precursor programs:

•   Pest management
•   Food safety, biosecurity, and bioterrorism
•   The design and layout of buildings
•   The cross-contamination avoidance
•   Equipment appropriateness, cleaning, and upkeep
•   Personal hygiene and employee facilities
•   Purchased material management
•   The arrangement of the premises and the workspace
•   Procedures for cleaning and sanitising
•   Product specifications
•   Utilities, such as energy, water, and air
•   Warehousing
•   Waste removal
•   Product recall procedures

The Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle of ISO 22000

Continuous improvement is an important part of ISO management standards. Organizations can use the ISO 22000 plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle to drive this improvement. The PDCA model can be applied to the entire FSMS as well as each of its components. The PDCA method consists of the following steps:

•   Plan – Define the goals of the FSMS and its procedures, allocate the necessary resources, and identify and manage     opportunities and hazards.
•   Do – Put the processes you've planned into action.
•   Check — Monitor the processes and their outcomes, analyse the data gathered as a result of this monitoring, and report the     findings.
•   Act – Put in place measures to improve the efficiency of the processes.

How Punyam.com Can Assist?

Working with any accredited certification authority, Punyam.com, can assist you in obtaining certification, training and improving your organization. Punyam is committed to providing outstanding value and service to those clients while also assisting them in improving their goods and processes.

We can assist you in achieving ISO 22000 certification training in the following ways:

Audits — Offers ISO 22000 audits to assist you in improving your organization and meeting the requirements of the standards to which you are seeking certification.

Gap Analysis — Do a gap analysis to assist you in determining the amount of time and effort required to get ISO 22000 certification and in planning your FSMS.

Shift assistance — Provide tools and evaluations to help your organization shift from ISO 22000:2005 to ISO 22000:2018.

Implementation Guide — If you need assistance getting started or want to ensure you're on the right road, we recently launched our ISO 22000 Implementation Guide.