Quality Systems Accreditation

Quality assurance systems are more than just carrying a clipboard.
Copyright: Valeriy Lebedev

Quality systems accreditation is a way of adding confidence in your business when it comes to managing documentation relating to food health and safety and your management of this as a business.

Food manufacturers can obtain national/international accreditation by obtaining  a suitable quality standard. It helps when faced with rising competition, improving profit margins, meeting food safety legislation and establishing presence in the marketplace.  Having a quality standard is a statement of intent – it lets the customer know the business is serious about meeting a particular requirement. Quality standards are comprehensively documented for quality and food safety which is acquired via an objective, third party assessment based on their validation and verification of the business. It always involves an inspection process   and rigorous audit. Operating a food safety management system highlights the business’ commitment to continuously improving its effectiveness and its due diligence.

A variety of food standards and accreditation can be sought:-

ISO9001:2000 series – a family of standards that serve as framework within a QMS (Quality Management System). ISO9000 is most well known and understood internationally.

ISO22000  is the Food Safety Management Standard. It is based on ISO9000 but supersedes it by enabling a food business to demonstrate greater compliance with safety legislation. It includes HACCP, prerequisites, all within a system management framework.

British Retail Consortium ([BRC](www.brc.org.uk) – the trade association that produces Food Technical Standards and Protocols for food suppliers, collectively available as the BRC Global Standards. It is increasingly sought by food businesses demonstrating that they produce and package food using principles of risk-based management, reporting and audited competency. A third party auditor assigns the Certification to the Global Standard.

European Food Safety Inspection Service (EFSIS):- the leading global inspection and certification service which assesses quality assurance against the various standards.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)- the Consumer Goods Forum (www.mygfsi.com) promotes convergence of the various food safety standards globally to minimise audit duplication. It assesses the five main food safety standards for the IFS (International Food Standard), BRC, Dutch HACCP, SQF (Safe Quality Food) and the FSSC2000 (Food Safety System Certification, 2000).

The Safe and Local Supplier Approval scheme (SALSA):- the latest  budget form of accreditation but has not lost any of its rigorousness which is intended for small food producers where the BRC Global Standard is not warranted. It is funded by Defra and supported by the Food Standards Agency.  It was introduced  because for its cheapness and to minimise the level of resource needed to implement it. Possessing this accreditation means small businesses are able to supply local retailers/caterers directly.

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1 Comment

  1. Really useful item. I thought this was not going to be that useful but it works well with my exam revision notes. You always seem to have really useful stuff for students which makes a change from some of the stuff we get in lectures. UKAS have some good material on their site as well.

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