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Whitepaper - BRC Issue8 - US - Letter PDF
Whitepaper - BRC Issue8 - US - Letter PDF
CONTENTS
Introduction 4
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
INTRODUCTION
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is a retail trade membership organisation whose mission is
to make a positive difference to the retail industry and to the customers it serves. It does this by
leading the industry and working with its members to shape debates and influence issues and
opportunities.
The BRC Global Standard is a leading safety and quality certification programme used by over
23,000 certified suppliers in 123 countries. There are five BRC Standards including three for
manufacturing, plus BRC Food, BRC Packaging, and BRC Consumer Products. These are in
addition to BRC Storage and Distribution and BRC Agents and Brokers. The BRC Global Standard
for Food Safety is the leading third-party certification standard worldwide with over 18,500
certified manufacturing sites.
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
•
Utilities, use of water, ice, steam, etc.
•
Equipment
•
Maintenance
•
Staff facilities
•
Chemical and foreign body control. For example, metal detection, x-rays, optical
sorting, magnets, etc.
• Hygiene and housekeeping: the auditor will want to see a shift change over or
production startup on day two. They may also ask to see inside equipment which is
not in use but is clean and ready for use.
• Waste disposal
• Management of surplus food and products for animal feed: this is a new section
recognising that surplus may be given to food banks or sold for animal feed.
• Pest management: frequency of inspections needs to be based on risk, and an
annual detailed inspection is required. Staff need to be trained to spot the signs
of pest activity and be aware of the need to report evidence to the designated
manager.
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
Section 7: Personnel
This section includes requirements on the following:
• Training and competency assessment for staff and agency staff
• Personal hygiene rules
• Medical screening for employees, agency staff and visitors
• Requirements for protective clothing
Subscription to BRC Participate, the BRC’s online subscription service, which will provide sites
with access to all BRC Standards, guidance documents, and webinars. The website contains a
lot of useful materials to help sites prepare for certification. Some of the guidance documents
provide examples of how to set out the risk assessments required in the Standard.
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
Audit Options
Food manufacturers can opt for full certification which involves an announced audit and a fully
unannounced audit. ADDITIONAL
• Announced audit: the site and the certification body agree the date of the MODULES
date of the audit in advance. Issue 8 maintains the principles
• Unannounced audit: the audit date is not communicated to the site in developed in Issue 7, to enable the
advance of the audit. incorporation of additional modules.
There has been an increasing interest in unannounced audits among specifiers during the These allow sites to elect to include
lifetime of Issue 7 as this has been seen to provide a greater confidence in the food safety additional requirements with their audit
management systems and encourage the development of a site’s wider food safety culture. to meet particular customer, regional or
The unannounced programme remains voluntary but provides added confidence in certification scheme needs and reduce the number
to customers and creates marketing benefits where sites achieve the top BRC grade of AA+. of site audits. BRC Global Standards
will continue to develop such modules
Changes to the Audit Requirements in response to market needs and make
these available via the website.
BRC Food Issue 8 sees the following changes within the audit requirements:
Food Safety Culture
•
Food safety culture is a fundamental factor in the management of product safety.
•
Although challenging to audit, it is important that food safety culture is considered
within a site and therefore within the requirements of the Standard.
• Sites shall plan to maintain and develop product safety and quality culture within the
business.
Reporting Issues
• Product safety is the responsibility of all staff – not just a select few.
• Therefore, all staff need to know how to report concerns and incidents.
Printed or Electronic?
Standard permits both hard copy and electronic files, documents, and records – it is not
prescriptive. Where documents are stored in electronic form these shall also be stored securely
(e.g. with authorised access, control of amendments, or password protected) and backed up to
prevent loss.
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
Internal Audits
Clause 3.4.1 amended to make sure that the safety management systems are being assessed in
depth at regular intervals – at least four audit dates per year.
Supplier Approval
• Safety, integrity, legality and quality of raw materials are fundamental to the site’s
operations.
• GFSI benchmarking
• All of the requirements are reviewed and updated to ensure rigorous control controls
of raw materials whilst maintaining practical application.
Incident Management
• The incident management plan and procedures must be capable of addressing all
types of incident.
• Effective communication is vital. Clause 3.11.1 is updated to include ‘failure of, or
attacks against, digital cyber security.’ Significant food safety incidents (including
product recalls & regulatory food safety non-conformity) must be communicated to
your certification body.
Environmental Monitoring
BRC Food Issue 8 introduces an important tool for identifying potential contamination risks.
Sites are to develop a rigorous monitoring programme, enabling timely corrective action before
product contamination occurs. Monitoring of all factory production areas as a minimum area
with open, ready-to-eat products. Risk-based programme should be developed, and pathogens,
spoilage organisms, and/or indicator organisms should be considered.
Pest Management
Requirements are amended from ‘control’ to ‘management’. Birds must not enter buildings or
roost in loading/unloading areas.
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BRC GLOBAL STANDARD FOR FOOD SAFETY ISSUE 8
Cooking Instructions
• Vital on pack information for consumers – consumers expect and need a consistently safe product
• Cooking instructions can affect Production Risk Zones:
- Where provided – i.e. not mandatory to have cooking instructions
- Fully validated instructions
Pet Food
Pet food is within the scope of the Standard-animal feed is not. GFSI benchmarking introduced three new
requirements for pet food (not applicable for human food).
Unannounced audits
The option 2 unannounced audit (two-part audit) has consistently proven to be unpopular, with very few sites
selecting this audit. It was therefore necessary to review the audit options.
•
The unannounced audit programme remains voluntary and sites can still continue to opt for an
announced or unannounced audit.
• Option 2 unannounced audits have been removed, simplifying the options to just announced or
unannounced.
Interim Reporting
• Following each audit an interim report shall be available on the BRC Directory within 10 calendar
days.
• Contents strictly limited to date of audit, details of the audit scope and the non-conformities found.
• Final audit report will still be available after 42 days – this is currently being designed.
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With over 1,000 laboratories and offices in over 100 countries worldwide, we
offer genuinely global supply chain solutions. Our leading inspection, supervision,
testing and auditing services can be integrated to guarantee the safety, quality
and integrity of production and distribution methods. Our experts on the ground
give you the benefit of local knowledge, while our global coordination team can
monitor services along your entire supply chain, anywhere in the world.
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