ISO 22000: Developing and Implementing a

Food Safety Management System (FSMS)

ISO 22000 is a standard that defines and specifies requirements for developing and
implementing a food safety management system (FSMS). It maps out what an organization
needs to do to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that
food is safe.

ISO 22000 aims to achieve international harmonization leading to greater food safety throughout the supply chain across borders

As many of today’s food products repeatedly cross national boundaries, international standards
are needed to ensure the safety of the global food supply chain. ISO 22000, formally titled Food
safety management systems – Requirements aims to achieve international harmonization leading
to greater food safety throughout the supply chain across borders for any organization in the food
chain. It was first published on September 2005 by the International Organization for
Standardization.

This International Standard is intended to address only those aspects concerning food safety.
However, because of its approach, it can also be used to organize and respond to other food
specific aspects (e.g. ethical issues and consumer awareness). ISO 22000 can be closely
incorporated with the quality management system of ISO 9001, but unlike ISO 9001, the
standard is a more procedurally oriented guidance than a principle based one. This standard’s main
objectives are to:

Ensure consumer protection and strengthen their confidence,

Strengthen food safety,
Encourage cooperation between industries and governments, and
 Improve cost performance throughout the food supply chain.

An organization that decides to adopt ISO 22000 as the guideline for their FSMS will show their customers that they are able to consistently provide
safe food, thus increasing their confidence in the product.

As with other International Standards, all the requirements of ISO 22000 are generic and apply to
all organizations, large or small, operating within the food supply chain (familiarly speaking, from
farm to fork). An organization that decides to adopt ISO 22000 as the guideline for their FSMS
will show their customers that they are able to consistently provide safe food, thus increasing their
confidence in the product. By aligning to ISO 22000 an organization will be able to:

Plan, implement, operate, maintain and update an effective FSMS.

Provide products that are safe and increase customer satisfaction.
Demonstrate compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
Effectively communicate issues relating to food safety to their suppliers, customers
and stakeholders in the food chain.
Demonstrate such conformity to relevant stakeholders.
Improve the use of resources and increase profits.

The latest version of this standard is ISO 22000:2005, however it is currently under review and the
new revision is scheduled to be published in 2018. The ISO 22000 family includes several
standards, each with a specific focus on the management of food safety, these are:

ISO 22004:2014 provides generic advice on the application of ISO 22000

ISO 22005:2007 focuses on traceability in the feed and food chain
ISO/TS 22002-1:2009 contains specific prerequisites for food manufacturing
ISO/TS 22002-2:2013 contains specific prerequisites for catering
ISO/TS 22002-3:2011 contains specific prerequisites for farming
ISO/TS 22002-4:2013 contains specific prerequisites for food packaging manufacturing
ISO/TS 22003:2013 provides guidelines for audit and certification bodies
ISO 22000 is also used in the Food Safety Systems Certification (FSSC) scheme FS22000, which
is a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) approved scheme. Organizations seeking demonstrate
conformance with ISO 22000, can do so by performing a self-assessment or self-declaration of
conformity or obtaining a certification by an external body.