There are mandatory minimum food safety standards to prevent foodborne illnesses and ensure consumer safety. In Australia, they’re enforced by local government and State or Territory food regulatory authorities. Non-compliance can lead to legal action, fines and/or business closure.
These requirements apply to all food businesses.
HACCP certification is a voluntary third-party certification which demonstrates a preventative approach to controlling food safety risks in production processes. HACCP is often used in addition to regulatory compliance to meet customer or market expectations.
HACCP certification is optional, but it’s regarded as being good practice for all food businesses.
You can download a copy of the General Principles of Food Hygiene that include the HACCP Principles from this link to the FAO website.
GFSI is a private, industry-driven initiative that benchmarks and recognises global food safety certification programmes such as BRCGS, SQF & FSSC 22000 to ensure that they meet equivalent expectations for food safety management.
These voluntary schemes cover comprehensive food safety management systems, incorporating HACCP, quality management, prerequisite programs, supplier management, traceability, training, food fraud vulnerability and food defence.
GFSI certifications are globally regarded as being best practice.
You’ll need to meet regulatory compliance, but you should also consider gaining HACCP certification as a preventative food safety measure.
HACCP certification can strengthen your internal processes, open up new market opportunities and prepare your business for future growth.
You’ll obviously need to meet regulatory requirements and it’s likely that you’ll also need a GFSI certification to access global markets and/or meet customer requirements.
If you gain a GFSI certification, you won’t need a separate HACCP system because all the requirements of HACCP are covered by the much more sophisticated GFSI certifications.
If you’re an export business you will need to meet the regulatory requirements in the country of manufacture and the requirements in the intended country of sale.
There are two different types of GFSI programmes: Prescriptive Standards & Management Systems.
FSSC 22000 is a management system scheme built on the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Systems, sector-specific Prerequisite Programs (PRPs) and the FSSC Additional Requirements providing a systematic, risk-based approach to food safety.
Often your customer will actually specify which particular certification you’re required to have in order to supply them. Otherwise;
Some food safety consultants use pre-written, generic or industry specific templates when implementing basic food safety systems (like HACCP). Often these template based systems will then be ‘certified’ in-house, by the very same business who wrote the food safety system. This technique makes the process quick, simple & relatively inexpensive for the client.
The result is often just minimum compliance. But, for many businesses, especially very small ones, this is all they want and will possibly ever need.
While the template approach is generally quick & relatively inexpensive to implement, these systems often lack the expected rigour, intricate detail & essence of what the food operation actually does. If this is the case, there’s a real risk that the business will fail to meet the expected standards in the longer term.
Often template based systems miss out on the many benefits which a well thought out, customised food safety system can deliver to the business and it’s employees. For example, systems ‘created’ in isolation can often lack any real ownership by the employees or management, resulting in low levels of interest in maintaining or improving the system.
If the templates are not business-specific and properly implemented, the resulting food safety system may end up actually costing the food business more in the long run.
We feel that having a strong food safety culture within food businesses and a food safety system that works to the benefit of your business, is critical.
Having a customised system, developed with the active contribution & involvement from management and employees can have a multitude of benefits. There’s generally a much higher level of system ownership and employee engagement, while also encouraging more critical interrogation of your internal processes.
We believe that your food safety system should reflect exactly what your business does, what it needs to do and nothing that it doesn’t, hence the need for a customised solution.
All our clients share our desire for excellence and understand the value of having a strong focus on food safety within their business.
Being satisfied with minimum food safety compliance is simply not in the best interests of your food business, your brands, or your customers in the long term.
We can design a system from scratch, or completely revise your existing food safety system to provide a systematic, compliant program, fully customised and specifically aligned to your business.
Before we start, we’ll work with you to fully understand your business goals, resourcing, processes, team dynamic and any specific requests your customers may have made.
We deliver concise, fit for purpose and user friendly documentation that accurately reflects your unique operations while demonstrating your commitment to food safety.
We’ll work alongside your team and conduct training where necessary to ensure that the implementation of the system is a smooth transition and make sure everyone is confident with any process changes.
While we focus on developing your own in-house capability, we’re always available to provide timely ongoing support and advice as needed. We’re happy to be present at your certification audit to make sure the process is as stress free for your team as possible.
Recently we’ve developed an FSSC 22000 food safety system for a large regional business who supplies specialty grains directly into food manufacturing.
We’ve also developed HACCP compliant systems for two innovative start up businesses producing novel foods.
In addition, we’ve designed and developed food safety systems to meet ISO 22000 requirements for a grain commodity trader and a BRCGS food safety system for a milling business.
Drawing on our expertise in HACCP, BRCGS, FSSC22000, retailer & regulatory requirements, we’ll identify exactly what you need to reach your business goals.
We’ll review your existing food safety system to identify the gaps that need to be addressed to meet regulatory requirements and all the criteria of your new standard.
We’ll update & customise your food safety system so that it meets all the regulatory, industry best practice guidelines or criteria for certification standards.
We’ll provide customised in-house training for your team to make sure everyone’s up to speed and can confidently demonstrate compliance during an audit.
We’re always available to support you and your team. We’ll be there to help you through your first audit and we’re always only ever a phone call away.
