ISO Gives Food Manufacturers New Tool to Control Hazards

ISO/TS 22002-1—“Prerequisite programs on food safety—Part 1: food manufacturing”

Published: Sunday, February 7, 2010 - 15:06

(ISO: Geneva) -- Thousands of food manufacturers worldwide stand to benefit from a newly published document in the ISO 22000 series designed to prevent and control food safety hazards.

ISO technical specification, ISO/TS 22002-1—“Prerequisite programs on food safety—Part 1: food manufacturing,” sets out requirements for prerequisite programs needed to realize safe products and provide food that is safe for human consumption. It is intended to be used in conjunction with and to support ISO 22000, which gives requirements for a food safety management system.

The new technical specification has the potential of being greatly influential since at least 8,206 organizations in 112 countries were independently certified to ISO 22000 at the end of 2008. (This is an increase on the figure announced in “The ISO Survey of Certifications—2008” as recent information has allowed the total for France to be updated from 18 to 122.)

ISO/TS 22002-1 specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, and maintaining prerequisite programs designed to help food manufacturers be able to control:

The likelihood of introducing food safety hazards to the product through the work environment
Biological, chemical, and physical contamination of the product, including cross contamination between products
Food safety hazard levels in the product and product processing environment

“As the introduction of food safety hazards can occur at the manufacturing stage of the food supply chain, a hygienic environment is essential. That is why this ISO technical specification is very useful to reduce the likelihood that products will be exposed to hazards, that they will be contaminated, and that hazards will proliferate,” says Jacob Faergemand, chair of the subcommittee that is responsible for the ISO 22000 series.

The new technical specification applies to all organizations involved in the manufacturing step of the food chain, regardless of size or complexity. It’s not a requirement of ISO 22000 and may be used in parts or in its entirety, depending on the nature of food manufacturing operations.

“ISO 220002-1 is the first technical specification in a series planned for relevant food sector prerequisite program,” says Faergemand. “It is expected that organizations within other parts of the food chain will ask for specific prerequisite program based on the same model. This proves that ISO has now established the structure to help and facilitate the future needs for the worldwide food industry.”

ISO/TS 22002-1 was developed by the ISO technical committee 34, subcommittee 17, which is responsible for management systems for food safety. It is available from ISO national member institutes (see the complete list with contact details).

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ISO

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world’s largest developer and publisher of international standards. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO is a nongovernmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society. View the ISO Standards list.

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