MORE
http://www.iso.org/iso/home/news_index/news_archive/news.htm?refid=Ref2075
The consequences of unsafe food can be devastating, both for consumers and businesses worldwide. With many of today’s food products repeatedly travelling across national boundaries, ISO 22000 is more essential than ever to the safety of the global food supply chain. Now the standard is being substantially revised to ensure it stays relevant to modern needs.
After a decade of good service, ISO 22000, the International Standard for food management systems, is undergoing a complete modification to bring it up to date with today’s new food safety requirements. The international working group (ISO/TC 34/SC 17/WG 8) in charge of the revision.
The standard is now at the Committee Draft (CD) stage and experts worked hard to sift through the more than 1 000 comments collated by DS on the draft standard. The agenda at the Buenos Aires meeting was to work through the various comments and incorporate them into the document. Simultaneously, WG 8 had to clarify certain key concepts. These included:
Applying ISO’s new High-Level Structure (HLS) to ISO 22000, which is now mandatory when drafting or revising management system standards (MSS). The new structure sets a framework that makes it easier for businesses to integrate more than one MSS at a given time.
Providing users of ISO 22000 with a new understanding of the different risk-based approaches. The “risk” concept is used in various ways and it is important for food businesses to distinguish between hazard assessment at the operational level, through the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), and the business risk where opportunities also form part of the concept.
Providing further clarification on how the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle works by including two separate PDCA cycles in the standard, that operate one inside the other. The first will apply to the management system while the second, within it, addresses the operations described in Clause 8, which simultaneously cover the HACCP principles defined by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
Giving users a clear description of the differences between Critical Control Points (CCPs), Operational Prerequisite Programmes (OPRPs) and Prerequisite Programmes (PRPs).
