50th Irish food business achieves globally recognised standard
The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has announced that it has now certified more than fifty companies in Ireland to an international certification scheme for food safety management systems. FSSC 22000 is an ISO based certification scheme for food safety management systems that is recognised internationally and benchmarked by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
NSAI is Ireland’s official standards body and is also the only Irish-based certification body for FSSC 22000. It is currently supporting Irish food firms across the entire supply chain that are working to achieve certification, such as ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, packaging companies, storage and distribution companies.
To achieve certification to FSSC 22000, a company must have its food safety practices designed, documented, implemented, and managed to maintain reliable processes and conditions for producing safe food. The food safety management system and facilities are then audited by an NSAI team of experienced, Irish-based auditors leading to the issue of a three-year certificate. Annual surveillance audits are carried out, with re-certification taking place every three years.
Dr Chris Thomas, Food Technical Specialist at NSAI, said: “Getting certified to international standards, such as FSSC 22000, reduces barriers to trade and helps Irish food firms compete for business around the world. It demonstrates that a business has taken full ownership of their food safety responsibilities from conducting comprehensive food safety risk assessments to implementing control, monitoring and verification systems that are independently verified.”
He added:“Taking this approach prepares a food business to take on everyday challenges. It also enables them to take up the opportunities that come from being part of the world-renowned Irish food industry.”
The 50th company to have achieved certification to FSSC 22000 with NSAI is Key Ingredients Europe Ltd, based in Limerick. It develops and supplies seasoning blends for the food industry and was set up in Annacotty ten years ago.
The Quality Manager with Key Ingredients, Caroline Duffy, said: “Having this type of certification in place gives us the flexibility to design and implement hazard management controls that are specific to our business and meet our customer needs and expectations. We also have the confidence that our food safety management system is robust and is also benchmarked against the highest standards in the industry.”
More information about the FSSC 22000 certification scheme is available from NSAI’s website at NSAI.ie.
