CONCEPTS

 

PREREQUISITES

The prerequisites are the basic requirements for implementing HACCP present in Reg.852/2004 and many of them based on the alimentarius codex and imply:

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• Infrastructure and equipment

• pest control

• Training and awareness

• Prevention of Cross Contamination

• supplier control

• water control

• temperature control

• Sanitation

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To learn more about Prerequisites, consult the following documents:

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Regulation 852/2004concerning the hygiene of foodstuffs

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Regulation 852/2004- consolidated version (with changes)

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The legislation derives from good practices, some of which are made available in sectoral guides, codes of good practice, etc.

O codexalimentarius belonging to FAO is responsible for issuing these sectoral standards/codes. There are many with the best known being o CXC 1-1969 - General Principles of Food Hygiene revised in 2020.

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Original version:     Codex Alimentarius  CXC 1-1969-_cc781bbde-351-5cGeneral Principles of Food Hygiene

PT-BR Version: (Unofficial Free Translation provided by the portalefood team)

 

Translation carried out in a collaborative way and promoted by the e-food Portal, with the participation of professionals: Camila Miret, Cinthia Palhares, Ellen Lopes, Fabrício Miguel Farinassi, Gabriela Alves, Ialy Barros, Luciana Salles, Natália Lima and Walderez Pinho. Download here:

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Docero.com  or  https://portefood.com.br

 

More info at:

http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/codes-of-practice/en/

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HACCP

 

HACCP is an internationally recognized acronym for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point.

This control methodology implies that the organization has a solid prerequisite management system.

HACCP can also be subject to certification, known as Codex certification.

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STANDARDS

 

Standards are voluntary and much more demanding than legal requirements, with some focusing on requirements that later normally become mandatory. Some of which are:

• allergen management

• Management of breakable materials

• food defense

• Food Fraud

• Risk assessment of raw materials

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TYPES OF STANDARDS

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WHAT ARE THE MAIN RULES?

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Food safety standards can be divided into two main groups, those that are or are not accepted by theGFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative). The GFSI is a private organization that approves food safety standards very targeted at the retail market. The working groups are made up of major retailers such as Carrefour, Lidl, Auchan, Tesco, Metro, Aldi, Casino Guichard-Perrachon, etc.

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As it is not accepted, we have ISO22000 now in its 2018 version, but as accepted we have IFS, GlobalGap, BRC, FSSC22000 among others.

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ISO 22000

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International standard launched in 2005, the most certified food safety benchmark in the world. It is a management system and as such implies a continuous improvement of food safety and is in line with ISO 9001, the most globally certified Quality Management System standard. 

Due to the fact that the Prerequisites are not sufficiently specified it was not accepted by the GFSI. The new version ISO2200:2018 is already in force although it does not yet exist in Portuguese.

This standard to be purchased in Portuguese (2005 version only)  in its original version will have to be purchased at the Instituto Português da Qualidade online store www.ipq.pt  (40€)

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Standard structure query in English here

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ISO22000 (Download Draft of the Brazilian version (2019) here)

ISO22000:2018 Version EN here

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FSSC 22000

Since ISO 22000 was not accepted by the GFSI, the need was felt to specify in more detail the requirements for the Pre-Requirements (Pest Control, Water Quality, Personal Hygiene, etc). Therefore, it is a reference formed by several standards depending on the sector, and ISO22000 is always present. Certification to FSSC22000 always implies certification to ISO22000. The great novelty of this benchmark is that in a three-year cycle, at least one unannounced audit is mandatory, having been the first benchmark to adopt this requirement. It consists of3 partsthis way:

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1st part  -  (Paid Standard)

 ISO22000 (Download Draft of the Brazilian version (2019) here)

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2nd part - (Paid Documents)

      ISO TS 22002-1  (Indústria) - Download here

      ISO TS 22002-2 (Catering)

      ISO TS 22002-3 (Agriculture)

      ISO TS 22002-4 (Food packaging manufacturers)

      ISO TS 22002-5 (Food for consumption and companion animals)

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​3rd part

 + Additional requirements (available on the FSSC22000 website for free - cclick here) 

​Learn more in these articles fromLRQAandFoodsafetybrazil.org

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BRCGS

Recently known like BRCGS, is known normally like BRC because they were the previous abbreviations of the organism. Holder of quality and food safety standards developed by the British Retail Consortium - United Kingdom together with the large distribution groups, also included in the GFSI. It is a certification that continues to grow, but essentially aimed at the British market, and can be applied from the producer to the carrier. Recently, the American market is also pressing for the implementation of this benchmark. There are the following standards (click on the standard to learn more):

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• BRCGS Food: Manufacturing. Ex: Fruit Stations, Cheese Shops, Wineries, Pastry Shops,  etc.

• BRCGS Packaging and Packaging Materials:  Packaging material Ex: Packaging manufacturers 

• BRCGS Storage and Distribution: Storage and distribution Ex: Warehousing and Transporters

• BRCGS Agents and Brokers: Commercialization without manipulation Ex: Importer  / exporter

• BRCGS Consumer Products:Non-food products for domestic use Ex: creams, towels, cosmetics, personal hygiene, household appliances, furniture, etc.

• BRCGS Retail: Retailers with one or more sites

 

All standards are free and can be downloaded as a pdf from the website: https://www.brcgsbookshop.com/

 

More information about BRCGS standards: https://www.brcgs.com/

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You can find out which companies are certified on the brc database website: https://directory.brcgs.com/

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IFS

The International Featured Standard (IFS) Food is a benchmark recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) to certify the safety and quality of food products and processes. It is the benchmark that has been most demanded in the Portuguese market due to requirements such as the supermarket chain  Lidl. As a rule that originated in Germany, France and Italy and for this reason facilitates access to these markets. The most applied standard is IFS FOOD now in its 6.1 version. Basically, both requirements and standards are similar between BRCGS and IFS as can be analyzed:

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• IFS Food: manufacture. Ex: Fruit Stations, Cheese Shops, Wineries, Pastry Shops,  etc.

• IFS PACsecure:  Packaging material Ex: Packaging manufacturers 

• IFS Logistics: Storage and distribution Ex: Warehousing and Transporters

• IFS Broker : Commercialization without manipulation Ex: Importer  / exporter

• IFS HPC:Non-food products for domestic use Ex: creams, towels, cosmetics, personal hygiene, household appliances, furniture, etc.

• IFS Wholesale / Cash & Carry:Retailers with one or more sites

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All standards are free and can be downloaded as a pdf from the website: https://www.ifs-certification.com/index.php/en/standards

 

It is not possible to access the list of certified companies without login, which is only provided in the organization's certification process, however there are already more than 16,000 companies certified globally.

 https://www.ifs-certification.com/index.php/en/tools/ifs-database

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GLOBALG.AP

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It is a global organization with a crucial objective: safe and sustainable agriculture worldwide.

They are the most certified references of good practices in primary production, that is, it implies that the certificate covers the entire production of the product.

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The GLOBALG.AP certification includes the following requirements:

• Food safety and traceability

• Environment

• Health, safety and well-being of workers

• Animal welfare

• Integrated Crop Management (ICM)

• HACCP

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ARTICLES / PAPERS

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​Learn more in these articles/papers:

• SGS

• Foodsafetybrazil.org

• vexillum

• FDA - Food Defense

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More articles:

Top 7 reasons for nonconformities in BRC Audits​

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SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

With each version of the rules, new requirements emerge that have to be fulfilled, either arising from good practices or from less positive events such as the horse meat hamburger scandal or the addition of melamine to milk._cc781905-5cde-3194- bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ Here are some of the specific themes of the food safety references:

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FOOD FRAUD (FOOD FRAUD)