Today more than ever, food products regularly cross national boundaries at every stage of the supply chain. ISO International Standards create confidence in the products we eat or drink by ensuring the world uses the same recipe when it comes to food quality, safety and efficiency. ISO’s standards provide a platform for developing practical tools through common understanding and cooperation with all stakeholders on board – from agricultural producers, to food manufacturers, laboratories, regulators, consumers, etc. Out of more than 19 000 ISO International Standards, some 1 000 are specifically dedicated to food, and deal with subjects as diverse as agricultural machinery, logistics, transportation, manufacturing, labelling, packaging and storage.ISO 22000:2005 specifies requirements for a food safety management system where an organization in the food chain needs to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe at the time of human consumption.

It is applicable to all organizations, regardless of size, which are involved in any aspect of the food chain and want to implement systems that consistently provide safe products. The means of meeting any requirements of ISO 22000:2005 can be accomplished through the use of internal and/or external resources.

ISO 22000:2005 specifies requirements to enable an organization

-- to plan, implement, operate, maintain and update a food safety management system aimed at providing products that, according to their intended use, are safe for the consumer,

-- to demonstrate compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory food safety requirements,

-- to evaluate and assess customer requirements and demonstrate conformity with those mutually agreed customer requirements that relate to food safety, in order to enhance customer satisfaction,

-- to effectively communicate food safety issues to their suppliers, customers and relevant interested parties in the food chain,

-- to ensure that the organization conforms to its stated food safety policy,

-- to demonstrate such conformity to relevant interested parties, and

-- to seek certification or registration of its food safety management system by an external organization, or make a self-assessment or self-declaration of conformity to ISO 22000:2005.

Safer food, better business

Safer food, better business (SFBB) is an innovative and practical approach to food safety management. It has been developed to help small businesses put in place food safety management procedures and comply with food hygiene regulations.