3 steps to Food Safety Certification:
Does your business need food safety certification?
To become Food Safety certified, beginning with legislation here are the 3 main steps you need to follow.
1. Obtain a R638 COA
To get your Food Safety Certification First, you must comply with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements – this includes local municipality by-laws. In South Africa, if you prepare, transport, handle or sell food, you must comply with Government Regulation 638 (R638) which prescribes the minimum hygiene requirements for a food premises.
The R638 regulates many different aspects from layout & construction of the facility to hygienic levels (micro testing & swabbing). The importance of traceability, staff training and record-keeping is also emphasized.
The R638 mandates that all food premises must obtain a Certificate of Acceptability (COA) through application to their local municipality. The person that is named on the COA will be held responsible should any of the requirements laid out in the regulation not be met.
2. Implement Food Safety Standards
Once the COA is obtained, additional food safety standards must be implemented. Prerequisite programmes (PRP) (also known as GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices)/ GHP (Good Hygienic Practices) expand upon the requirements laid out in the R638 and add-in directions for managing suppliers, outsourced activities, emergency preparedness, internal audits and Food Defence.
In South Africa, the national PRP standard is SANS 10049. This is applicable to all food and beverages handling activities from food manufacturing and food contact packaging manufacturing to restaurants, retailers, distribution centres and transport vehicles.
Alternatively, businesses can opt for ISO 22002-100 which is part of an international sector-specific ISO series.
Once your PRPs have been fully established, a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) system is implemented. This enable you to identify, evaluate and control significant hazards for consumer safety. In South Africa, the national standard for HACCP is SANS 10330.
All standards must be purchased from the SABS webstore and licensed to an individual/ company.
3. Undertake a Compliance or Certification Audit
As your organization enters the retail market, you will find additional requirements for your business to undertake an audit and become food safety certified. This is a process wherein your PRP and HACCP system (collectively known as your Food Safety Management System) is sampled and verified against a compliance or certification audit scheme.
In South Africa, many retailers ask for GFSI Intermediate, FSA or the FSSC Development Program as a minimum audit scheme requirement. These are compliance audits based on criteria established by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
Depending on your product, customers and export requirements, you may be required to undergo an internationally recognized certification audit such as FSSC 22000.
With many different audit schemes to choose from, best practice is to find out what level of certification your current customers and potential future markets require before preparing for an audit.
Q Systems assists businesses of all sizes and complexities (from SME’s to corporates) in
the implementation and maintenance of a Food Safety Management System to achieve
their chosen level of compliance (GFSI Intermediate; FSA; FSSC Development Program) or certification (HACCP; FSSC 22000; ISO 22000)
Food Safety Management System implementation process:
Q Systems Food Safety Management System (FSMS) implementation process is typically divided into five phases.
A client can choose to enter or exit the process at any stage.
1. Gap Analysis
Q Systems will conduct an audit of your premises, documentation and operation. A report on the findings will be documented and a strategy developed to formulate initial recommendations on the way forward for your business.
This will enable a client to decide whether to proceed with implementing a system; which system to select; and what level of assistance the client requires from Q Systems. This can range from simply addressing the findings, or implemention of a full management system.
2. Proposal
At this phase a formal proposal is drafted incorporating costings, an indication of timing and Q Systems terms and conditions.
3. FSMS Implementation & Training
The objective of this phase is to progress the organisation to the point where the management system is implemented and operational, ready to produce records and evidence.
Q Systems will provide FSMS documentation and templates to be customised to the specific processing nature of the client.
Training of management and operational staff will be a key component so they can support the implementation of the management system.
4. Verification of the management system.
This phase is necessary to progress the organisation to the point of readiness for external compliance or certification.
A new food safety system will require at least 3 months worth of operational records and evidence before an audit. Q Systems can assist clients in engaging a certification body.
A short time before the external audit, we can verify the effectiveness of the implementation of the management system by conducting an internal audit to identify areas where the system needs improvement.
5. Post-certification audit close-out
Q Systems will advise the organisation on how to close-out findings and strategies to improve the system’s ability to mitigate risks in the future.
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