ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Systems

A major resulting benefit is that ISO 22000 will make it easier for organizations worldwide to implement the Codex HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) system for food hygiene in a harmonized way, which does not vary with the country or food product concerned.

Another benefit of ISO 22000 is that it extends the successful management system approach of the ISO 9001:2000 quality management system standard which is widely implemented in all sectors but does not itself specifically address food safety. The development of ISO 22000 was based on the assumption that the most effective food safety systems are designed, operated and continually improved within the framework of a structured management system, and incorporated into the overall management activities of the organization.

While ISO 22000 can be implemented on its own, it is designed to be fully compatible with ISO 9001:2000 and companies already certified to ISO 9001 will find it easy to extend this to certification to ISO 22000. To help users to do so, ISO 22000 includes a table showing the correspondence of its requirements with those of ISO 9001:2000.

The standard has been developed within ISO by experts from the food industry, along with representatives of specialized international organizations and in close cooperation with the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the body jointly established by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAQ) and World Health Organization (WHO) to develop food standards.