FSSC 22000 – Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of FSSC 22000 Certification?

Certification enables manufacturers to focus their Food Safety efforts on scientific and technical advances, and their audit resources on improvement rather than compliance.

As the scheme is based on an ISO standard: 1) it has truly worldwide credibility; and 2) it provides a common language, improving communication across the supply chain.

Why do big companies support FSSC 2000?

Because FSSC 22000 is ISO 17021 based, it allows provision for site sampling, therefore not requiring that all sites are visited with each audit. This allows for cost savings to the large multi-site company.

How do we get started?

We highly recommend that you initiate a relationship with your certification body prior to completing the implementation of your system. This will help you plan for the certification process in terms of budgeting and scheduling. As part of the planning process, we also highly recommend a pre-assessment, both to assess your preparedness and to increase your overall chances of passing your initial certification audit the first time.

How does my company become certified?

You must select a certification body that has accreditation against ISO 17021 and the relevant AB must have an IAF/MLA signatory. The audit team assigned by your certification body will perform a stage 1 and stage 2 audit and after analysis and review of the findings an audit report on the assessment will be issued. When all nonconformities have been answered and accepted, and an Executive Committee approval is obtained, then a certificate will be issued with a validity of three years (every year a surveillance audit will be done in the following two years to maintain certification).