1) HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points) Food Safety Management System
The proactive HACCP Food Safety Management System is based on the CODEX Alimentarius Commission adaptation of the FAO/WHO Guide or guidelines for application of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system, which is by far the most internationally recognized safety and quality assurance system for all food related industries directly in the food chain.
2) ISO 22000 Integrated Food Safety Management System
The Integrated Food Safety Management System specifies requirements for a food safety management system where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that the end products are safe at the time of consumption. It is applicable to all organizations, directly and indirectly in the food chain and regardless of size, which want to implement systems that consistently provide safe products.
The ISO 22000 Integrated Food Safety Management System has been officially published and endorsed as a globally accepted standard for food safety. The ISO 22000 System effectively integrates the principles of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system and application steps and combines it with prerequisite programs (PRP(s)) with due consideration of the provisions of ISO 9001 Quality Management System in order to enhance compatibility of the two standards.
3) BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standard)
The BRCGS which was the first standard to be GFSI (The Global Food Safety Initiative) benchmarked is now in its 9th edition. Certification to the Global Standard was developed to provide a framework to manage food and product safety, integrity, legality and quality, and the operational controls for these criteria in the food and food ingredient manufacturing, processing and the packing industry.
Adopted by over 22,000 sites globally, the Standard provides assurance to your customers, as it allows brand owners to demonstrate good manufacturing practices and quality control, and satisfy legal responsibility for products and consumer safety, as well as reducing audit burden for manufacturers.
4) FSSC 22000 (Food Safety System Certification) Food Safety Management System
Food Safety System Certification 22000 is a new and complete certification scheme that uses the existing standards of ISO 22000, PAS 220 and ISO 22003, which were developed through a wide and open consultation with a variety of organizations.
FSSC 22000 is specifically developed to audit and certify food safety systems of food manufacturers that process or manufacture:
- Perishable animal products (i.e. meat, poultry, eggs, dairy and fish products)
- Perishable vegetal products (i.e. fresh fruits and fresh juices, preserved fruits, fresh vegetables, preserved vegetables)
- products with long shelf life at ambient temperature (i.e. canned products, biscuits, snacks, oil, drinking water, beverages, pasta, flour, sugar, salt)
- (bio) chemical manufacturing (i.e. vitamins, additives and bio-cultures) but excluding technical and technological aids
Quality Management System (ISO 9001) represents an international consensus on good quality management systems and related supporting standards.
The system aims to set out the criteria for a quality management system and can be implemented by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. In fact, ISO 9001 is implemented by over one million companies and organizations in more than 170 countries.
Good Distribution Practice for Medical Devices seek to ensure all products are consistently stored, transported and handled under suitable condition as required by the product specification. In order to provide such assurance, a set of appropriate procedures must be developed and documented, suitably qualified personnel to handle the tasks, and appropriate facilities and equipment be used.
All manufacturers in the cosmetics products industry must manufacture the products so as to ensure that they are fit for their intended use, comply with the requirements of the exporting and importing countries and do not place users and consumers at risk due to inadequate safety, quality or efficacy. To achieve the quality objective reliably, most countries would rely on the PIC/S GMP Guide (Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme) to implement a comprehensive and well-designed implementable system of Quality Assurance Incorporating Good Manufacturing Practice and thus Quality Control.
The GMP system is a critical prerequisite program for the implementation of HACCP and ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System. It helps to optimize resource utilization by adopting a proactive control of critical aspects through thoughtful factory design, process flow, raw material receipts, inspection and storage, delivery vehicles maintenance, pest control programs and equipment maintenance etc.
All manufacturers in the pharmaceutical industry must manufacture medicinal products so as to ensure that they are fit for their intended use, comply with the requirements of the exporting and importing countries and do not place patients at risk due to inadequate safety, quality or efficacy. To achieve the quality objective reliably, most countries would rely on the PIC/S GMP Guide (Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme) to implement a comprehensive and well-designed implementable system of Quality Assurance Incorporating Good Manufacturing Practice and thus Quality Control.
This program helps food safety management certified organizations to keep their food safety system current and effective. It consists of these components:
- Compliance to Third Party Certification Audits
- Continuous Improvement Audits
- Refresher Training for Management and Food Handlers
- Updates on new code of practices, guidelines and standards affecting food safety
- A ‘working partner’ to provide on-going consultation in your food safety operations.
- Annual Training Needs Analysis
This program helps operators, directly and indirectly in the food chain, to establish a system of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and checking system to ensure hygiene practices are observed among product handlers. This is a critical pre-requisite program for the successful implementation of any food safety management system.
In today’s food service operations, on site kitchen is subjected to high rental costs and lack of human talent. This program will assist operators to identify the key raw materials and apply the appropriate cooking style and temperature in order to enable an operation to be scalable and sustainable.
Well-designed central kitchens and food plants will affect the effectiveness and efficiency work flow in the manufacturing of food products. An effective design ensures that food handling activities do not compromise food safety and diligently meet local regulations governing the industry.
Well-designed cleaning and sanitation program will effectively reduce labour reliance on the daily cleaning activities. System based cleaning agents will serve to clean using the least resources and achieve maximum effectiveness and efficiency.
In 2006, the Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations under the Workplace Safety and Health ACT came into operations – “In every workplace, the employer, self-employed person and principal shall conduct a risk assessment in relation to the safety and health risks posed to any person who may be affected by his undertaking in the workplace.”
Risk assessment is a key instrument to reduce risk at the workplace, through identifying sensible measures to control the risks. It is the process of identifying safety and health hazards associated with work, assessing the level of risks involved, and prioritizing measures to control the hazards and reduce the risks. Safe Work Procedures are step-by- step measures of doing or carrying out work safely which are mandatory for risks that could not be eliminated.
A workplace injury could cause huge impact on employee’s wellbeing, both mentally and physically, and adds cost to your business operations such as reduced productivity, increased medical expenses, medical leave wages, and cost of re-hiring and re-training. With regular reviews and through proper training, workplace injuries could be reduced and increases the confidence and morale of employees.
bizSAFE is a nationally recognised capability building programme designed to help companies build workplace safety and health capabilities. bizSAFE Level 3 certification recognises that your organisation has conducted risk assessments for every work activity and process in your workplace, in compliance with the requirements in the WSH (Risk Management) Regulations.
The Certification reflects that the employer comply with Risk Management regulations and thus provides a safer and healthier workplace for employees. It also increase business competitive edge and creates better corporate branding.
SS 668: 2020 Cold chain management of chilled and frozen foods sets out the General Requirement and Code of Practice for the management of chilled and frozen food, including pre-packaged food, meat, vegetables and fruits, fish, as well as chilled table eggs.
Through the adoption of the standard(s), management of cold chain operations would be more effective. Businesses can better safeguard the safety, quality and resilience of the supply of chilled and frozen food products, manage the risk of food spoilage thus generate cost savings for these businesses in the longer term.
This standard sets out the criteria that urban vegetable farms that produce vegetable, fruits, herbs, sprouts and condiments have to meet in terms of farm management, and practices to achieve clean and green production system and farm produces.
Adoption of the standard assures consumers that the farm produce are fresh, free from synthetic pesticides, and grown sustainably with the efficient use of resources without compromising the environment. This standard will help the vegetable farms to adopt smart farming techniques and practices to reduce wastage of resources, incorporate circularity in their resource management, and optimise operational efficiency.
Farms can improve productivity and maximise resources utilisation, while at the same time ensuring food safety and quality through best industry practices.