BRC Global Food Safety Standard Issue 6

BRC Global Food Safety Standard Issue 6

The recent revision of the Global Food Safety Standard is perhaps the most significant revision to date where an attempt has been made to simplify the standard yet make it more effective at controlling hazards within the manufacturing environment.

Many people would be very critical of the fact that BRC auditing over the past number of years has focussed too much on the actual documented Food Safety Management System (FSMS) as opposed to getting down onto the factory floor to see what is actually going on. Combine this with the reality that the vast majority of BRC Food Safety audits have been announced, raises questions as to the value of the audit for major UK/Irish and International retailers.

The new unannounced split audit option of:
– Day 1 Factory floor unannounced
– Day 2 Systems audit announced,
allows companies to demonstrate that their manufacturing environment is up to best practice standards every day, and that we have nothing to fear from our customers/certification bodies inspecting us any day. The announced systems audit allows FBOs (Food Business Operators) to demonstrate that they have best practice FSMS, which is effectively controlling the hazards which exist in the manufacturing environment.