Global food safety standards

Most countries have introduced measures in place to control food safety, implemented by central government agencies. Some of these include the State Food and Drug Administration of China, the Global Food Safety Initiative was established in 2000 in response to the demand of about 30 CEOs of international resellers. It 'was launched at a time when there were reports of a number of scandals over food safety, including "mad cow" crisis of BSE. Since BSE was reported in a number of European countries in 2001, Australia has acted to improve the food safety standards for imported beef and beef products.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) was created to represent a number of resellers globally and is used as the framework for any business to help the production of safe and reliable choice of suppliers.

Other important rules

GlobalGAP is a voluntary standard that is used to reduce the environmental impacts on agricultural food products produced. GlobalGAP has the support of major European retailers, PMO and farmers on a global basis. The other major standard safety features include Quality Food Program. The program provides independent certification that the provider of food safety and quality management system complies with international and national food security. This enables suppliers to assure their customers that food has been produced, processed, prepared and handled according to the highest possible standards at all levels of the supply chain.

The emergence of ISO 22000 and PAS 220:2008

Given concerns about the safety and emerging standards, ISO, the international body responsible for standardization, decided to produce a safety standard that covers the entire supply chain. ISO 22000 was launched in 2005 in order to satisfy this requirement. ISO 22000 standard has become one of the most recognized global food security. It lists more than 60 codes of practice and guidance documents related to the food industry. Despite this, it also has its limits, and has often been cited as not user-friendly. Some have argued that the requirements it places too high.

Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 220 is a complement to the new standard ISO 22000. It 'was designed to meet the technical limitations around PRPs in ISO 22000 for food production sector. PAS 220:2008 was developed by BSI and sponsored by Danone, Kraft Foods, Nestle and Unilever through the Confederation of Food and Beverage European Union (CIAA). Other stakeholders involved in the development process consists of representatives of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), McDonald's, General Mills in Europe, and certification bodies.

FSSC 22000 is a new global food safety system that meets ISO 22000 and PAS 220 certification for the food manufacturing industry. The system is designed to meet the requirements of the GFSI benchmarking. This new scheme was regarded with favor as it is believed that companies are already used to working with ISO standards and are familiar with the systems and risk management approach adopted by ISO 22000 and PAS 220, may find it easier to align with these rather than with other standards. It remains to be seen whether this system is effective .......