BRCGS Food Safety certification

BRCGS Food Safety (BRC Global Standards) is a global food safety standard, first issued in 1998, developed by the British Retail Consortium. It is recognized by retailers, foodservice companies and food manufacturers from around the world.

BRCGS Food Safety is a standard intended for food manufacturers, especially private labels. The standard describes guidelines for manufacturers, the implementation of which is intended to help systematize processes for the production of safe food and to supervise the quality of products, in accordance with customer expectations. It was developed to define food safety, quality and operational criteria that must be applied in food production facilities to ensure compliance with legal requirements and protect consumers.

The scope and duration of the audit depends on the size and specificity of the company - a food production plant undergoing voluntary assessment of compliance with the requirements of the BRCGS Food Safety standard. The minimum audit time is determined by the owner of the standard.

The requirements specified as basic to achieve compliance are contained in the clauses of the BRCGS Food Safety standard.

The basic scope includes: top management involvement, food safety plan - HACCP, food safety and quality management system, plant standards, product control, process control, personnel, high risk, high caution and non-chilled production zones, requiring high caution, requirements for traded products (in a separate 9 chapter).

The audit ends with a report, if there are any nonconformities a list of them is made. Based on the list of nonconformities, the audited company prepares a corrective action plan with deadlines for their implementation. The report and the list of nonconformities along with the corrective action plan go to the certification body, where the certification decision is made.

The issues focused on in BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 are:

• Encouraging the understanding and development of a culture of product safety and quality;
• Ensuring global application of compliance with the Codex Alimentarius general food hygiene principles and comparability to GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) requirements;
• Expanding audit options to include the use of ICT;
• Updating requirements related to core product safety activities, such as internal audits, root cause analysis, preventive actions and incident management;
• Providing greater transparency of requirements for primary animal processing plants and animal feed plants.

The BRCGS Food Safety version 9 standard defines requirements for manufacturing, processing and packaging:

• Processed foods (both private label and customer branded)
• Raw materials or food ingredients
• Primary products (such as fruits and vegetables)
• Pet food and animal feed (animal feed is new to BRCGS 9)
• Traded products (purchased and stored at the facility, but not produced, processed or packaged at the facility)

THE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGES to the BRCGS Food Safety version 9 requirements have occurred in the areas of:

• The role of top management, and the culture of food safety and quality in section (1). The involvement of top management, emphasizing the importance of involvement in the processes of safety effectiveness, authenticity, legality and product quality and continuous improvement.
• Validation, verification in section (2) Food Safety Plan - HACCP; in section (5) for products with claims used, in section (9) by including traded products in the HACCP Plan or Food Safety Plan.
• Authenticity (the term has replaced the word integrity) mainly in section (3) Food quality and safety management system, e.g., for monitoring and approval of suppliers and raw materials, as well as for subcontracted processes.
• Internal audits, in section (3) detailing that they must also include the food safety culture plan and overall management system.
• Management of nonconforming product, in section (3), including return of products to the plant as well as management of incidents, recalls or withdrawals, with detailing that they must inform the certification body within 3 working days of the incident and then within 21 calendar days of corrective actions, root cause analysis and preventive action plan.
• Requirements for new equipment (Section 4 - Plant Maintenance Standards) with purchase specifications, commissioning rules and an update of any plant procedures affected by the new equipment e.g. training, operating procedures, cleaning, environmental monitoring, maintenance schedules or internal audits.
• Cleaning of mobile equipment in section (4), refined requirements for processes and equipment in the CIP system.
• Guidelines for pet food along with animal feed (Section (5) - Product inspection) and in both cases ensuring inspections in accordance with local laws. Also adding a new section on primary processing of animals.
• Increase requirements in Section 6 (Process Control) with a scheme to include by-product tracking.
• Requirements for movable walls, portable equipment (Section 8) in high caution and high risk areas ensuring that their use does not cause contamination.
• Training and competence of personnel in many areas such as.
  • All (pre-appropriate) employees before starting work (Section 7),
  • of employed personnel when working with control measures (Section 7),
  • on the proper handling of medicinal materials (section 5-animal feeds and feeds)
  • personnel evaluating susceptibility to adulteration (section 5- product authenticity),
  • responsible for hazard assessment and food protection plans (section 4)

• Internationally recognized standard modeled after GFSI increases confidence of customers and business partners
• Includes a reporting system and certification acceptable to customers instead of conducting their own audits, reducing time and costs
• Allows certified companies to be listed in the publicly available BRCGS Directory, recognizing their achievements and allowing use of the logo for marketing purposes
• The scope of the standard covers issues related to broad product safety, quality, legal compliance and integrity
• Includes scope for supplier oversight to ensure assessment of conduct in accordance with good food safety management practices
• Provides a variety of audit options, including announced and unannounced audit programs, to meet customer requirements and enable companies to demonstrate compliance with expectations in a manner that best suits the operating profile and maturity of their food safety assurance systems
• Requires corrective actions to be taken against non-conformances and root cause analysis of these non-conformances thereby ensuring that the system is monitored to ensure continuous improvement

According to the requirement of the standard, in the event that circumstances change within the enterprise that may affect the continuity of certification, the enterprise is obliged within 3 working days to notify the Certification Body through a special email address that has been activated: Food Alert 

Such circumstances include:

- legal proceedings regarding the safety or legality of the product

- product recall action

- significant damage to the plant, such as a natural disaster such as flooding, or damage due to fire

- change of ownership

For more information, visit:  https://www.brcgs.com/