BSI British Standards publishes food safety specification for the food manufacturing industry
Press release - 28 November 2008
BSI British Standards has published PAS 220:2008 Prerequisite programmes on food safety for food manufacturing. This Publicly Available Specification (PAS) stipulates requirements for the prerequisite programmes that are required by BS EN ISO 22000 and which assist in controlling food safety hazards, such as the layout of premises and workspace, personnel hygiene and product recall procedures.
Developed by BSI, PAS 220 was sponsored by Danone, Kraft, Nestlé and Unilever through the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the European Union (CIAA). The development of PAS 220 was overseen by a Steering Group which included representatives from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), the French National Association of Food Industries (representing CIAA), General Mills Europe (representing the FDF Food Hygiene Committee), Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance, McDonald’s and ProCert.
PAS 220 is designed for use by any organization, regardless of size or complexity, involved in the manufacturing stage of the food chain. It is intended that PAS 220 will be used in conjunction with BS EN ISO 22000 Food safety management systems. Requirements for any organization in the food chain which states that an organization should establish prerequisite programmes to assist in controlling food safety hazards. In the future PAS 220 could be recommended to ISO as a formal international standard complementing ISO 22000.
The potential benefits of PAS 220 include:
- Harmonization of prerequisite programmes’ best practice for food manufacturing
- Meeting the prerequisite programmes’ expectations and requirements of food manufacturing stakeholders
- Complementing and aligning with ISO 22000, the internationally recognized food safety management system standard
Steve Mould, Technical Author of PAS 220 and Worldwide Quality Chain Management Systems Program Manager at Kraft Foods, said, “PAS 220 provides a common set of pre-requisite programmes that can be used by any food manufacturer who wishes to establish an ISO 22000 certified food safety management system. What sets this standard apart from others is the wide consultation and public reviews that were conducted by BSI during its development. This is a standard that the industry has created by working together.”
Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards, said: “Every organization involved in food manufacture deals with a wide range of food safety issues on a daily basis. To help organizations meet these challenges BSI works with industry stakeholders to consensually develop the best tools to manage food safety issues. PAS 220 will assist organizations in operating their food manufacturing processes at the very highest quality level in accordance with ISO 22000.”
A Publicly Available Specification (PAS) is a sponsored fast-track standard driven by the needs of the client organizations and developed according to guidelines set out by BSI. Key stakeholders are brought together to collaboratively produce a BSI-endorsed PAS that has all the functionality of a British Standard for the purposes of creating management systems, product benchmarks and codes of practice. After two years the PAS is reviewed and a decision is made as to whether it should be taken forward to become a formal British Standard.
