IFS FOOD STANDARD – WHAT VERSION 7 BRINGS

Publishing version 7 of IFS Food standard which was planned for first trimester of 2020., postponed for end of the year because of the situation with COVID 19: expected publication time 01.10.2020.

Evaluation of companies according to version 7 can start from March 1, 2021. and version 6.1. can be applied until 30.06.2021. From 01.07.2021. it is mandatory to apply and evaluate companies according to version 7.

What brings the new version and how to prepare for the implementation of changes?

Some of the more important innovations will be presented and explained:

· Overall on-site assessment:version 7 brings us significant changes related to on-site assessment; now it will be a minimum of 50% of the total duration of the on-site audit. Similar to the BRC Food standard, to which this rule already applies, the auditor will now be more focused on the implementation of the standard itself than on reviewing the documentation;

· Changes in the grading system: The changes can be seen in the following figure:

So, a different evaluation system is required by KO!

· Food safety culture: In order to align the standard with the new version of the GFSI Guidance document (ver 8, the release of which has also been postponed to the second half of 2020), the term “food safety culture” is introduced. What is a food safety culture? GFSI defines a food safety culture as: “Common values, beliefs and norms that influence the way we think and behave towards food safety throughout the organization“. And how to introduce food safety culture as an abstract concept in measurable frameworks so that it could be re-examined as such: the solution is to establish a Food Safety Culture Plan.

· Outsourced processesIn this edition, control over external processes is raised to a higher level by identifying partly outsourced processes (production process or part of a production process (including primary packaging and labeling) that is carried out off-site from a third party on behalf of the company of the IFS Food certified manufacturing facility) and fully outsourced processes. The goal is to have complete control over these processes so that product safety is not compromised.

·Specific requirements for “corrections” and “corrective actions”
In practice, the terms “correction” and “corrective action” are mixed;
According to IFS food standard, ver 6.1.:
Correction is action to eliminate a detected non-conformity or deviation while corrective action is action to eliminate the cause of a detected non-conformity, deviation or other undesirable situation.
In version 7 of the IFS Food standard, the novelty is that the corrections must be implemented before issuing the IFS certificate:

An IFS certificate will not be awarded if corrections for C or D-rated requirements, and KO C-rated requirements are not implemented.

Product authenticity Product authenticity or Food fraud-protection of products from counterfeiting is a topic that permeates a large number of requirements in the new version of the standard. As the number of food fraud incidents increases from year to year, it is logical to follow that food safety standards reinforce the requirements related to protection against counterfeiting. So, as a verification of the system itself, through a review by the management, as one of the obligatory inputs, questions of authenticity and compliance will be found.

Management of foreign materials In the new version of the standard, a whole set of foreign materials is recognized, so in addition to plastic, glass, metal and wood, the following should also be managed: environmental pollutants, oil or liquid droplets from machines, dust spillage. Pay special attention to contamination caused by: equipment and accessories, pipes, footpaths, platforms, ladders.

Internal pest monitoring: It is necessary to appoint a trained person from the company to monitor pest control measures. Even when pest control is an external service, the responsibility for performing the necessary actions remains within the company.

To meet with the new version of the standard, you can follow our regular online trainings where explanations of all requirements of version 7 of the IFS Food standard are given in details !!!
For help in examining the current food safety culture in the company and then the development of the Food Safety Culture Plan, as well as the implementation of other innovations in the standard, you can contact our Agency for help !!!