Kerry Foods Meets New Safety Standard

07/08/06 Kerry Foods, producer of Walls and Richmond sausage and bacon, has successfully gained ISO 22000:2005, the new international standard for food safety management at the Hyde, Cheshire plant.

ISO 22000 is the new international standard for food safety management systems. Recognised worldwide, it harmonises key requirements and overcomes the difficulties of differing food safety standards by region, country, activity, organisation and food-type. ISO 22000 can be used by any organisation in the food supply chain - including farmers, animal feed producers, processors, packers, logistics companies, restaurants and retailers - to demonstrate good practice and therefore boost customer confidence.

"We decided to apply for ISO 22000 because it has a strong focus on food safety and encompasses HACCP [Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points] principles," says Kerry Foods Hyde Technical Manager, Laura Hoban. "We wanted to consolidate our existing HACCP and ISO 9001:2000 standards into a comprehensive food safety management system."

Having used SGS United Kingdom Ltd before, Kerry Foods Hyde chose independent certification organisation SGS to carry out its ISO 22000 assessment.

SGS first conducted a pre-assessment gap analysis to compare Kerry Foods Hyde's existing food safety and quality systems with the new ISO 22000 standard. SGS then carried out a two-day audit to verify Kerry Foods Hyde's systems and controls against ISO 22000.

"SGS' assessors were very professional and we were pleased with the logical way in which they progressed the audit," says Laura Hoban.

"ISO 22000 has enabled us to develop a comprehensive food safety management system that has harmonised our previous systems and further emphasised the importance of food safety," says Laura Hoban. "We're pleased to be leading the way in establishing a certified food safety management system that exceeds the requirements of HACCP."