ISO 22001:2005 specifies requirements for a food safety management system where an organization in the food chain needs to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe at the time of human consumption. It is applicable to all organisations, regardless of size, which are involved in any aspect of the food chain and want to implement systems that consistently provide safe products.

Many organisations are already meeting 90% of the requirements in the standard which looks for demonstration of compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory food safety requirements, evaluation and assessment of customer requirements and evidence of  conformity with those mutually agreed customer requirements that relate to food safety, in order to enhance customer satisfaction and  effective communication of food safety issues to their suppliers, customers and relevant interested parties in the food chain.

This makes ISO22001 more than a set of standards. It is a business-building tool. For organisations wishing to extend their reach, provide a more logical and structured approach to food safety management, or gain easier access to more and bigger markets, then ISO22001 should be an essential part of your business.