According to researches, consumers see unhealthy food as the biggest danger after traffic and environmental pollution hazards. Consumers do not know who to trust and which organization to trust in food safety and believe that they are worse off than ten years ago.
Healthy eating and healthy living are the basic needs of all people and this can only be achieved by ensuring food safety. Various diseases caused by food have an undesirable effect on human health both in developed and developing countries. For this reason, all food producing restaurants, patisseries, hotels and similar establishments need quality management systems for quality production, while at the same time they have to establish one of the food safety management systems that guarantee the food produced and produce in accordance with the standards. In this way, it will be faster and more reliable to minimize the possible dangers, find the causes of the errors and find solutions to the problems.
What is HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points System?
The HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points System is a standard developed by NASA for the American army and astronauts in 1960. These standards, which were designed to produce error-free and safe food, were later used as a reference in audits conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration. Soon after, it was first used in European Union countries and then in other countries.
The HACCP standard is a quality system that enables the determination of raw material, working environment, personnel, equipment and similar cleaning conditions required for producing healthy food in food establishments. Thanks to these standards, the reasons that may pose a health hazard to the consumer during the production and service of foodstuffs are identified in advance and measures are taken to eliminate these reasons. In other words, the HACCP standard is a standard for food safety.
HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points System, starting from raw material entry, food preparation, processing, production, packaging, storage, storage and shipment of food chain at all stages of the risk analysis to be done, to identify the necessary points and identify the necessary control points is a system to ensure that the prevention of exiting.
The Regulation on the Production, Consumption and Inspection of Foods issued in 1998 in our country on food safety was deemed necessary to implement the HACCP standards. In the year 2002, all companies producing food, especially meat, dairy and seafood processing companies, were gradually obliged to comply with the HACCP Food Safety Quality Management System standards.
In the year 2003, the Turkish Standards Institute published the TS 13001 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Management System standard. This standard is based entirely on internationally accepted HACCP principles and includes guidelines for food producing companies and suppliers.
In 2006, the HACCP standards and therefore the TS 13001 standard were replaced by the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System standard.
Companies that produce in accordance with HACCP standards have played an important role in increasing the trust of consumers. In this way, consumers are assured that the food they buy is healthy and reliable. The quality of food products has also improved, as critical points that could jeopardize human health are identified and controlled in a timely manner.
What is BRC Food, Food Safety System?
The British Retail Consortium Standard, in short the BRC standard, is a standard designed by the British Retail Consortium and published in 1998. The company was established by British retailers and after two years of work, this standard was prepared under the name of BRC, Global Standard - Food, which sets the conditions for food, consumer products and packaging materials.
This standard, which was previously only used for audits, was revised in 2002 and the certification requirements were added to the standard. Since the year 2003 has been implemented as an approved standard.
The BRC Food standard, which supports the development of food safety in the world, is internationally recognized and has a structure covering the current food safety standards.
BRC Food, Food Safety System standard, aims to ensure minimum hygiene conditions in food manufacturers. For this purpose, companies must comply with the following basic criteria:
- HACCP standard (The prerequisite for the BRC Food standard to be applied is that the HACCP standard must be established and managed in the enterprise)
- Quality Management System standard (likewise ISO 9001 standards must be applied in the enterprise)
- Environmental standards
- Product control methods
- Process control methods
- Standards of staff competence and hygiene
The BRC Food standard is aimed at ensuring food safety. It is a system which ensures that the hygiene conditions required for producing healthy food are determined at every point of the employees, machinery and equipment, raw materials, environment and so on.
What is the BRC Food Standard?
Food companies or suppliers that wish to implement the BRC Food, Food Safety System standard must first of all determine the most appropriate category for themselves among the categories stipulated by the standards. BRC Food standard has different grouping according to the way food is processed. These six different categories are:
- Raw meat and fish products (red and white meat, raw meat, fish and fish products)
- Production (fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables)
- Daily food (milk and dairy products, eggs)
- Meat and fish products cooked by frozen food or ready to cook
- Environmentally-friendly, heat-protected, packaged food products
- Other food products resistant to environmental conditions (beverages, dried foods, light food products and breakfast cereals, bakery products, oils and fats, food additives)
What are the principles of BRC Food Standard?
The principles of the BRC Food standard can be listed as follows:
- To ensure compliance with legal regulations in terms of transparency and honest trade.
- Minimize the repetition of the evaluation.
- Constantly review and improve standards and support processes.
- To promote best practices.
What has TS EN ISO 22000 Standard Brought?
The TS 2006 standard was canceled by the Turkish Standards Institute in 13001 and replaced with a new standard, TS EN ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Systems - Requirements for All Organizations in the Food Chain.
Foodborne diseases, poisoning, deterioration and various adversities affecting the health of consumers are caused by quality and hygiene problems in production facilities. While preparing the ISO 22000 standard, it was decided to identify each critical point that could pose a risk from the production of food products to consumption, and to solve these problems by examining these critical points separately. In this way, critical control points were identified and risk reduction and prevention was aimed.
The ISO 22000 standard has been developed by experts in the food industry with a new perspective, handling events in technical, social and economic dimensions. In this way, it has been accepted and spread internationally. The main feature of the ISO 2000 standard is the harmonization of the needs of food safety management with the food supply chain.
our organization TÜRCERT Technical Control and Certification Inc.BRC Food is ready to help with any doubts about food certification work.