Similarities and differences between ISO 9001 and ISO 22000

Suppose you haven’t had a chance to review the new release of the ISO 22000:2018 version of the Food Safety Management System (FSMS) standard – Requirements for any organization in the food chain. In that case, the update in the new standard follows the same high-level structure (Annex SL) generally used by all the updated management system ISO standards like ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, and many more. The first and foremost benefit is that now ISO 22000:2018 has become easier to integrate with other management system standards.

Now that’s the basic change for all the revised standards. In this article, you are going to learn what the ISO 22000:2018 standard is about, as well as the similarities and differences between it and the ISO 9001:2015 standard requirements.

What is ISO 22000:2018?

ISO 22000:2018 is a standard for Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) and provides the requirements for any organization in the food chain. That includes organizations that are either directly involved or indirectly involved with the food chain operations, for example, feed producers, animal food producers, producers of food ingredients, processors of food items, food manufacturers or retailers, food service providers, catering services, food logistics, food storage, equipment suppliers for the food industry, packaging suppliers for the food industry, and producers of animal foods and other food contact materials.

The recent update to the 2018 version is the second edition of the ISO 22000 standard; formerly, it was the ISO 22000:2005 version, which had a long history of development. Initiated in 1960 from hazard and critical control points (HACCP) in the food chain system and, later on, food safety system certification (FSSC), it was established to fulfill the management system requirements for food safety. So, in 2005, the first edition of the standard was introduced, and the recent version is its second edition.

This standard provides strategic direction for an organization to improve its overall food safety performance based on the process approach and specified FSMS requirements in the standard. By implementing an FSMS based on ISO 22000, an organization can benefit in the following areas:

• its ability to provide safe food products and services while consistently meeting customer and applicable compliance obligations (also termed “legal and statutory requirements”)
• its ability to exhibit compliance with FSMS requirements
• identification of issues related to food safety, addressing risks associated with its food safety system

Biggest differences in ISO 22000:2018

While it contains all of the same requirements for Quality Management Systems as the other revised standards, some specific technical requirements make this standard particular for organizations in the food industry. Clause 8 of the standard specifies those requirements, which ensure food safety on a technical level. These requirements are:

• Operational planning & control – how the organization plans its operations (processing) and simultaneously controls for food safety
• Prerequisite programs (PRPs) – identification of basic conditions and activities that are necessary to maintain a hygienic environment throughout the food chain
• Traceability system – a system to trace the food products uniquely
• Emergency preparedness & control – identification of all the possible emergencies and arrangements to deal with them
• Hazard control – this includes the performance of hazard analysis, definition and validation of control measures, and preparation of HACCP (hazard and critical control points) and/or OPRP (operational prerequisites programs) plans.
• Updating information – to update the information regarding PRPs and to keep the hazard control plans updated
• Control of monitoring and measuring – how the organization is controlling its monitoring and measuring systems
• Verification related to PRPs and hazard control plans – how the PRPs and hazard control plans are verified and analyzed
• Control of nonconforming products and processes – how the organization controls its nonconforming products and processes, including the criteria for recall or withdrawal

These requirements are self-explanatory and give very comprehensive details regarding how you need to manage and ensure your food safety.

What are the differences and similarities between ISO 9001 and ISO 22000:2018?

Since both standards were revised based on the new high-level structure (Annex SL), it has become easier to find out the similarities and differences between the standards. Both standards have 10 clauses with the same main titles. So, if we see the clauses demonstrating the requirements of the context of the organization, leadership, planning, support, performance evaluation, and improvements – generally, they are all the same.

The major difference between the standards is in clause 8. Going through the technical requirements of clause 8, we see that in ISO 22000, clause 8 provides a basic framework to ensure food safety in the entire food chain operations, while in ISO 9001, clause 8 provides a generic framework to ensure the quality of processes (and those are general and can be applied to any organization of any scope).

Let’s have a quick look at the same requirements if you are going to implement both standards:

1. Context of the organization (internal & external issues, interested parties, scope)
2. Control of documented information (documents & records control)
3. Addressing risks & opportunities, planning & objectives
4. Improvement, corrective actions
5. Management review & internal audits
6. Competence, communication, training & awareness

All clauses other than clause 8 concern quality and food safety mindsets. Looking at the differences, these are technical requirements in clause 8 to ensure food safety in food chain processes.

How can ISO 9001:2015 fast-track your ISO 22000:2018 implementation?

There are a lot of reasons that can be stated for how ISO 9001 can help you out in your ISO 22000:2018 implementation. But I would like to end up with the only one, which is that food safety equally depends upon the quality of the processes, too. So, if you have a good Quality Management System in place, then it’s automatically adding value. You just need to take care of the food safety requirements (clause 8) in ISO 22000; the rest is taken care of by ISO 9001.