Comparing BRC & IFS

Comparing BRC & IFS

Jun 26, 2018 | BRC, IFS

BRC or IFS?

As food safety certification is becoming a prerequisite for food businesses throughout the world, one of the first decisions is which food safety standard should I choose? In the first place it is recommended to choose as food safety scheme that is widely recognized by selecting a food safety management standard that has been ‘benchmarked’ by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

 

Two such GFSI approved schemes which are recognized worldwide and particularly popular in Europe are IFS Food Standard for auditing quality and food safety of food products and BRC Global Standard for Food Safety. IFS Food is a standard for auditing food safety and quality of processes and products of food manufacturers. BRC Global Standard for Food Safety sets out the requirements for food companies involved in processing of foods and preparation of primary products.

 

Both the IFS and BRC standards are retailer driven and strangely enough both IFS Food and the BRC Standard current editions are issue or version 6. The BRC Standard for Food Safety was originally published in 1998 the current version was published in July 2011. IFS Food was launched in 2003 and is current version 6 was published in January 2012. The BRC standard has nearly 14,000 certified sites in over 100 countries around the world. IFS Food issued over 11,000 certificates in 90 different countries in 2011.

 

Both IFS and BRC identify 10 key elements where failure to comply would result in a failed audit and non-certification. BRC refers to these as ‘Fundamental’ requirements whilst IFS has specific requirements which are designated as ‘Knock Out’ requirements (KO). Not surprisingly there are several common Fundamental of Knock Out clauses to both the BRC and IFS standards. These are senior management responsibility/commitment, food safety plan/monitoring CCP’s, internal audits, corrective action and traceability. BRC clause housekeeping and hygiene is a fundamental requirement whilst IFS differs in that personnel hygiene is a knock out clause.

 

There are a few differences, IFS lists recipe compliance as a knock out whereas, BRC specifies Control of operations as a fundamental requirement which covers recipes but is more demanding in its requirements for specified processing and operation conditions such as time and temperature for cooking. Of the other fundamental BRC requirements there is training, management of allergens, layout flow and segregation. In IFS Food the other knock out requirements are raw material specifications are foreign material management and procedures for withdrawal and recall.

 

The BRC Standard for Food Safety Issue 7 requirements are split into seven sections, IFS Food requirements are split into six sections.

 

Section 1 in both the BRC and IFS standard covers requirements of the Senior Management in terms of commitment, responsibility, policies, organisation structure and review. IFS Food places a little more emphasis on policies which as well as the obvious food safety and quality also require Senior Management to adopt environmental, sustainability, ethics and personnel responsibilities.

 

Both BRC and IFS require implementation of a HACCP system based on Codex Alimentarius principles in section 2. BRC has a requirement for specific prerequisite programmes in this section. IFS Food specifies Quality and Food Safety Management System requirements in section 2 whereas BRC Issue 7 section 3 specifies the minimum requirements for a documented Food Safety and Quality Management System. Section 3 of BRC also includes requirements for internal audits, supplier & material controls, corrective action, control of non-conforming product traceability, complaint handling, management of incidents and recalls. IFS section 3 covers Resource Management including human resources, personnel hygiene, protective clothing, contractors and visitors, procedures for infectious diseases, training and staff facilities.

 

Section 4 of both BRC and IFS prescribe expected site standards for ‘good manufacturing practices’ such as cleaning, maintenance, waste control, pest control, storage, transport and requirements for satisfactory factory design & construction standards, plant layout and product flow. BRC section 4 is titled Site Standards also includes hygiene & housekeeping requirements which IFS mainly covers in section 3. IFS section 4 is titled Planning and Production Process which as well as the good manufacturing practices mentioned has requirements for contract agreement, specifications, product development, purchasing, traceability and allergen management.

 

BRC Section 5 Product Control prescribes expected product controls including product development, packaging, inspection product release and management of allergens. Section 5 of IFS Food, Measurements, Analysis, Improvements covers requirements for internal audits, inspections process validation, calibration, quantity checking, product analysis, product quarantine, product release, management of complaints, management of incidents, product recall, management of non-conformities and corrective actions.

 

Section 6 of IFS covers Food defense and external inspections with requirements for defense assessment, site security, security and external inspections. BRC Section 6 prescribes process control requirements including control of operations, quantity control and calibration of instruments.

 

Section7 of BRC is titled Personnel has requirements for personal hygiene, protective clothing, medical screening and training.

 

Overall both BRC and IFS Food Safety standards are well established in the UK and Europe being driven over the years by major retailers and both are extremely creditable given that they are benchmarked by GFSI. There is a difference in the auditing reporting in that an IFS Food Audit result is reported as a total score percentage with greater than 95 % being the top level where as in a BRC audit the top grade is A. In addition to this BRC has an option of unannounced audits which are conducted at a random date as opposed to a pre-arranged audit. This scheme is viewed as giving a better indication of the day to day standards operated by the organisation. Sites successfully certified against the unannounced audit programme can achieve grade A+, the highest grade awarded by BRC.

 

Ultimately certification to either the IFS Food Standard or the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety will provide credibility and emphasises that an organisation is serious about food safety and quality. As part of the process of choosing which certification would be of most benefit it is a good idea to consult key customers and take their preferences into account.

Get BRC Certification

Get BRC Certification

Feb 12, 2018 | BRC

BRC Certification

BRC Certification is the most popular food safety certification worldwide. There are many reasons for this including the fact that the two main BRC Standards BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 7 and BRC/IOP Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials Issue 4 are GFSI Approved Standards. The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) carries out a benchmarking process in which a food safety certification scheme is compared to the GFSI Guidance Document. All of the major food safety certification schemes are benchmarked and approved by GFSI.

 

First introduced in 1998, the BRC Global Standards for Food Safety was the first Standard to be recognised as meeting the GFSI benchmark in 2000. The current edition of the BRC Standards BRC Global Standard for Food Safety is Issue 7 which was published in July 2011. The standard covers food safety management in food manufacturing and packing. The BRC Food Standard was one of the original GFSI Benchmarked schemes and is used around the world with certificates in over 100 countries and has Currently there are over 15,000 sites in 100 countries around the world that have BRC Food Certification.

 

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 7 is approved by GFSI for the following scopes:

 

  • D Pre Processing Handling of Plant Products
  • EI Processing of Animal Perishable Products
  • EII Processing of Plant Perishable Products
  • EIII Processing of Animal and Plant Perishable Products (Mixed Products)
  • EIV Processing of Ambient Stable Products
  • L Production of (Bio) Chemicals

BRC first published the Packaging Standard in 2002. BRC/IOP Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials Issue 4 is the first packaging standard to be benchmarked by GFSI. The standard covers the assurance and hygienic manufacture of packaging materials. Currently there are over 2,000 sites around the world that have BRC Packaging Certification.

 

BRC/IOP Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials Issue 4 is approved by GFSI for the following scope: M Production of Food Packaging

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 7 is approved by GFSI for the following scopes:

 

  • 1. Senior Management Commitment
  • 2. The Food Safety Plan – HACCP
  • 3. Food Safety And Quality Management System
  • 4. Site Standards
  • 5. Product Control
  • 6. Process Control
  • 7. Personnel

 

Suppliers are required to comply with all relevant clauses of the standard; however there are clauses which are regarded as ‘Fundamental Requirements’. Non-compliance with these clauses results in failure to gain BRC certification:

 

  • Senior Management Commitment Clause 1.1
  • The Food Safety Plan – HACCP Clause 2
  • Internal Audits Clause 3.4
  • Corrective Action Clause 3.7
  • Traceability Clause 3.9
  • Layout, Product Flow and Segregation Clause 4.3
  • Housekeeping and Hygiene Clause 4.11
  • Management of Allergens Clause 5.2
  • Control of Operations Clause 6.1
  • Training Clause 7.1

 

The process of gaining BRC certification will vary with the size and complexity of an organisation and the extent to which food safety system have been developed.

 

The steps to BRC Food Certification (a similar path can be applied to BRC Packaging certification) are as follows:

 

Step 1 Obtain a Copy of the BRC Standard – You can purchase and download a copy of the standard from https://www.tsoshop.co.uk/Safety/British-Standards.

 

Step 2 Training – You will need at least one person who has a good knowledge of the BRC Standard. This can be self taught or there are training courses offered including BRC Approved Partner Training, more details of which can be found at https://www.brcgs.com/training/

 

Step 3 Gap Analysis – You will need to carry out a gap analysis to identify where your current food safety management system fails to meet the requirement of the BRC standard. BRC Global Standards Self-Assessment Tool which is provided by BRC as one of their free Guidance Documents here

 

Step 4 Corrective Actions – Your gap analysis will identify corrective actions that are required in order to meet the requirements of the standard and progress to BRC certification. Quite often these actions will need to be reviewed by Senior Management as financial and human resources could be needed in order to progress. This stage can take quite a lot of time and resource depending on the standards of the facility and the extent of the food safety management system.

 

Step 5 Choose a Certification Body – You will now need to choose a certification body, you may be aware of local certification body or you can use the BRC Global Standards Directory https://directory.brcgs.com/ to find a suitable certification body. There is sometimes some confusion between Accreditation Bodies and Certification Bodies: Accreditation Bodies approve Certification Bodies to ISO/IEC Guide 65 (succeeded by ISO/IEC 17065) Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services to ensure that certification bodies operate to acceptable standards. Certification Bodies in turn assess Food Safety Management Systems and Issue BRC Certificates.

 

Step 6 Agree Scope of the Audit – The scope of the audit should be agreed with the certification body including manufacturing facilities and products.

 

Step 7 Agree a Contract – The certification body should provide a proposal for the certification process and provide a contract.

 

Step 8 Audit Planning – A plan for the audit should be prepared with dates and schedule for the audit days. A certification audit normally takes two days but may be longer depending on the size and complexity of the operation.

 

Step 9 On-site Audit – The On-site audit will consist of a programme that includes the following:

  • Opening Meeting – Introductions and confirmation of schedule
  • Document Review – HACCP & Quality Management System
  • Traceability Challenge
  • Production Facility Inspection
  • Closing Meeting – Review of findings and summary of non-conformances

 

Step 10 Non-conformities and Corrective Action – At the end of the on-site audit a summary of the non-conformances found are presented. The organisation then has 28 days to confirm and present evidence of corrective actions.

 

Step 11 Grading of the Audit & Certification – The Final Audit Report and Certificate should be provided by the certification body within 42 Days of the on-site audit. The audit is graded based on the number and type of non-conformances found. The grading system is A to C for a passed audit. For established organizations a + is added if an unannounced audit is passed.

The audit is graded as follows:

  • Grade A up to 10 Minor non-conformances
  • Grade B/ 11 to 20 Minor non-conformances
  • Grade C 21 to 30 Minor non-conformances or 1 Major non-conformance and 11 to 30 Minor non-conformances or 2 Major non-conformances and 1 to 20 Minor non-conformances
  • Production Facility Inspection
  • Closing Meeting – Review of findings and summary of non-conformances

 

A Critical Non-Conformity or a Major Non-Conformity against a Fundamental Clause will result in on-certification and a re-audit at a later stage. Certification is also not granted if there is more than 1 Critical non-conformance, more than 3 Major non-conformances, 2 Major non-conformances and more than 20 Minor non-conformances or more than 31 Minor non-conformances.

 

Once you have achieved BRC certification there may be opportunities to expand your business, certified organizations are listed in the BRC Global Standards Directory https://www.brcdirectory.com where buyers can access and view the details of your organisation and extent of your certification.