Food safety as an objective

In reaction to the many food scares that have occurred, such as BSE infected beef, salmonella contamination of poultry and eggs, high levels of listeria in dairy products, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), a UK trade organization that represents the interests of the UK retailers has published the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety, globally setting the minimum standard of hygiene in food manufacturing plants.

Read the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 5 leaflet (PDF 194KB).

The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 5 is for any supplier, regardless of product or country of origin that supplies food products to UK retailers. BRC Certification is not a legal requirement but it has been highly recommended by UK retailers. To comply with BRC Global Standard for Food Safety, the food suppliers and manufacturer must adopt three main criteria in their management systems:

• Adoption and implementation of HACCP;
• Documented and effective quality management system; and
• Control of factory environment standards, products, processes and personnel

Certifying your food safety management system against the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 5 requirements bring the following benefits:

• Enhancement of your food safety management system;
• Demonstration of your commitment to producing and trading safe food;
• Recognition and acceptance from the UK retailer community;
• Increase in consumer confidence in your products;
• Improvement of market and customer perspectives; and
• Reduction of the number of supplier assessments.

For more information:

• View the recording on How to comply with requirements of new issue of BRC Global Standard for Food Safety.
• Contact your local SGS office.