Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS)

With the introduction of the Consumer Protection act in 2011, there has been increasing demand placed by retailers on manufacturers in complying with regulatory requirements and having adequate Food Safety Management Systems in place. StarChild can provide guidance to new and existing Food producers in developing, implementing and managing these systems. We also can prepare the necessary documentation for systems such as HACCP, ISO22000 and FSSC22000.

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Developing a FSMS from scratch can be quiet demanding and most businesses usually task this responsibility to the Quality Assurance or Technical Manager. However responsibility does not rest with just one person or department. The standards have been revised to shift responsibility to management and is a key section in the ISO22000 standard. Food safety rests with all individuals in the food chain.

Before a business can obtain certification against a recognised FSMS they need to be audited against specific criteria. The fundamental requirements start with compliance with Goverment Acts and Regulations before moving onto the standards such as SABS10049, ISO22000 etc. Due diligence must be given to individual clauses in all of these documents as they are the law book against which all auditing service providers operate. This may sound scary but is the harsh reality of the current situation industry wide both locally and internationally. Consequently businesses that dont meet minimum requirements run the risk of being delisted by major retail chains.

The big question most businesses ask is how much is it going to cost? Well if the motivation for a FSMS was driven purely from the perspective of interest in safety for their consumers then cost should not be the primary concern. Nevertheless one still needs to pay the bills and a crude estimate of the addon costs to a business can be determined. Consider some of the following aspects and the outcome should help you make an informed decision. These items are the fundamental components that add to your FSMS costs.

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