05 Mar 2021

What are the main changes to the new IFS Food certification standard?

The IFS Food Standard is a GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) recognized standard for auditing food manufacturers. It concerns food processing companies and companies that pack loose food products. The focus is on food safety and the quality of processes and products.

The Standard supports the production and marketing departments in their efforts for brand safety and quality. IFS Food has been developed with full and active involvement of certification bodies, retailers, food industry and food service companies.

IFS Food version 7 assessments can be performed from 1st March 2021 and will become mandatory from July 1st 2021.

What are the main changes?

• Every third IFS certification assessment will be mandatorily unannounced
• Introduction of the Food Safety Culture
• Increased focus on the on-site assessment, less on documentation
• 15% less requirements
• Better defined scoring system
• Improved structure of the certification protocol tailored to the IFS stakeholders’ needs
• A valid GLN (Global Location Number) becomes mandatory for suppliers in the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom
• Additional tools to support Companies, e.g. new e-learning courses, updated IFS auditXpressX Software and IFS Audit Manager App for internal auditing