What is BRC Food Safety and IoP?

The British Retail Consortium-BRC is that the leading trade body for UK retailers. The British Retail Consortium-BRC Global Standards provide a scalable choice, easily modified to large or small operations, with suppliers from over 100 countries already certified against it. In keeping with a supply chain approach, there are 4 standards under the BRC guidance, including:

• BRC Global Food Standard,
• BRC Storage and Distribution,
• BRC IOP for Food Packaging, and
• BRC Consumer Products.

The areas covered by British Retail Consortium-BRC Standards include Senior Management Commitment and Continuous Improvement; Food Safety and Quality Management System; Site Standards; Product Control; Process Control and; Personnel.

Strengths of the British Retail Consortium-BRC standard incorporate mainly comprehensive explanation of process and hygiene control – this provides management and employees with clear expectations of the day-to-day actions that will present to the overall food safety strategy. In other words, highly applicable information that employee can use to deal with real-world situations. The British Retail Consortium BRC certification process itself is efficient, with only an on-site audit and no requirement for a ‘desk study’ step. Should a business ever wish to be re-certified – either to demonstrate commitment or address a problem – the British Retail Consortium BRC accommodates requests for voluntary re-audits at any time. As well, British Retail Consortium-BRC certification include food safety, quality, and also legality, which is of great concern to any stakeholder navigating the complexity of food law.

Benefits of BRC

If you’re looking to grow your business or retain existing contracts, the bulk of producing businesses are required to possess a 3rd party safety certification like BRC, as part of a supplier approval process. Many major retailers, wholesalers, agents, brokers and food service chains require their suppliers to possess BRC certification as a minimum to make sure the merchandise is produced during a safe and hygienic environment.

Additionally, the value of product recalls typically aren’t just limited to loss of stock, as consumer awareness of food safety continues to grow and damage to reputation can incur huge costs. By implementing the procedures involved within the BRC standard, you’re following best practice for food safety and reducing the danger of costly product recalls and damage to reputation.

Businesses with top grades for BRC Food Safety can demonstrate to new and existing clients that the extent of food safety within their operation is of a really high standard. The cost of a BRC accreditation audit will depend upon the certification body you select to conduct the audit and therefore the number of days it takes to hold out the audit (typically one day).

Implementation Steps for BRC

• Step One: Introduction Training to the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety.
• Step Two: Assessment of Prerequisites Programs.
• Step Three: Senior Management Program Implementation.
• Step Four: Food Safety Plan/HACCP Program Implementation.
• Step Five: Implement Food Safety Quality Management System.
• Step Six: BRC Implementation and Training.
• Step Seven: Internal Auditing Training and Checklists.
• Step Eight: Final Steps to British Retail Consortium-BRC Certification.

Principles of BRC

The principles of the BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety are based on two key components: senior management commitment and HACCP – an approach to food safety that identifies where a likely health hazard may occur, then implement and maintains safety measures to prevent the hazard from occurring.

The main principle of the standard is the timely detection and evaluation of errors, misapplications and dangerous situations that may arise during the production stages. All measures must be taken, control points identified and what to do.

Another principle is that all stages of production should be defined from the raw material properties of the product to the properties of the additives used, the properties of the packaging materials that will come into contact with the product, and finally to the properties of the finished product to be received by the consumer.

BRC Food, the third principle of the Food Safety System, is the traceability of all the rings of the successive food chain. Food producers are expected to produce food free from all kinds of natural or artificial harmful factors. Because of this concern, people are looking for companies that produce safe food.