Packaging
The manufacture of safe packaging and packaging materials is a critical part of ensuring the food supply chain’s integrity and safety. The packaging for food and feed has many essential functions: protecting its contents against contamination or damage, leakage or loss, providing a showcase for the marketing of the product to the consumer, and the provision of required product information.
However, packaging can present a risk to the product if using inappropriate or unsanitary components, which may result in the contamination of the product from toxins, chemical migration, or breakages from the use of fragile glass or hard plastics.
The sector is bound by many regulations, and there are a variety of elements to be considered in the production and function of food packaging. Added to this is the broad range of component materials, including glass, plastic, metal, and paper, all of which have their inherent risks.
“As a leader in the Packaging Industry, Graham Packaging Company selected the FSSC 22000 Certification system to complement our existing ISO based Quality Management System and provide a Food Safety Management element. This allows Graham Packaging Company to validate that our operations are not just compliant with, and exceeding recognized food safety standards, but also further build confidence with our customer base that our operations protect both their interests and the interests of the consumer.”Graham Packaging Company
FSSC 22000 provides a certification Scheme that incorporates an in-depth hazard analysis in a robust food safety management system to control the food safety hazards, minimize risks, and assure the production of safe packaging and packaging materials. The Scheme uses international standards such as ISO 22000 for food safety management and ISO/TS 22002-4, the sector-specific Pre-Requisite Program (PRP) for food packaging and packaging material alongside additional FSSC 22000 certification requirements. With these standards, FSSC 22000 ensures consistent, high-quality audits monitored by an integrity program to measure and maintain performance to deliver safe packaging and packaging materials worldwide.
Scope
FSSC 22000 is applicable to all organizations that manufacture primary and secondary food and feed packaging and/or intermediate components, such as:
- Flexible and rigid plastics, such as foils, blisters, crates, sachets
- Paper, such as cartons, boxes, sacks
- Metal, such as cans, bottles, boxes
- Glass, such as jars, bottles
- Shipping and transport containers, such as big bags, drums, tanks