What are the innovations of IFS Food version 8?

On April 18, 2023, the new IFS-FOOD standard was published. From Oct. 1, 2023, companies can voluntarily audit according to this new version of the standard. From Jan. 1, 2024, it will become a requirement for companies.

Implementing a new version of a standard in the quality manual requires some work. In doing so, IFS-Food reduced the 6 chapters from version 7 to 4 chapters. Thus, new requirements were added, the structure was renewed and the terminology was revised. Below are some of the changes.

1. The food safety culture in the company

Food safety culture is becoming increasingly important in food companies. This is evident in the new version as IFS-Food tightens its requirements. For example, objectives must be established that relate to the communication of the food safety policy. Training courses must also be offered to help improve the food safety culture in the company and both the commitment and performance of employees must be monitored and measured.

2. Customer focus

The new version also brings with it tightened knockout requirements. Compliance with customer agreements made regarding recipes and process-technical agreements is pushed forward. But monitoring plans and agreements around packaging characteristics and labels are also tightened in the requirement.

3. Internal audits

Throughout the standard, more attention is being paid to the various topics of internal audits. For example, each topic in the IFS-Food standard must be addressed at least every 12 months. Using a reasoned risk analysis, the risk of the subject must be identified. Depending on the risk, the frequency of the internal audit is determined. For example, a subject with an increased risk will require more frequent internal audits.

4. Crisis Management

Acting correctly in the event of a food safety hazard is critical to public health. The new version of the standard emphasizes this by tightening the knockout requirements. For example, there is an addition to the requirement where responsibilities, communication and training of those involved have been further supplemented.

5. Codex Alimentarius

The innovations in the Codex Alimentarius have caused a lot of innovations in the GFSI standards. The IFS standard is also doing this by updating the prerequisite program to current 2020 version of the Codex Alimentarius' General Prinicples of Food Hygiene.

6. Certification procedure

In addition to the new an updated requirements in the new standard, the IFS certificate gets an update. This allows the certificate to receive star status. A certificate with this star status indicates that the company has received a positive assessment in an unannounced audit. Version 7 already indicated that one audit every 3 years should be mandatory unannounced. This is still the case in version 8, but now additional attention is paid to clarifying the count. It is also possible to include an origin statement as a disclaimer on the certificate. Finally, the B-score makes its reappearance in the audit protocol. The B-score indicates that there is a deviation from the set requirement.

Want to know more?

Précon organizes knowledge sessions at different times to inform you about the biggest changes in IFS-Food version 8. Or do you need help implementing the new requirements in your quality manual? Contact us at +32 (0)11 26 99 07 or email info@precongroup.com.