Smart Knowledge

Is your food safety legal register incomplete? This article explains how primary, secondary, and consolidated law fit together.

Understanding food legislation is more complex than it seems; missing links, incorrect scope, & outdated sources lead to non-compliance.

In this article we discuss the issues around non conformance close out, the causes and what the solution may be.

HACCP alone won’t cut it anymore. Learn why food, packaging, and distribution businesses need a broader Product Safety Plan — and how Techni-K training makes it practical, not just paperwork.

The importance of combining the HACCP principles with the FDAs HARPC requirements.

In this article we look at the inputs and outputs of risk assessment and how to make it ‘robust’.

In this article we look at changes to clause references, naming and terminology.

Why maintenance is so important, not only to the standard, but also as an essential business control.

You may have heard of PFAS, and that the EU is discussing banning it. In this article, we’ll look at what it is, why it’s an issue and what the publication of legislation may mean to the food industry.

Why the number one objective for any business must always be continual improvement of the internal audit programme.

In this article, we look at what is required by agents and brokers, when supply materials and product to GFSI certified businesses.

What’s HACCP validation and verification.

Food safety and quality culture is now a requirement of GFSI recognised schemes, find out what it is and how to comply.

Are you getting frustrated by the length and complexity of the supplier questionnaires that you’re being asked to complete?

In this article we look at the difference between a food product and a pharmaceutical product, and how supplements are certified.

This is how we interpret ‘previous audit performance’ from clause 3.4.1 of BRCGS Food (this applies to the other standards too).

This article is written to resolve the confusion around when root cause analysis must be applied to non-conformances.

This time, my ‘light bulb moment’ has been even bigger than normal, so I thought I’d share it with you, as it’s very topical.

The purpose of the CCP metal detection requires that you understand how your detector works so in this issue we help you learn more about it.

If you’ve decided you want to be a BRCGS certificated site; but aren’t sure where to start, this guide will provide you with everything you need to know.

This article explains the key points of the audit protocol section of the BRCGS standards.

It’s that time of the year again – BRCGS fees go up from 1st August 2022

Everything you need to know about the update BRCGS Packaging Issue 7 – all in one place.

In this article we look at the requirements for incident management, emergency situations, withdrawals and recalls within the food industry.

Introduction If you supply customer branded product, you'll know that customers have their own standards that you must comply with - as part of doing business with them. In this article, we'll look at what the requirements for managing customers are, plus the two most popular ways of managing multiple standards. Contents The standards. The [...]

What calibration means, why it’s important, when to do it and how it should be done.

Introduction to laboratory controls When carrying out testing, the appropriate facilities must be provided. This include controls to prevent cross contamination, when performing microbial testing. Contents The standards. The requirements. BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9. The standards This article on laboratory controls is written to meet the following sections of the standards: BRCGS Food Safety [...]

Once the risk assessment defines what testing is needed, the next step is to define what testing methods will be used.

The testing and inspection system must be managed following the procedure, which must include a risk assessment, testing methods, corrective and preventive action, trending and review.

These controls reduce cross contamination and prevent the wrong packaging from being used.

Packing controls ensure that the product goes in the correct printed packaging and that the printing is accurate.

A highly regulated process control, to ensure that the weight, volume and count of the product is accurate.

Process controls for material handling, such as debagging, deboxing, rework and recipe control.

Once the allergen risk assessment has been completed the controls from the assessment must be implemented and effectively managed.

The equipment that’s used to process the product can have a huge impact on the safety, authenticity, quality and legality of the finished product.

Traceability is a critical aspect of process control and therefore fundamental in all certification standards.