BRCGS Food Safety Standard Issue 9

Course overview

In 1998 the British Retail Consortium (BRC) developed and introduced the BRC technical standard and protocol for companies supplying retailer branded food products.

The BRCGS Food Safety Standard Issue 9 was published in August 2022 with auditing against the standard commencing in February 2023.

After 8 previous issues of any prescriptive standard there is a need for a somewhat different approach to Food Safety. The strength of the BRCGS Standards is that they are prescriptive and tell food business operators (FBOs) what to do which does reduce ambiguity and provides clarity; however other standards like FSSC tend to be more objective-based.

The objective-based approach tends to place a great responsibility on FBOs to think for themselves with regard to risk management and devise systems and procedures that protect their customers, consumers, and hence, their own business.

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What you'll learn

Participants achieve the following learning outcomes from the programme;

Understand the logic behind the changes to the BRC Food Safety standard – issue 9
Understand what Food Safety Culture is and how to design and implement a plan
Know how to get Senior Management engagement with Best Practice Food Safety Culture
Understand food authenticity and food defence risk assessment
Understanding the wording regarding the reporting of unsafe practices by employees
Know the major and minor wording changes in BRC Food Safety Standard Issue 9

Study method

In-class
Virtual
Blended
Online

Duration study load

1 training day

Testimonials

Huilin F

"Very helpful and helped me to better understand how BRC can be used in the real workplace!"
Eoin O

"Well delivered course with good interaction"
Nicola W

"Very good and learned lots"

Want to know more?

For mature companies who have received certification against the previous 8 issues what can issue 9 bring?

Section 1 – Senior Management Commitment is really pushing the Food Safety Culture agenda. The recent amendment to food hygiene regulation 852/2004, commission regulation (EU) 2021/385, Chapter XI(a) legally defines Food Safety Culture expectations and responsibilities. A well designed Food Safety Culture Plan addressing the five elements of culture : Values, Processes, Leadership, Brand Protection and Behaviours will not only satisfy 3rd party auditors from BRC Certification bodies, customers and competent authorities but will also cement the non-negotiable food safety practices of the business. An interesting addition to Clause 1.2 is the ability of staff to request an assessment of training needs for activities they carry out. The requirement to make employees aware of the need to report any unsafe or out of specification product or raw material for immediate action also places greater responsibility on the FBO.

Section 2 is largely unchanged however Clause 2.12.1 has been added to emphasise the importance of validation.

Section 3, the fundamental clause of Internal Auditing has been expanded to address the Food Safety Culture Plan. Authenticity is again very much to the forefront in Clause 3.5, Supplier & Raw Material Approval and Performance Monitoring. Fundamentals Clause 3.7, Corrective and Preventive Action has also got a significant makeover. If re-occurring issues are not thoroughly dealt with via a comprehensive root cause analysis (RCA) a major against this fundamental clause can have significant certification consequences. An amendment to Clause 3.9, Traceability highlights the need for legal compliance with local law. This may be done to pre-empt new UK Food Safety legislation due to Brexit or the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) law in the USA.

Changes to Section 4, site standard, includes visitor protocols, food defence, personnel training, site map to include details on pathogen risk zones. There has been a rewrite of Section 4.6, Equipment and Specific X ray requirements.

Section 5, Product Control has updated its allergen section possibly as a result of commission regulation 2021/385. Clause 5.4 product authenticity has a new sub-clause included regarding vulnerability assessment. Section 5.6 on Product Test and Laboratory Analysis has been significantly modified. Section 5.9 Animal Primary Conversion is a new clause and it is the first time specific details on veterinary medicines, ante and post mortem inspection and handling of live animals has been included in the BRCGS Food Safety Standard.

Section 6 Process Control is largely as it was in Issue 8 apart from some specifics on handling of by-products, greater label control and handling of reject packs due to weight, volume and number control.

Section 7, Personnel is again largely unchanged apart from some minor changes to personal hygiene and medical screening.

Section 8, Product Risk Zones places greater emphasis on the map of the site, previously mentioned in Section 4 to include location of the pathogen control steps. The CIP section of Clause 8.5, Housekeeping and hygiene in high risk and high care zones has been expanded with greater detail.

Who's it for?

General managers who wish to acquire a broad knowledge of the BRC Global Food Safety Standard requirements
Quality Assurance / Technical and Production Personnel who have specific responsibilities for BRC Certification as part of a risk management team
Engineering/Maintenance Personnel
HACCP Team / Risk Management Team members
Supply Chain & HR Personnel

Delegates are required to have a copy of the BRCGS ‘Global Standard Food Safety (Issue 9)’ available for reference during this course. A copy will not be provided. Free copies are available from https://www.brcgs.com/

How do we train and support you?

In-House Courses

For In-House courses, the tutor will contact you in advance to discuss the course programme in more detail in order to tailor it specifically for your organisation.

Course Manual

Delegates will receive a very comprehensive course manual.

Subjects

What's covered?

Course Introduction

Tutor / Delegate Introduction

Define Objectives

Overview of key objectives of BRC 9

Food Safety Culture
Product Authenticity
Internal Auditing of Culture
Corrective & Preventive Actions

Clause by clause review of

Senior Management Commitment
Food Safety Plan – HACCP
Food Safety & Quality Management System
Site Standard
Product Control
Process Control
Personnel
High Risk, High Care & Ambient High-Care Production Risk Zones
Requirements for traded products

The Audit Process

Certification Process

Non-conformance categorisation

Course Review / Evaluation

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Payment options

Course fees:

Virtual Training: €395 (includes course documentation)

Find out more about the payment options for this course

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About SQT Training

We are a specialist provider of bespoke training programmes that help organisations become leaner, more compliant and more progressive. For over 30 years, we’ve brought the latest thinking, the leading techniques and the most experienced industry experts into ambitious organisations, large and small, throughout Ireland, the UK, and beyond.

We trained some of the very first ISO Lead Auditors, and many years ago, we coached the earliest adopters of Lean Six Sigma.

We empower people with the capability to help their organisations reach the highest standards, maintain compliance, and drive efficiency.

Our programmes are renowned for their dynamic, practical, real-world approach and are built on a foundation of theory and practice that works. That’s why the likes of CRH, eBay, Glanbia, Kerry Group, Medtronic, Musgraves and Pepsi trust us to train their people – over 65,000 in 27 years.

As well as In-House programmes we run virtual and blended public courses.