📞 +91 8882 213 680  |  ✉ [email protected]
Accredited Certification Body · IAS & IAF Member · Certificates Verifiable Online
Home›Industries›Food and Food Products

Get Your Food and Food Products Certification Quote

A specialist responds within 2 business hours ·

Food Manufacturing · Safety Certification

Food buyers audit your plant before they order volume

Retail chains, importers and institutional caterers check temperature records, pest control, allergen segregation and whether traceability holds when they pull a batch code at random. ISO 22000 and the GFSI schemes built on it turn that inspection into a walk-through.

  • !A buyer’s technical questionnaire arrives asking for a GFSI-recognised scheme, and the HACCP certificate on the wall no longer satisfies it.
  • !Consignments held at a border over labelling, residue limits or certification paperwork everyone believed was in order.
  • !Moving from bulk wholesale supply into private-label manufacturing for a national retail account.
  • !Foreign matter complaints keep repeating on the same line, and corrective actions never seem to hold past a month.
  • !Ammonia refrigeration, new cold stores and a second packing line have outgrown arrangements written for a smaller plant.
  • !Lenders or investors want documented recall capability tested at least once before releasing funds for expansion.
11Certifications apply

What an auditor actually walks into

The audit follows raw material from goods-in through storage, processing, cleaning cycles, packing and despatch, then asks you to trace one finished pack all the way back.

Contamination and recallConsignment rejectionRetail listing lossShelf-life failure
10Management system
0IT & cyber
1Product, regulatory & compliance audit

How Certification Works - 4 Steps

A clear, step-by-step process from your first call to a completed engagement.

Application & Proposal

Share product categories, processes such as thermal treatment or freezing, line and shift counts, and any co-packing done for other brands. Seasonal production decides when the audit can realistically run.

1–2 days

Gap Review & Readiness

The HACCP plan is usually sound. It is the probe that was last calibrated in March, and the supplier file holding a certificate that expired two audits ago.

1–2 weeks

Stage 1 + Stage 2 Audit

Stage 2 runs during production. The auditor watches a critical control point being monitored, checks metal detector challenge tests, walks drains and roof voids, and questions line staff.

Scheduled around operations

Certificate Issued

Issued under IAS accreditation with the IAF mark, the certificate is what a retailer’s vendor approval team verifies before your supplier code goes live and the first purchase order releases.

Valid 3 years
A single-site processor usually reaches certification in five to nine weeks. Where a buyer audit is already in the calendar, give us that date first and the certification audit is scheduled against it.

Certifications Applicable to the Food and Food Products

Each one maps to a real requirement or risk in this sector.

Management System

10
ISO 9001
Quality Management System
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereFood processors compete on consistency: the same taste, weight and shelf life in every batch. ISO 9001 controls recipe change, supplier approval, in-process checks and complaint handling, reducing giveaway and rework. Retail and institutional buyers frequently ask for it alongside a food safety certificate because it covers commercial reliability, delivery performance and customer complaint closure rather than hygiene alone.Typical trigger: Retail and institutional vendor approval
ISO 14001
Environmental Management System
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereFood plants consume large volumes of water, generate high-COD effluent and produce significant organic and packaging waste. ISO 14001 structures effluent monitoring, waste segregation, refrigerant management and consent compliance into one system. It also supports the packaging and food-waste reduction commitments that FMCG buyers increasingly cascade to their contract manufacturers.Typical trigger: Effluent consents; buyer sustainability audits
ISO 45001
Occupational Health & Safety
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereFood manufacturing exposes workers to ammonia refrigeration, steam, slippery floors, cutting equipment and cold stores. ISO 45001 builds hazard control, contractor management and emergency response around these risks, cutting lost-time incidents and the premium loading that follows them. Large buyers audit worker safety alongside hygiene, so certification protects the customer relationship as well as the workforce.Typical trigger: Buyer ethical and safety audits
ISO 22000
Food Safety Management System
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereISO 22000 is the core food safety management system: hazard analysis, prerequisite programmes, traceability, recall procedure and management review in one certifiable structure. It is the standard most exporters are asked for first, it covers the entire chain from primary production to packaging, and it gives a single system that satisfies the national food authority and overseas buyer requirements together.Typical trigger: Export orders; regulator-aligned assurance
HACCP
Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereHACCP is the hazard analysis discipline underneath every food safety system: identifying biological, chemical and physical hazards, setting critical control points and proving they are monitored. Many smaller processors and food service operators certify HACCP first because it is fast to implement and is the minimum many buyers, hotels and government contracts will accept.Typical trigger: Entry-level buyer requirement; tenders
FSSC 22000
Food Safety System Certification
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereFSSC 22000 is the GFSI-recognised scheme built on ISO 22000 plus sector prerequisites and additional requirements such as food fraud and food defence. Global retailers and multinational brand owners specify GFSI recognition by name, so exporters and contract manufacturers supplying those brands generally need FSSC rather than ISO 22000 alone.Typical trigger: Global retail and brand owner supply
ISO 50001
Energy Management System
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereRefrigeration, boilers, ovens and compressed air make energy one of the largest controllable costs in food processing. ISO 50001 establishes baselines, significant energy uses and monitoring so savings are found and held rather than lost after a project ends. It also underpins the emissions reporting that retail customers now request from their supply base.Typical trigger: Energy cost reduction; buyer emissions reporting
ISO 37301
Compliance Management System
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereFood businesses carry a dense obligation load: food business licensing, labelling and claims rules, weights and measures, export certification and destination-country requirements. ISO 37301 maintains a live obligations register with assigned owners, so a labelling rule change or a new import requirement is picked up and actioned before a consignment is rejected at the border.Typical trigger: Labelling and export compliance
ISO 22301
Business Continuity Management
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereA fire, contamination event or utility failure can take a food plant offline in hours and lose listings that took years to win. ISO 22301 establishes impact analysis by product line, alternate manufacturing arrangements, tested recall and recovery plans, and supplier contingency, which is what national retail accounts look for before awarding volume.Typical trigger: Retail listing; recall readiness
ISO 28000
Supply Chain Security Management
Management SystemOpen full page →
Why it applies hereFood supply chains face adulteration, substitution and temperature abuse in transit. ISO 28000 assesses these threats across transport, warehousing and third-party handlers and imposes verification controls, complementing the food defence and food fraud clauses that GFSI schemes require exporters to demonstrate.Typical trigger: Food defence; cold chain integrity

Product, Regulatory & Compliance Audit

1
GMP
Good Manufacturing Practice
Product, Regulatory & Compliance AuditOpen full page →
Why it applies hereGood Manufacturing Practice governs the physical and procedural basics: facility layout, personnel hygiene, equipment cleaning, pest control and documentation. For nutraceuticals, supplements, dairy and processed foods it is often a licensing prerequisite and the first thing an overseas buyer inspects, because it demonstrates that hygiene is designed into the plant rather than added by inspection.Typical trigger: Licensing; buyer plant inspection
Most requested combination

Integrated Management System - ISO 9001 + ISO 14001 + ISO 45001

One integrated audit instead of three separate ones. Shared documentation, fewer audit days, lower total cost, and the exact trio that tenders and corporate buyers ask food and food products suppliers for.

Get IMS Combo Quote →

Not Sure Which Certification You Need?

Three questions. The selector reads the same industry-to-standard mapping this whole site is built on, then shortlists what applies to you.

Question 2 of 3

What has put certification on the table right now?

Sector: Food and Food Products

A vendor code opens after the audit, not before

Food audit quotes go wrong on process count, not tonnage. Four thermal processes and a co-packing line is a different audit from one product family, and that distinction is what we need before quoting a duration.

Get My Free Quote →

What Certification Changes for Food and Food Products Businesses

More than a certificate — a testimony that you have raised the bar and built customer confidence.

🏷️

Get on the vendor list

Vendor registration portals will not accept a supplier without a recognised food safety certificate. Certification converts a stalled application into an active supplier code.

🚚

Loads accepted at goods-in

Most rejections trace back to documentation, labelling or a temperature gap rather than the product. Controlled records at despatch remove the arguments that hold loads at the gate.

🔍

Trace a batch in hours

When a complaint escalates, cost is decided by how much stock you withdraw. Tight lot coding and mass balance narrow a recall from a week’s output to one shift.

💧

Lower utility and waste cost

Refrigeration, boilers and effluent treatment are the three bills a food plant can actually move. Measured baselines find the savings and the system stops them drifting back.

🧊

A cold chain that holds

Temperature abuse happens between the plant and the shelf, where nobody is watching. Defined handover controls and monitored transport put responsibility on record at each transfer.

🛒

Private label doors open

Brand owners audit contract manufacturers harder than they audit their own sites. A GFSI-recognised scheme is the entry ticket to that conversation, not an advantage within it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers to what buyers ask before they commit to certification.

We hold HACCP. Why is our buyer asking for FSSC 22000?
Because global retailers specify GFSI recognition, and HACCP alone does not carry it. FSSC 22000 sits on ISO 22000 and adds sector prerequisite programmes plus requirements for food fraud, food defence and allergen management. HACCP remains valid for local trade, food service and many tenders. The upgrade path is real work, but the hazard analysis you already have does most of the heavy lifting.
Does the audit have to happen while the plant is producing?
Stage 2 does. An auditor cannot verify a critical control point from a logbook alone; the point is to watch monitoring being done by the person who normally does it, on product that is actually running. For seasonal plants this means scheduling inside the campaign. Tell us your production calendar at proposal stage and the audit is planned around it.
Can one certificate cover several plants and a contract packer?
Multi-site certification is possible where central management genuinely controls the system, with each site sampled over the cycle. A contract packer working for you is a supplier, not a site, so it sits under your supplier approval and verification programme unless it is certified in its own right. Buyers check that distinction closely, so get the scope wording right.
How is an export consignment rejection usually prevented?
By treating the destination country’s requirements as part of the specification, not as paperwork at despatch. That means labelling checked against the import market’s rules, residue and contaminant limits designed into supplier approval and testing, and certificates issued from records rather than reconstructed. An obligations register with a named owner catches rule changes before a container is already at sea.
Our plant is small. Is certification proportionate?
Scope and audit duration follow headcount, process complexity and number of hazard categories, so a small single-line processor is audited as a small single-line processor. The system has to be genuine, not elaborate. Many small operators certify HACCP first, then move to ISO 22000 or FSSC 22000 when a buyer requires it, which spreads both cost and disruption.
Will certification stop a recall?
No certificate prevents contamination. What it changes is the size, speed and defensibility of the response. Verified control points reduce how often a deviation reaches finished product, lot coding limits how much stock is implicated, and a tested recall procedure means the withdrawal happens in hours. Regulators and insurers treat a documented, exercised system very differently from an improvised one.

Certify the plant, not the paperwork

Under IAS accreditation the certificate is verifiable in 50+ countries, and a retail vendor approval team will verify it. Name the scheme your buyer specified and the plant that has to hold it.

Get My Free Quote → WhatsApp Us
💬 WhatsApp Us
📞 CallGet Quote