Prerequisite programmes - your hygiene foundation

Plain-language summary

The basic hygiene and operating conditions - cleaning, pest control, maintenance, personal hygiene, allergen segregation - that keep the whole environment fit to make food.

What the clause is really asking

PRPs are the foundation HACCP stands on; without them, controlling specific hazards is impossible. This clause requires you to establish, implement and maintain prerequisite programmes suited to your operation - cleaning and sanitation, pest control, maintenance, personnel hygiene, waste handling, allergen management, and more. They control the general likelihood of contamination across the site.

What auditors look for

This is heavily walked. Auditors inspect cleaning standards, pest-control stations and reports, maintenance condition, hand-washing and changing facilities, waste segregation, and allergen-handling practices. They look for PRPs that are documented, scheduled, verified and genuinely effective on the day.

Typical evidence

PRP procedures and schedules; cleaning records and verification (e.g. swabs/ATP); pest-control contractor reports; maintenance records; personal hygiene and allergen-control records

How to comply — recommendations

Build your PRPs around recognised sector guidance — under FSSC 22000 Version 7 that means ISO 22002-100:2025 (the common baseline) plus the 2025 sector part for your category (ISO 22002-1 food manufacturing, -2 catering, -4 packaging, -5 transport and storage, -6 feed, -7 retail and wholesale) — and schedule and verify them, not just do them. The 2025 editions renumbered everything and added topics such as chemical contamination, recycled/re-used materials, visitor and contractor control, food defence and food fraud, so map each PRP procedure to the new clause numbers. Pay particular attention to allergen segregation, cleaning validation and pest control, which auditors scrutinise hard. Keep records that prove the PRP was done and worked.

Common nonconformities

Cleaning done but never verified; pest-control actions from contractor reports not closed out; allergen segregation weak; PRPs still mapped to the retired ISO/TS 22002 technical specifications instead of the ISO 22002-x:2025 editions; new 2025 topics (chemical contamination, recycling, visitor control) not addressed

Resources for this clause

• ArticleHACCP plan explained: the 12 steps, a worked hazard analysis, and where CCPs end and OPRPs begin
• ArticleFSSC 22000 Version 7 explained: what changed, the dates that matter, and how to prepare for the upgrade audit
• Free downloadFSSC 22000 V7 Gap ChecklistEvery change from FSSC 22000 Version 6 to Version 7 as a tracked project — V6 audits end on 30 April 2027, and this is the file that gets a site to its upgrade audit with the evidence ready.
• Free downloadHACCP Flow & Product Description TemplateThe first five steps of a HACCP study — the two documents every hazard you find later is built on, and the two where more studies go wrong than anywhere else.