Quality control alongside food safety
Plain-language summary
A quality policy and objectives, product quality parameters and release, quantity control with calibrated equipment, and line clearance at start-up and changeover.
What the clause is really asking
FSSC 22000 is a food safety scheme, but Version 7 expects quality to be managed inside the same system. You need a quality policy and objectives aligned to ISO 22000 5.2 and 6.2; quality parameters in line with finished-product specifications for every product or product group in scope, including product release and testing; analysis of the quality results as a management-review input; and quality elements inside the internal audit scope. Quantity control — unit, weight, volume — needs its own procedures and a calibration and verification programme for the equipment used. Line start-up and changeover procedures must make sure products, packaging and labelling meet customer and legal requirements, including controls that confirm labels and packaging from the previous run have been removed from the line.
What auditors look for
Auditors ask for the quality policy and objectives, then check that quality results actually reach management review and that internal audits cover quality. They watch a changeover and ask for the line-clearance record. They check the checkweigher or filler calibration.
Typical evidence
Quality policy and objectives; product specifications with quality parameters and release criteria; quality results analysis and management review inputs; internal audit scope including quality; quantity control procedure and calibration/verification records; start-up and changeover procedure with line-clearance records
How to comply — recommendations
Fold quality into what you already run: add quality objectives next to the food safety ones, add a quality line to the audit checklist, and put quality data on the review agenda. Make line clearance a signed step that names labels and packaging explicitly — mislabelling from leftover packaging is a classic recall cause.
Common nonconformities
No quality policy or objectives; quality left out of internal audits or management review; quantity-control equipment not calibrated; changeover procedure with no label/packaging removal check
Related clauses
ISO 22000 5.2, 6.2, 8.5.1.3, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3; FSSC 22000 2.5.2 (labelling), 2.5.8 (culture)
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