Food Safety

We begin with a gap assessment against the full FSSC 22000 requirements to establish where your system stands today. From there we develop a structured implementation plan covering system documentation, PRP alignment, HACCP development and management system integration. As your audit date approaches, we conduct a pre-certification readiness review and support your team through the final preparation stages. For most organisations working from a solid operational foundation, the process from gap assessment to certification audit takes between six and twelve months, depending on the scope and complexity of the operation.

Yes, and this is one of the most common requests we receive. We will review your nonconformance findings, help you identify the root causes, develop a corrective action plan that satisfies your certification body, and put measures in place to prevent recurrence. We can also support you in rebuilding or strengthening the specific system areas that were flagged, whether that relates to PRP implementation, HACCP adequacy, objective evidence or food safety culture.

Version 7, published in May 2026, introduces a new two-level PRP framework — ISO 22002-100 as a common baseline plus your sector-specific standard — along with revised food chain categories, stronger audit evidence requirements and new requirements around food loss and waste, food safety culture objectives and AI governance for certification bodies. The transition happens through an upgrade audit managed within your normal certification cycle. Entecom can conduct a Version 7 gap assessment, update your PRP procedures and internal audit tools to the new clause structure, and prepare your team for what auditors will be focusing on under the new Scheme.

For an organisation with an existing operational food safety foundation, first-time FSSC 22000 certification typically takes between six and twelve months from initial gap assessment to certification decision. Organisations with more complex operations, multiple food chain categories or limited existing documentation may take twelve to eighteen months. The key variables are the maturity of your existing system, your team’s availability for implementation, and how quickly your certification body can schedule Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits. We will give you a realistic timeline assessment as part of your initial gap assessment.

Yes. We have experience supporting multi-site food businesses across South Africa, including organisations pursuing group certification under a central FSMS. We understand the specific requirements around central function audits, internal audit programmes for multi-site organisations, and the sampling approach used by certification bodies. We can help you design a system that works practically across multiple sites while meeting all FSSC 22000 requirements for multi-site certification. 

Both FSSC 22000 and BRCGS are GFSI-recognised food safety certification standards and are widely accepted by major retailers and food manufacturers globally. FSSC 22000 is built on ISO 22000 as its management system foundation and tends to be preferred by organisations that want alignment with the broader ISO management system family. BRCGS has its own proprietary standard structure and is particularly prevalent in retail supply chains servicing UK and European markets. The right choice depends primarily on what your customers require and which standard your supply chain partners accept. We will help you evaluate this as part of your initial consultation — and in some cases, we support organisations in achieving both.

A pre-certification readiness audit — sometimes called a mock audit or pre-audit — is a structured assessment of your food safety management system against the full requirements of your target standard, conducted by an Entecom auditor before your official certification body audit. It identifies any remaining gaps, weak areas of documentation or implementation, and gives your team the experience of a formal audit process in a lower-stakes environment. Most organisations that invest in a pre-certification readiness audit achieve first-attempt certification. Those that go straight to their certification audit without one are more likely to encounter major or critical nonconformances that delay or prevent certification

Yes. Under FSSC 22000, at least one surveillance audit per three-year cycle must be conducted unannounced. Many Food Safety Managers find this one of the most stressful aspects of maintaining certification. We help you build the kind of system where unannounced audits are not a source of anxiety — because the controls are embedded, the records are current, and your team knows exactly what to do when the auditor arrives. We offer specific unannounced audit readiness reviews and can coach your team on how to handle opening meetings, production floor observations and record reviews with confidence.

Yes. Many of our clients retain Entecom on an ongoing basis to support their annual surveillance audits, internal audit programs, management review inputs, corrective action management and continuous improvement activities. We also support clients when significant changes occur — new products, new processing lines, version changes, key personnel changes or nonconformances raised between audits. You can engage us for a single project or as a long-term implementation partner — the choice is yours.