Assessing Food Safety Compliance in a Small-Scale Indian Food Manufacturer: Before and after Certification of the Food Safety Management System and Foreign Supplier Verification Program

The implementation of food safety management systems has a great influence on global food safety and security, especially for developing nations. The principles of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points are crucial for food safety and are the basis of food safety management systems. The purpose of this study was to assess the food safety management systems of a selected small-sized food company in India, both before and after certification of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 22000 and the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP). This company manufactured traditional fried vegetable snacks using manual processing. The effectiveness of these certifications was assessed through direct audit. The integrated FSVP and ISO 22000 audit checklist were elaborated and applied in this study. It was shown that the certification significantly improved (97.14%) food safety system conformity in the company in question. Before certification, many non-compliances were found, especially for HACCP implementation. After certification, the only non-conformity concerned pest control. The integrated FSVP and ISO 22000 audit checklist used for the assessment enabled an evaluation of several factors: the food quality and safety compliance level, the effectiveness of certification, and the readiness of the small-sized Indian snack producer to develop the export of their products to the U.S. and other developed countries. It was shown that certification enabled a small-sized Indian food producer to meet the requirements of ISO 22000 and FSVP, which are the prerequisites for exporting to the U.S. and other developed countries.