BRCGS Food Safety

Retailer-driven food safety certification with a graded audit result.

Food Safety

Benchmark statusGFSI
Grade rangeAA to D
Audit optionsAnnounced or unannounced

Overview

BRCGS Food Safety is a globally recognised certification scheme for food manufacturers. Issue 9, published in 2022, places increased emphasis on food safety culture, hazard analysis and supply chain transparency. The standard is benchmarked by GFSI and accepted by major retailers and brand owners worldwide.

Certification requires an annual third-party audit by an accredited certification body. Sites are graded from AA+ to D based on the number and severity of non-conformities. The scheme covers food manufacturing processes including primary processing, packing and storage.

Prescriptive by design
Written for supply into retail. Site fabric, product control and process control are specified in detail rather than left to each site to interpret, which is why audit results are comparable between suppliers.
A graded outcome
The audit ends in a grade derived from the number and severity of non-conformities. A weaker grade shortens the interval to the next audit; a critical finding means no certificate.
Scope is per site, per category
One legal entity, one address, named product categories. A co-packer, a second freezing line commissioned after the audit or a third-party cold store all need their own cover.

Structure of the Standard

How the requirements are organised.

Ref	Requirement
1	Senior management commitmentResourcing, objectives, management review and the culture programme. Auditors open here because everything downstream depends on it.
2	The food safety planA HACCP study specific to the process, validated, and revisited when anything changed.
3	Food safety and quality management systemDocument control, specifications, supplier approval, traceability, complaints, incident management and recall testing.
4	Site standardsFabric, layout, equipment, maintenance, housekeeping, pest management, foreign body control and waste.
5	Product controlProduct design, allergen management, provenance claims, product testing and release.
6	Process controlControl of operations, quantity checks, calibration and verification of the equipment that proves a control worked.
7	PersonnelTraining, personal hygiene, medical screening, protective clothing.
8	Production risk zonesHigh risk, high care and ambient high care areas where segregation and flow are assessed in their own right.
9	Requirements for traded productsApplies where the site sells product it did not manufacture.

Where it Applies

Frozen fruit and vegetable processing
The scheme most often named by European retail buyers for IQF lines and for packing operations.
Private label supply
Retailer specifications commonly require BRCGS or an equivalent recognised scheme as a condition of listing.
Traded goods
The standard carries requirements for product traded rather than manufactured on site, which matters for exporters who buy in finished goods.
Buyers running a scheme comparison
Purchasing teams deciding whether to name BRCGS or to accept any GFSI-recognised scheme. The practical answer is usually the second, because the food safety requirement is the benchmark rather than the brand, and naming one scheme narrows the supply base without raising the bar.

How it Compares

Positioning against neighbouring schemes.

Versus IFS Food
Comparable coverage and both recognised. IFS scores clause by clause and produces a percentage; BRCGS grades on non-conformity severity. IFS is favoured in German and French retail, BRCGS in UK-facing supply.
Versus FSSC 22000
FSSC is built on ISO 22000 and is less prescriptive about site fabric. Industrial buyers accept it readily; some retail specifications still name BRCGS or IFS explicitly.
Versus HACCP alone
A HACCP study is a component of BRCGS, not an alternative to it. No commercial HACCP attestation satisfies a specification that asks for a recognised scheme.

Products Covered

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Markets that Expect It

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FAQ

Does the certificate cover our third-party cold store?

No. The store needs its own certificate for storage and distribution activity, or it has to be inside the audited site.

Which date on the certificate matters?

The next audit due date. An issue date says nothing about whether the certificate is still operative.

Can we ask for the audit report?

Yes. Sites can release the report summary and the non-conformity list. A supplier who refuses both has told you something useful.

Which issue applies to us?

The issue in force at the audit date, printed on the certificate. Section numbering shifts between issues, so read a clause reference against the right issue.

Sources & References

BRCGS Global Standard Food SafetyBRCGS, LGC Assurance · accessed August 22, 2026Issue and grade structure, the fundamental requirements, the announced and unannounced audit programmes and the traded goods module. The letter grade a buyer recognises comes from this document, and the grading table changes between issues, so a specification should name the issue rather than the grade alone.
GFSI Benchmarking RequirementsGlobal Food Safety Initiative, The Consumer Goods Forum · accessed August 22, 2026The document against which BRCGS, IFS Food and FSSC 22000 are benchmarked, and the reason a buyer can accept any of them. It covers scheme content, auditor competence, certification body accreditation and scheme integrity. Recognition is granted by version, and a scheme can lose it, so a purchasing clause should reference recognition rather than a scheme name frozen in time.
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffsEUR-Lex, European Union · accessed August 22, 2026HACCP-based procedures. Annex II Chapter IV covers transport conditions.

Evidence confidence: partial

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Vorezan publishes reference information for buyers and suppliers. We are not a certification body, a customs broker or a guarantor of any third party. Regulatory references point to the framework in force at the review date; verify the current consolidated text and your own obligations before relying on them commercially.

Last updated: August 22, 2026Sources & references

BRCGS Food Safety

Overview

Prescriptive by design

A graded outcome

Scope is per site, per category

Structure of the Standard

Where it Applies

Frozen fruit and vegetable processing

Private label supply

Traded goods

Buyers running a scheme comparison

How it Compares

Versus IFS Food

Versus FSSC 22000

Versus HACCP alone

Products Covered

Markets that Expect It

FAQ

Sources & References

At a Glance

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Certified Products

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Popular Questions

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Sources