BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9: which requirements must you control?
BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 requires demonstrable control of food safety, integrity, legality and quality. The official BRCGS overview and the Issue 9 help and guidance remain the authority for the exact standard and its interpretation. The BRCGS quick guide helps with a first orientation.
This page is a study guide written in plain words. It is not a full checklist, and you cannot predict a certification outcome from it. Also read the BRCGS hub, the scope page and the explanation of the audit result.
A sauce producer links its allergen risk assessment to cleaning validation, label checks and a traceability test. That example shows how the parts connect. It is not a universal minimum set of documents or evidence.
On this page
The cards order the topics you can use in an internal study or gap discussion. For each block, look at the purpose, the evidence and the behaviour. Match the depth to your product, process and the current Issue 9 documents.
1. Management and culture
Management commitment shows in decisions, resources and follow-up. A board, for example, reviews one open food safety action every month, assigns an owner and checks whether the measure works. On the shop floor, staff must know what to do when something deviates and feel safe to report it.
2. Hazard control
Start with the hazard analysis and follow the product through the chain. Explain which hazards you control, where you check and what happens when a limit or control fails. The basis links to HACCP and PRPs, but BRCGS assesses the whole system against its own scheme and protocol. To choose critical control points, you can use the CCP decision tree.
A chilled meal producer links a temperature check to a concrete response: block the product, investigate the cause and document the basis for release. A log without a response plan does not show that the control works.
3. Hygiene and environment
Look at building condition, cleaning, pests, glass and hard plastic, waste streams and personal hygiene. The evidence can include a walk-through, maintenance records, trend analysis and conversations. The auditor wants to see that the described method is carried out on the floor.
4. Product and process
Product specifications, recipes, labels and process settings must match each other. Check changes before they go into production. A recipe change that adds an allergen, for example, can affect cleaning, labelling, training and release.
5. Traceability and incidents
A useful traceability test links supplier, batch, process, packaging, customer and quantities. Also test a complaint, a product hold or a recall decision. Record what you find during the exercise, who decides, and which correction makes the next test better.
6. Integrity and intent
Food fraud and food defence address different threats. Read the difference on food fraud versus food defence. Also consider complaints, suppliers, claims and legal requirements. An integrity risk can also arise outside the production line.
Use this study guide to ask questions, not to tick off clauses. The current BRCGS standard, its interpretation and position statements decide what applies in your audit.
For evidence of your own controls, use the internal audit. Test them before the external audit, across the full scope.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a thick quality manual?
The thickness of the manual does not count. Control and evidence do. Describe what people actually do, and make sure records, instructions and changes do not contradict each other.
Is a HACCP plan enough for BRCGS?
No. HACCP is an important part, but the scheme also covers management, the building, product control, traceability, integrity and other controls.
Can this page replace my internal audit?
No. Use the study guide to plan discussions and observations. Make sure your internal audit matches the current official documents and your own scope.