GFSI certificate? What GFSI recognition means for FSSC 22000

There is no GFSI certificate. The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) does not write a standard itself, and it does not issue certificates. GFSI recognises certification schemes that meet its benchmark requirements, and FSSC 22000 is one of those recognised schemes. An FSSC 22000 certificate that falls within the recognised scope therefore counts as GFSI-recognised evidence. You can find the current list on the GFSI website .

The search term “GFSI certificate” is really a question about recognition. That question mostly comes from buyers who want to see one scheme, without knowing each scheme separately. FSSC explains what recognition involves and why it matters in what GFSI is and why recognition matters .

GFSI recognition applies to the scheme and version that was assessed, not to your company. Your company receives the evidence through a certificate from an accredited certification body.

What GFSI is and is not

GFSI is an initiative of the Consumer Goods Forum, the global organisation of retailers and producers. It assesses whether certification schemes are reliable enough to recognise each other. That makes it an assessor of schemes, not a certifier of companies.

GFSI does	GFSI does not
Assess whether a scheme meets the benchmark requirements	Audit or issue certificates itself
Keep a list of recognised schemes	Write its own food safety standard
Grant recognition after a public consultation and vote	Approve or reject individual companies
Point businesses and customers to recognised schemes	Guarantee that every company with a recognised scheme works safely

The explanation is deliberately this way: GFSI gives confidence in the scheme. The check on your company is then carried out by the certification body.

How a scheme gets recognised

A scheme is not recognised automatically. It goes through a fixed process, which FSSC describes as: an evaluation by a benchmark lead, a public consultation and a vote by the GFSI Steering Committee. Only after a positive vote does a scheme receive recognition.

That explains why recognition applies per version and per scope, as the table below shows. A scheme that has introduced new requirements must be assessed again before the new version is recognised.

Which schemes are recognised?

In its explanation, FSSC names four schemes that are most common in the food industry: FSSC 22000, BRCGS, SQF and IFS. On the GFSI list , they appear under benchmark version 2020. Always check that list yourself, because recognition can change.

For the choice between the schemes, the difference in target market matters more than recognition on its own. We compare this on FSSC vs BRCGS vs IFS.

Which FSSC categories are recognised?

Recognition applies per scope, not to the whole scheme. On the GFSI list that we opened on 28 October 2026, FSSC 22000 version 6 appears with these scopes:

Code	Scope
BIII	Pre-processing of plant products
CO	Primary processing of animals
CI	Processing of perishable animal products
CII	Processing of perishable plant products
CIII	Processing of perishable animal and plant products (mixed products)
CIV	Processing of ambient-stable animal and plant products (mixed products)
D	Animal feed production
G	Storage and distribution
I	Production of food packaging
K	Production of (bio)chemicals and biocultures for food ingredients or processing aids

Categories E (catering) and F (retail and wholesale) were not on that list. If you hold an FSSC certificate in such a category and your customer asks for a GFSI-recognised scheme, first check whether your scope is recognised.

Version 7 was not listed as a recognised version on that page. FSSC states that version 7 has been aligned with the GFSI benchmark requirements of 2024. That is a statement by FSSC, not an entry on the GFSI list. For version 7, ask your customer which version they accept. The differences between the versions are set out on versions 6 and 7.

Why customers ask for it

Retailers and large brands want to know that their suppliers meet the same level. GFSI recognition is a quick way to do that. Instead of assessing every scheme, they accept the recognised schemes as evidence. MyGFSI describes this on its own site as “once certified, accepted everywhere”, a promise that is mainly meant for international trade.

For you, this means in practice: a customer who asks for GFSI usually means a recognised scheme. An ISO certificate is often not enough in that case.

What does this mean for ISO 22000?

An ISO 22000 certificate is a management system certificate. It is not the same as a GFSI-recognised scheme. So anyone who needs GFSI-recognised evidence often chooses FSSC 22000, which uses ISO 22000 as its basis and adds requirements to it. You can see the difference on FSSC 22000 vs ISO 22000. The ISO side of the same question is on ISO 22000 vs FSSC 22000.

What your customer asks for	What you need
”GFSI-recognised certificate”	An FSSC 22000, BRCGS or IFS certificate within the recognised scope
”ISO 22000”	An ISO 22000 certificate, which is not automatically GFSI-recognised
”Proof of food safety”	The certificate with the scope you supply, verified in the register

Common misconceptions

“There is a GFSI certificate.” No. You have a certificate from a scheme that GFSI recognises.
“GFSI-recognised means my company is approved.” No. GFSI approves the scheme, not your company. Your company must hold a valid certificate.
“My recognition applies to everything.” No. Recognition applies to the assessed scope and version. A category that is not covered by the certificate is not covered.
“Benchmarking and recognising are the same.” Benchmarking is the assessment of the scheme. Recognition is the outcome.

What recognition does not guarantee

Recognition says something about the scheme, not about your company. A recognised scheme means the rules are good enough. It does not mean that every organisation that follows it actually works safely.

That is why the check on your company is still needed. An auditor looks at your shop floor, your hazard analysis and your records every year. A supplier that shows a recognised certificate may still have deviations that come up at the next audit. Recognition is the start of trust, not the end.

Which questions do you ask a supplier?

If you buy in, you want to know whether a certificate really covers the scope you need. Use these questions as a check:

Question	Why	What you want to hear
Which scheme and which version?	Recognition depends on the version	FSSC 22000 version 6 or 7, or another recognised scheme
Which food chain category?	Not every category is covered	A category that fits your product or service
Which certification body and accreditation?	The certificate must be credible	A certification body you can find in the register
Is the site listed in the register?	A new location is not always covered by the certificate	A listing with the correct site
Is there a recent audit without major findings?	A certificate does not say everything about the outcome	A report or summary of the latest audit

Note: the supplier may share this information, but the register is the source. Always check the listing yourself. You can read how to do this at checking an FSSC 22000 certificate.

An example from practice

Suppose a buyer at a supermarket chain wants to know whether a new packaging supplier meets the requirements. The supplier provides an FSSC 22000 certificate that states: category I, packaging material. Category I is on the GFSI list, so the certificate is recognised evidence for packaging.

The buyer checks the certificate in the register and sees that the site matches. They then also ask about the additional requirements, such as food fraud and food defence, because those matter for packaging. This way, they use the certificate as a starting point, not as the end point.

How do you check recognition?

Do this in two steps. First, check whether the scheme is on the GFSI list. Then check whether your certificate falls within the recognised scope. For the second step, use the Public Register of FSSC and the certificate check, as described on checking an FSSC 22000 certificate.