HACCP
Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points
Food safety risk management — required for food processing, cold storage and distribution.
Food processingSeafood & meatCold storage3PL
Certifications & Compliance
Cold storage certifications and compliance
The certification set buyers request in cold-chain projects — BRCGS Storage & Distribution, HACCP, GMP/GDP, FDA, Halal and Kosher — with the evidence an auditor asks for. ISO 22000 for cold storage has its own dedicated guide.
Where ISO 22000 fits in the certification mix
ISO 22000 is the food safety management system standard most industrial and export buyers accept. The full requirements, seven-stage certification path, timeline and audit cost live on the dedicated page: ISO 22000 certification for cold storage. The clause summary below is only a quick orientation against the other schemes on this page.
| Clause | What the standard requires | Cold-chain implication |
|---|---|---|
| Clauses 4–5 — Context & leadership | Define the scope of the food safety management system (FSMS), interested parties, and top-management commitment with a documented food safety policy. | Scope statement must name the temperature regimes handled (chilled, frozen, deep-frozen) and each site, chamber or third-party store included. |
| Clause 6 — Planning | Risk and opportunity assessment, measurable food safety objectives, and planned change control. | Power failure, refrigeration breakdown, defrost cycles and door-opening losses are treated as identified risks with contingency plans. |
| Clause 7 — Support | Resources, competence, awareness, communication and documented information control. | Calibration programme for probes and data loggers; trained refrigeration and QA staff; external communication with carriers and 3PLs. |
| Clause 8.2 — Prerequisite programmes (PRPs) | Infrastructure, cleaning, pest control, personal hygiene, waste and utilities baseline. | Panel and floor integrity, condensate and drainage control, evaporator hygiene, airflow layout and dock-seal condition. |
| Clause 8.5 — Hazard control (HACCP) | Hazard analysis, CCP determination, critical limits, monitoring, corrections and corrective actions. | Storage and transport temperature are usually the CCP: define critical limits per product, monitoring frequency, and product-disposition rules on excursion. |
| Clause 8.9 — Product release & withdrawal | Handling of nonconforming product, withdrawal/recall procedure and periodic testing of that procedure. | Traceability by batch and chamber, quarantine locations, and a mock recall exercise at least annually. |
| Clause 9–10 — Performance & improvement | Monitoring, internal audit, management review, nonconformity handling and continual improvement. | Trend excursion data, temperature-mapping re-verification, and refrigeration maintenance KPIs in the management review pack. |
Full clause-by-clause detail is in the ISO 22000 cold storage guide, and the underlying hazard work is covered in the HACCP cold storage guide.
ISO 22000 vs BRCGS Storage & Distribution
- BRCGS Storage & Distribution is a certification scheme with a graded audit outcome (AA to D); ISO 22000 is a management-system standard with a pass/fail certificate.
- BRCGS prescribes site standards in detail (building fabric, chilled/frozen segregation, contract services); ISO 22000 lets you define PRPs against ISO/TS 22002.
- BRCGS audits are unannounced or announced on a fixed cycle with a strict non-conformity grading; ISO 22000 uses a three-year cycle with surveillance audits.
- Retailers and export buyers frequently name BRCGS explicitly; tenders and industrial clients more often accept ISO 22000 plus HACCP.
Scheme structure, grading and site requirements are detailed in the BRCGS Storage & Distribution guide.
Cold storage audit checklist
Evidence commonly requested in an ISO 22000 or BRCGS audit of a temperature-controlled facility. Use it as a gap list before booking a certification body, or as a specification input when procuring a new facility.
- 01FSMS scope, policy and organisation chart covering every chilled and frozen area
- 02HACCP study with CCPs, critical limits and validated evidence for each temperature regime
- 03Temperature mapping report per chamber (loaded and empty, summer/winter conditions)
- 04Continuous monitoring records with alarm set-points, escalation list and response times
- 05Calibration certificates for all probes, loggers and reference thermometers
- 06Refrigeration preventive maintenance plan, defrost schedule and breakdown log
- 07Documented power-failure / refrigeration-failure contingency plan and standby capacity
- 08Prerequisite programme records: cleaning, pest control, glass & brittle plastic, hygiene
- 09Supplier and 3PL approval file, including reefer transport temperature evidence
- 10Traceability test and mock recall completed within the last 12 months
- 11Internal audit schedule, nonconformity register with root cause and closure evidence
- 12Management review minutes referencing excursion trends and improvement actions
Country-specific import, export and registration requirements are covered by the country compliance checklist.
Certifications requested in cold-chain projects
ISO 9001 / 22000 / 14001
Quality, Food Safety & Environmental Management
Operational quality, food-safety management systems and environmental compliance across the supply chain.
All industrial refrigeration projectsEPC contractorsEquipment manufacturers
GMP / GDP
Good Manufacturing & Distribution Practice
Pharmaceutical and biologics warehousing, transport and temperature-controlled distribution.
Pharma warehousesVaccine logisticsBiotech storage
FDA
U.S. Food & Drug Administration compliance
Required for facilities exporting food, seafood, dairy or pharma into the U.S. market (FSMA, 21 CFR).
Export-oriented food & pharmaU.S.-bound logistics
BRCGS
Brand Reputation Compliance — Storage & Distribution
Globally recognised retailer-driven food safety standard for storage and distribution operations.
Retail food supplyCold storageExport packers
Halal / Kosher
Religious certification for food & pharma
Segregation, supervision and documentation for halal/kosher product handling in cold chain.
GCC & Israel marketsMulti-segment processors
ISO 22000 & BRCGS: frequently asked questions
Which certifications do cold-chain buyers ask for most?+
BRCGS Storage & Distribution for retail-facing storage, HACCP as the baseline in almost every market, GMP/GDP for pharma and vaccine handling, FDA registration for US-bound food, and Halal or Kosher where the destination market requires it. ISO 22000 is covered in full on the dedicated ISO 22000 cold storage page.
What is the difference between ISO 22000 and BRCGS?+
ISO 22000 is a management-system standard you build around your own prerequisite programmes and receive a pass/fail certificate for. BRCGS Storage & Distribution is a prescriptive retailer-driven scheme with detailed site requirements and a graded audit result. Many cold stores hold both, because retail buyers request BRCGS while industrial and export clients accept ISO 22000.
What temperature records does an ISO 22000 or BRCGS audit require?+
Auditors expect a temperature-mapping report per chamber, continuous monitoring records with alarm set-points, calibration certificates for probes and loggers, an excursion log with product-disposition decisions, and evidence that refrigeration maintenance and defrost cycles were performed as planned.
Do refrigeration contractors and equipment suppliers need these certifications?+
Contractors and manufacturers are usually assessed on ISO 9001, ISO 14001, pressure-equipment and safety compliance rather than ISO 22000. What matters for your audit is that the installed system can hold and evidence the required temperatures — commissioning data, mapping support and documented maintenance are part of a compliant handover.
Can certification requirements be built into an RFQ?+
Yes. Naming the target standard, temperature regimes, monitoring and validation deliverables in the RFQ means quotes include mapping, instrumentation, calibration and documentation instead of these appearing as variations after award.
Need a compliant supplier?
Tell us your target standard and temperature regimes — we shortlist qualified suppliers whose scope matches.
ISO 22000 for cold storage certification programmes
ISO 22000 certifies the food safety management system behind a temperature-controlled facility: scope by chamber and temperature class, prerequisite programmes, validated temperature control, traceability and recall. Full clause-by-clause detail, costs and audit evidence live on the ISO 22000 cold storage guide.
Certification process
- 1. Define scopeList every site, chamber and temperature class (ambient, +2/+8 °C, 0 °C, −18 °C, −25 °C) and the product categories held.
- 2. Appoint the food safety teamNamed team leader with authority, plus operations, engineering, quality and transport representation.
- 3. Build the prerequisite programmesFabric and hygiene, drainage, pest control, cleaning, maintenance, waste, personal hygiene and dock control per ISO/TS 22002-1 adapted to warehousing.
- 4. Run the hazard analysisCodex-based analysis for a holding-and-moving facility; most cold stores end with chamber temperature and dispatch loading as the genuine CCPs.
- 5. Validate temperature controlChamber mapping empty and loaded, justified sensor placement, continuous logging, two-tier alarms and traceable calibration.
- 6. Prove traceability and recallForward and backward traceability across multi-client stock inside the declared window, evidenced by a mock recall.
- 7. Stage 1 and Stage 2 auditsDocumentation review, then the on-site implementation audit, followed by non-conformity closure and certificate issue.
Procurement checklist
- •Certificate scope statement lists the exact chambers and temperature classes you will use
- •Temperature mapping study for each chamber, empty and loaded, less than 12 months old
- •Continuous data logging with export, audit trail and defined retention period
- •Two-tier alarming with a named 24/7 escalation route and response-time evidence
- •Calibration certificates traceable to a national standard for every monitoring sensor
- •Documented HACCP plan with CCP limits, monitoring frequency and corrective actions
- •Mock recall completed within the declared traceability window, with records retained
- •Supplier scope confirmation for hygienic panel design, finishes and drainage detailing
- •Standby or redundant refrigeration capacity defined for the temperature class held
- •Last audit report and non-conformity closure evidence supplied before contract award
ISO 22000 questions buyers ask
What is ISO 22000 for cold storage?+
ISO 22000 is the international food safety management system standard. For a cold store it certifies the management system that controls temperature holding, prerequisite programmes, traceability and recall across defined chambers and temperature classes — not the building itself. The certificate is scope-specific: chambers left out of the scope statement are not certified.
How long does ISO 22000 certification take for a cold store?+
Typically 4–9 months from kick-off for a single site: 6–12 weeks to build the food safety management system and prerequisite programmes, 4–8 weeks of records before the Stage 1 audit, then Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits roughly 4–8 weeks apart, plus non-conformity closure.
How much does ISO 22000 certification cost?+
For a single cold store, certification body fees usually run about USD 6,000–18,000 for the three-year cycle depending on headcount, chamber count and shifts, plus consultancy of roughly USD 5,000–20,000 and internal cost for temperature mapping, calibration and logging upgrades. Multi-site groups get lower per-site fees.
ISO 22000 vs BRCGS Storage & Distribution — which do buyers ask for?+
ISO 22000 is a management-system standard accepted worldwide and easy to integrate with ISO 9001. BRCGS Storage & Distribution is a GFSI-benchmarked, more prescriptive scheme that UK and EU retailers usually specify by name. If your customers are retail supply chains, BRCGS (or FSSC 22000) is normally required; ISO 22000 alone may not satisfy the contract.
What evidence does an ISO 22000 cold storage audit require?+
Temperature mapping per chamber empty and loaded, sensor placement justified by that mapping, continuous logging with two-tier alarms and named 24/7 escalation, calibration certificates traceable to a national standard, the HACCP plan and hazard analysis, prerequisite programme records, a completed mock recall inside the declared traceability window, internal audit coverage of every clause and a management review.
Does new refrigeration equipment need to be ISO 22000 compliant?+
Equipment is not certified against ISO 22000, but the specification decides whether you can pass. Ask suppliers for hygienic-design panels and finishes, calibrated sensors with certificates, data logging with export and audit trail, alarm contacts for remote escalation, and documented redundancy or standby capacity for the temperature class you hold.