Consolidated Standards for Inspections: Why You Should Care About It

The AIB International Consolidated Standards for Inspection are a collection of requirements based on good manufacturing practices, regulatory requirements, and food safety practices that are typically used in food and beverage supply chain manufacturing facilities and food distribution centers. These standards were compiled to include the intent of many globally recognized requirements to provide a single document that is easy to read and use to provide a strong foundation for food safety practices and conditions in your facility. The scoring system we use provides a yardstick to measure how well a company performs against the standards and allows for tracking improvement year over year.

We developed our first Consolidated Standards for Inspection in 1956 to meet a need in the baking industry when bakeries wanted to know how they compared to what was expected and how they could measure improvement. Subsequent updates of the Consolidated Standards for Inspection occurred in 1978, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016, and most recently 2022. Each update addressed new scientific knowledge, new regulations, and newly developed technologies and best practices that enhance food safety.

These standards were accepted by the food industry due to their unique way of integrating, in a user-friendly, easy-to-understand format, the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), regulatory requirements, and food safety practices.

What has been updated

This latest update includes integrating new technologies used in Integrated Pest Management (IPM), addressing regulatory updates, and consolidating related requirements within the previous version of our Standards into a single requirement.

Additionally, the requirements for food safety plans were divided into two distinct standards for HACCP and HARPC, defining the requirements for each type of plan. The standard for food defense was also divided and made more prescriptive for global application of food defense and specific for regulated food defense in the U.S. The programs and procedures previously found in categories 1 through 4 of the Standards were moved to category 5 Adequacy of Food Safety and Prerequisite to consolidate programs into one category.

Why to use the consolidated standards

When you use the AIB International Consolidated Standards for Inspection, you provide your operation with a blueprint for your specific industry needs to meet regulatory and customer food safety expectations. And when you use our Food Safety Professionals to inspect your facility against these written standards, you get an unbiased evaluation as to how well your site is performing against the Standards.

Your food safety team can also use these standards when conducting your monthly self-inspections and provide a rating using our scoring system to measure performance. These standards are globally recognized and used by companies large and small to help them in their mission to provide their customers with safe food.

We have customized our standards for nine segments of the food supply chain because one size does not fit all industries. Each segment of the food supply chain has unique needs and considerations that have been used in the development of these Standards.

The Standards that have been updated for use starting January 1, 2023, include those for Food Safety and Prerequisite Programs (Food Manufacturing), Beverage Facilities, Food Distribution Centers, Food Contact Packaging Manufacturing Facilities, and Nonfood Contact Packaging Manufacturing Facilities. The use of these updated Standards will help you enhance your operation’s food and product safety needs to meet regulatory and customer expectations.

If your inspection is scheduled to happen before December 31, 2022, you will be inspected against the current version. If the consolidated standards under which you are currently inspected were not updated, the current version will remain in effect in 2023 or until the respective update has been announced.

Check these resources that will help you better understand the updates made to the consolidated standards for inspections:

• Watch the recording explaining the updates introduced to the Food Safety and Prerequisite Programs (Food Manufacturing), Beverage Facilities, Food Distribution Centers, Food Contact Packaging Manufacturing Facilities, and Nonfood Contact Packaging Manufacturing Facilities – Click here
• Download the updated Consolidated Standards – Click here. Updated versions include the mark “2023 Update”. You will have access to the PDF version as well as the changed document.