Out of the current 19,000 or so international standards, about 1,000 are solely dedicated to food, covering topics ranging from logistics and transportation to manufacturing, packaging and storage, labeling, and agricultural machinery. Even those like the AS9120 standard, which historically has been reserved for the aerospace industry, have some connection to food storage and safety. All have close connections to helping to eradicate the illnesses that spread due to the improper handling of food, like Listeriosis, which is usually something that newborn babies, pregnant women, those with compromised immune systems and the elderly get. The whole idea behind these food safety certification programs is that they help regulate manufacturers and handlers of food, particularly those that deal with perishable foods like produce and products that have longer shelf lives like vitamins.
Through AS9120 certification, then, just like through BRC certification, Iso 20000 certification, ISO 27001 certification and AS9100 certification, food handlers and manufacturers can better wrap their heads around how to properly handle food and deliver it to consumers. Even certifications like ISO 14000, which is a set of standards for environmental management that helps control how organizations affect the natural environment around them, ties in with AS9120 and food certification standards. So does the BRC standard, which was developed in 1998 by the British Retail Consortium after industry corporations were in need of a technical standard for food that evaluated product brands from various retailers. So basically, most of today’s standards revolve around food and the handling of it.