The IFS Food Standard (International Featured Standards) is a globally recognized food safety standard required by major retail chains as a prerequisite for supplier listing. In Europe, retailers such as REWE, Edeka, Lidl, Aldi, Kaufland, and Metro mandate IFS Food as a minimum requirement. For food manufacturers producing private labels or delivering to large retailers, IFS Food is unavoidable.
The standard addresses both food safety and product quality. It evaluates not just whether a product is safe, but whether the production process consistently manufactures goods to the required specifications. For manufacturers, IFS Food is not a one-time certificate but a continuous proof of active quality and safety processes, verified through annual audits.
Structure and Versions of IFS Food
The current version is IFS Food Version 8 (published in 2023), with full mandatory application since 2024. Version 8 strengthens requirements regarding Food Fraud, crisis management, and digital documentation compared to its predecessor.
The standard is divided into six key chapters:
- Senior Management Responsibility: Evaluates whether food safety is a strategic priority with clear management commitment and resource allocation.
- Quality & Food Safety Management System: Covers document control, internal audits, corrective actions, and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points).
- Resource Management: Assesses staff qualifications, hygiene training, and personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Planning and Production Process: The operational core—raw material control, packaging, cleaning/disinfection, pest control, foreign body detection, and dispatch.
- Measurements, Analyses, Improvements: Covers product testing, customer communication, and traceability.
- Food Defense and Food Fraud: Evaluates measures against intentional adulteration and criminal attacks on the food supply.
The Scoring System: How Points are Awarded
IFS Food uses a sophisticated scoring system to differentiate requirements by criticality:
- Knock-out (KO) Criteria: Failure to meet these results in automatic audit failure, regardless of other scores. KO criteria include HACCP implementation, Traceability, withdrawal/recall procedures, and allergen management.
- Scoring (A, B, C, D): Requirements are rated from A (full compliance) to D (non-compliance), each carrying a specific point value.
- Certification Levels: A certificate is issued at a total score of 75% or higher. Scoring 95% or above earns the "Higher Level" status, which many retailers explicitly demand.
Operational Reality: Why Data is the Deciding Factor
Audit practice shows that the substance of an IFS Food audit is not found in static documentation, but in the ability to prove processes with verifiable data.
- The Traceability Test (KO Criterion): Auditors perform a live traceability test. They select a finished product from the warehouse and expect the manufacturer to trace it back to all raw material batches—and forward to all customers—within two to four hours. Doing this with paper or Excel is a high-risk manual effort.
- Allergen Management (KO Relevant): Manufacturers must prove that cleaning and release protocols were performed and documented before starting a new production run. This requires precise batch-level timestamps.
- Digital Integrity: Auditors are trained to spot retrospectively "reconstructed" paper logs. Digital systems with automated timestamps and user IDs provide the only credible proof of real-time monitoring.
IFS Food vs. HACCP and BRCGS
- HACCP: This is the legally mandated foundation (EU Reg 852/2004). IFS Food assumes a fully functional HACCP system is already in place and builds upon it.
- BRCGS: The British Retail Consortium standard is the primary alternative. Both are recognized by the GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative). While IFS Food dominates Central Europe (Germany, France, Italy), BRCGS is more prevalent in the UK and North American markets.
FAQ
How often do IFS Food audits occur? Audits are conducted annually. Many retailers now mandate unannounced audits to ensure the facility is "audit-ready" at all times without preparation time.
What are the costs? External audit fees for a mid-sized facility typically range from €2,000 to €5,000, depending on complexity and duration, plus internal preparation costs.
Can an MES support IFS Food compliance? Yes, significantly. A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that automates batch tracking, captures CCP (Critical Control Point) data, and logs cleaning cycles with timestamps turns the "Traceability Test" into a push-button process. It ensures that CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Actions) are based on real-time data, making the audit a stress-free demonstration of control rather than a search through paper archives.