FSSC 22000 guide
FSSC 22000 Version 7: what changed, the upgrade dates and how to prepare
Foundation FSSC published FSSC 22000 Version 7 on 1 May 2026, and upgrade audits run from 1 May 2027 to 30 April 2028. What changed, what stays the same, how the upgrade audit works and a five-step plan.
Key points
- Foundation FSSC published FSSC 22000 Version 7 on 1 May 2026. Audits against Version 6 may be delivered up to 30 April 2027, upgrade audits to Version 7 run from 1 May 2027 to 30 April 2028, and Version 6 certificates still open after 30 June 2028 are set to withdrawn.
- The biggest practical change is the prerequisite programme base: the retired ISO/TS 22002 technical specifications give way to the ISO 22002-x:2025 series, with ISO 22002-100:2025 as the common part used beside your sector part.
- Version 7 also aligns the scheme with the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements v2024, gives the food chain categories a more defined structure and revises the additional requirements.
- The upgrade audit is a full audit against Version 7, so the months before it are for a gap analysis, targeted rewrites and records that prove the new requirements work.
FSSC 22000 Version 7 dates: who must act, and by when
Every certified site needs an upgrade audit to Version 7 between 1 May 2027 and 30 April 2028. Until 30 April 2027 the certification body keeps auditing against Version 6, so the year after publication is a preparation window rather than an audit window. A site that misses the upgrade loses its listing: after 30 June 2028 the Foundation sets any remaining Version 6 certificate to withdrawn in the Assurance Platform, and it disappears from the public register that buyers check.
Sites seeking certification for the first time are caught by the same dates. From 1 May 2027 an initial certification is either Stage 1 and Stage 2 against Version 7, or a Stage 1 against Version 6 held before 1 May 2027 followed by a Stage 2 against Version 7.
| Date | What the Foundation's upgrade process sets | What it means for your site |
|---|---|---|
| 1 May 2026 | Version 7 scheme, annexes and upgrade-process document published | Obtain the documents, name an owner and start the gap analysis |
| 30 April 2027 | Last day on which Version 6 audits may be delivered | Audits up to this date are to Version 6; use them to close old findings |
| 1 May 2027 to 30 April 2028 | Upgrade audits against Version 7 are conducted | Agree with your certification body when in the window yours falls |
| 30 June 2028 | Remaining Version 6 certificates automatically set to withdrawn | No valid FSSC 22000 certificate without a completed upgrade |
Why the Foundation revised the scheme
Version 6 dates from March 2023. Foundation FSSC gave four reasons for a new version. ISO had published a new series of prerequisite programme standards in 2025, and the scheme had to point to it. The Global Food Safety Initiative had issued version 2024 of its Benchmarking Requirements, which a recognised scheme must follow. The Foundation wanted to strengthen the requirements that help certified organisations contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. And it wanted a clearer structure for dividing the food chain into categories. Editorial changes came with them.
Recognition itself is GFSI's decision, made through its own benchmarking process.
What changed in FSSC 22000 Version 7
The sources here are the Foundation's key-changes article of 7 May 2026 and the Version 7 scheme document, with a licensed certification body's release note adding the areas it saw revised.
| Area | What Version 7 does | What to check on your site |
|---|---|---|
| Prerequisite programmes | Replaces the ISO/TS 22002 technical specifications and the BSI PAS documents with the ISO 22002-x:2025 series: ISO 22002-100:2025 for requirements common to the food, feed and packaging chain, used with the part for your sector | Every PRP procedure and inspection checklist that still cites the old specification |
| Food chain categories | Gives the categories a more defined structure, with sub-divisions below the existing subcategories | Whether your scope wording still matches the category your products and processes fall into |
| GFSI alignment | Aligns the scheme with the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements v2024, including auditor qualification requirements | Mostly a certification-body matter; ask whether your usual auditor is qualified for Version 7 |
| Packaging design | Introduces the Save Food Packaging design principles of the Australasian Institute of Packaging and the World Packaging Organisation for organisations that design packaging | Design and development records that show containment, protection, shelf life and food loss and waste were considered |
| Additional requirements | Revises the additional requirements, now eighteen topics; the certification body's note names food loss and waste, quality control, equipment management, allergen management, packaging design and food safety and quality culture | Each of those registers against the Version 7 text, not the Version 6 wording |
| Audit duration | Named among the changed areas; the certification body calculates duration under ISO 22003-1 plus the scheme's own component | The duration and its calculation in your certification body's upgrade quote |
The companion guide FSSC 22000 additional requirements explained, one by one covers each of the eighteen topics.
What stays the same
The architecture of the scheme holds. FSSC 22000 remains three normative parts: ISO 22000:2018 for the management system, a prerequisite programme standard for your category and the Foundation's additional requirements. The Version 7 text refers to ISO 22000:2018; ISO is preparing a third edition of ISO 22000 but has announced no publication date, so that is a later change, not part of this one.
The certification rules are set out again in the Version 7 scheme: Stage 1 and Stage 2 must fall within six months of each other, surveillance is a full system audit every calendar year, and at least one surveillance audit in each three-year cycle is unannounced. Farming remains outside the scheme, as it has been since Version 6 removed category A. Brokers and traders work to ISO 22000:2018 and the additional requirements with no prerequisite programme part.
A system that runs well under Version 6 needs updating, not rebuilding.
The upgrade audit: full scope, possibly unannounced
The upgrade audit is not a document review of the changes. The Foundation defines it as a full audit against the Version 7 requirements. It may be announced, or unannounced where the site still needs its unannounced audit to meet the three-yearly rule, so plan for the possibility that the upgrade happens on a day you did not choose. The guide The unannounced audit: how to be ready on any day explains how that visit runs.
The Foundation specifies no additional audit time for the upgrade, but a certification body may add time where it judges it necessary. Ask for the calculation, and book early: every certified site works to the same twelve months.
Findings are graded minor, major or critical, as at any scheme audit, and a site should leave room to close them before 30 June 2028.
An upgrade plan in five steps
Step 1: read the scheme documents and run a gap analysis
Compare your system with the Version 7 scheme, annexes and main-changes document, starting with the prerequisite programmes and the revised additional requirements. Sort each result as met with evidence, met without evidence, or not met.
Step 2: rewrite the prerequisite programmes to the 2025 standards
Map every PRP to ISO 22002-100:2025 and your sector part, and revise the inspection checklists used for PRP verification so the site is checked against the new text.
Step 3: update the scope and the additional requirement registers
Confirm your category under the new structure, then revise the food loss and waste, quality control, equipment, allergen, packaging design and culture records the changes touch. Keep what already works.
Step 4: train, audit and review against Version 7
Brief the food safety team and internal auditors on the changes, then complete an internal audit of all three parts and a management review with the new requirements on the agenda. FSSC 22000 training: who needs what sets out the roles.
Step 5: book the upgrade audit early
Agree the date range, the audit duration and the handling of the unannounced audit with a certification body licensed by Foundation FSSC.
How Sterling handles FSSC 22000 Version 7 upgrades
An upgrade that changes what Version 7 requires and nothing else.
Our expert and experienced consultants run the gap analysis against the Version 7 documents, rewrite your prerequisite programmes to ISO 22002-100:2025 and your sector part, update the additional requirement registers in Effivity, brief your team and complete the internal audit and management review with you, so the upgrade audit finds a system already working to Version 7 on any day. Upgrades are part of Sterling's Sustain™ support. We ensure successful certification for our clients. Your licensed certification body audits and decides; Sterling does not certify.
Book a free discovery callFSSC 22000 Version 7: questions buyers ask
Can we have our upgrade audit to Version 7 before May 2027?
No, going by the Foundation's timetable. Version 6 audits may be delivered up to 30 April 2027 and upgrade audits run from 1 May 2027, so the earlier months are for preparing the site, not for the audit itself.
Do we have to rewrite our prerequisite programmes for Version 7?
Yes, in most cases. Version 7 bases the PRPs on ISO 22002-100:2025 together with the 2025 part for your sector, so procedures and checklists written to the old technical specifications need remapping. Brokers and traders are the exception, because their category has no PRP part.
Will the upgrade audit take longer than a normal surveillance audit?
Not by the Foundation's rules, which specify no extra time for the upgrade. Your certification body may still add time where it considers it necessary, so ask it for the calculation.
We are starting FSSC 22000 certification in early 2027. Which version applies?
Build to Version 7. From 1 May 2027 a first certification is audited to Version 7, either at both stages or at Stage 2 after a Version 6 Stage 1 held before that date.
What happens if our upgrade audit slips past the window?
The certificate lapses. Upgrade audits end on 30 April 2028, and after 30 June 2028 the Foundation sets every remaining Version 6 certificate to withdrawn, which removes it from the public register your customers check.
Does Version 7 bring farming back into the scheme?
No. Farming has been outside FSSC 22000 since Version 6 removed category A, and ISO lists the farming technical specification in the 22002 series as withdrawn.
More FSSC 22000 guides
Every guide in the FSSC 22000 series is written for one question and links back to the hub for the whole picture.
- FSSC 22000 case study
- FSSC 22000 certification cost: what moves the price
- FSSC 22000 certification process, step by step
- Effivity for FSSC 22000: the guide
- Food defence and food fraud assessments
- FSSC 22000 additional requirements explained, one by one
- FSSC 22000 training: who needs what
- The unannounced audit: how to be ready on any day
- FSSC 22000 Version 7: what changed
- ISO 22000 vs FSSC 22000 vs BRCGS
Keep exploring
Explore more about FSSC 22000
Watch a video on how to implement FSSC 22000 here.
Watch a video on FSSC 22000 requirements here.
FSSC 22000 resources
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