Overview
Every food business operating in India already carries a legal obligation on food safety: your FSSAI licence itself requires a documented food safety management system built on Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Hygiene Practices, set out in Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011. That obligation does not disappear or get replaced by ISO 22000 — it is the floor every licensed manufacturer already stands on. Since 1 April 2026, FSSAI licences are also issued on a turnover-based slab (Basic Registration up to ₹1.5 crore, State Licence up to ₹50 crore, Central Licence above that, with certain categories such as health supplements or 100%-export units needing a Central Licence regardless of turnover), and licences granted after that date carry perpetual validity subject to risk-based inspection rather than fixed renewal.
ISO 22000:2018 sits above that floor, and it is entirely voluntary — nobody is legally required to hold it to sell food in India. What it gives a buyer, whether an organised retail chain, an export customer or an institutional catering group, is third-party evidence that your hazard analysis and management system meet an internationally recognised standard rather than just your own paperwork. Businesses pursue it because the buyers they want to sell to ask for it, not because the law does.
CapEasy prepares your business for ISO 22000 certification and supports you through the audit with an NABCB- or IAF-accredited certification body. We do not issue the certificate ourselves; no consultancy does. An unaccredited certificate is paper that organised retail and export buyers will not recognise, so we work only with accreditation that carries weight in the market you are trying to open.
Related but distinct: HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is its own separately certifiable food safety scheme, run through accredited bodies such as those under the Quality Council of India’s IndiaHACCP scheme, and is often asked for alongside or instead of ISO 22000 by specific buyers. If your buyer has named HACCP rather than ISO 22000, see our HACCP certification page — the two are not interchangeable, and we help you work out which one your buyer actually needs.
Who it’s for
- Food manufacturers and processors who already hold an FSSAI licence and are being asked by an organised retail chain, distributor or modern-trade buyer to show a food safety management system certificate
- Exporters of food products whose overseas customer or import market expects ISO 22000 as standard due-diligence evidence
- Contract manufacturers and private-label producers supplying branded retailers or hospitality and institutional catering groups
- Businesses that have outgrown informal quality checks and want a documented, auditable food safety system as they scale production
- Companies confused by a buyer asking for "food safety certification" who are not sure whether that means ISO 22000, HACCP, or something else entirely
Eligibility & requirements
- A valid FSSAI licence already in place — ISO 22000 is layered on top of it, not a substitute, and certification bodies expect this as a baseline
- A documented food safety management system covering hazard analysis, operational prerequisite programmes and critical control points across your actual process, not a generic template
- Interactive communication with suppliers, customers and regulators built into the system, since ISO 22000 treats food safety as a chain responsibility, not a single-facility exercise
- Management commitment and defined roles — the standard requires top management ownership of the food safety policy, not a delegated compliance function
- A functioning internal audit and management review cycle before the external certification audit, so nonconformities are found and closed internally first
- Certification through an NABCB-accredited or IAF-recognised certification body — accreditation is what makes the certificate carry weight with organised retail and export buyers
How CapEasy handles it
- Gap analysis against ISO 22000:2018 requirements, mapped to your existing FSSAI-mandated Schedule 4 GMP/GHP documentation so we build on what you already have rather than starting over
- Hazard analysis and identification of operational prerequisite programmes and critical control points specific to your product and process
- Documentation build — food safety policy, procedures, records and the management review structure the standard requires
- Staff training so the system is actually followed on the floor, not just filed
- Internal audit and management review to close gaps before the certification body ever visits
- Stage 1 audit (documentation review) by your chosen accredited certification body
- Stage 2 audit (on-site implementation audit); once passed, the certification body issues the ISO 22000 certificate directly to you
- Ongoing support through the standard three-year certification cycle, including the annual surveillance audits the certification body will conduct to keep the certificate valid
Documents you’ll typically need
- Your current FSSAI licence and its Schedule 4 food safety documentation
- Process flow diagrams and product specifications for everything you manufacture or process
- Existing quality or hygiene records, supplier lists and any current SOPs, even informal ones
- Facility layout and equipment list for the production site to be certified
- Details of the buyer or market driving the certification request, so scope and timeline expectations are set correctly
- Any existing HACCP documentation, if you already hold or have started one, so the two systems are built to work together rather than duplicated
CapEasy is a private consultancy and is not affiliated with any government authority. We help you assess eligibility and prepare and file your application; eligibility and approval depend on your specifics and the relevant department’s discretion.
