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4.4

Food safety management system

ClauseUnchanged titleRetrieved 2026-10-19Last updated: 2026-10-19

The requirement that applies today

The organization builds the system, puts it into use, keeps it running, updates it and improves it over time, including the processes it needs and the way those processes connect. The clause is the standing obligation behind every other clause: a system that exists on paper but is not maintained does not meet it.

ISO 22000:2018, 4.4 Food safety management system; ISO/DIS 22000:2026, 4.4.

What the draft does

Unchanged title: The public contents keep 4.4 at the same number and title. The requirement to maintain and update the system is what makes the revision a system change, not a document swap.

Source: public contents and foreword at 4.4, retrieved 2026-10-19.

Why this clause matters

This is the clause an auditor uses when the system has drifted: documents that no longer match practice, processes that changed without the system following, or an update that never happened. It is also the hook for the transition itself, because moving to a new edition is an update of the system.

Suggested evidence to discuss with your auditor

For 4.4, these are the artefacts we suggest discussing with your auditor. The standard publishes no evidence list, so this is our reading, not a requirement.

  • A process map with owners and interactions, dated
  • Evidence of the last system update and what triggered it
  • A maintained document index that matches the documents in use

Where systems usually fall short

  • A process map produced for the certification audit and never used
  • System updates made informally, with no record of what changed or why

How to prepare

Pick the last significant change at the site, such as a new line or a new supplier, and trace what changed in the system as a result. If the trace stops at a meeting, the update process under 4.4 and 6.3 needs work.

Dates

Applies todayISO 22000:2018 as amended in 2024, the edition published today; certificate treatment after a new edition depends on the transition arrangements
DraftISO/DIS 22000:2026, DIS ballot closed 2026-07-29
Planning date2027-09-12 (estimate, not an ISO date)

Cross-references

4.3, 6.3, 9.3, 10.4

Source

Clause 4.4. Current edition: ISO 22000:2018. Draft: ISO/DIS 22000:2026. Retrieved 2026-10-19. The full DIS text for 4.4 is sold by ISO and not held here; the sources page lists what is.

Not legal advice; does not certify; our words, not the standard's, and the planning date is an estimate.