The requirement that applies today
The organization identifies and documents all food safety hazards reasonably expected for the product type, process type and process environment, using the preliminary information, experience, internal and external information such as epidemiological and scientific data, food chain information, and legal and customer requirements. It identifies the steps where each hazard can be present, introduced, increase or persist, considering the stages before and after, every step in the flow diagram, equipment, utilities, environment and people. Where possible it determines the acceptable level of each hazard in the end product, with the legal and customer requirements, the intended use and other relevant information, and keeps the justification.
ISO 22000:2018, 8.5.2.2 Hazard analysis: identification and acceptable levels; ISO/DIS 22000:2026, 8.5.2.2.
What the draft does
Subclause of 8.5.2; not listed separately in the public contents: The public contents name 8.5.2 at this position but do not list its subclauses. The subclause structure shown here comes from the held current edition; whether the draft keeps it is sold by ISO and not held here.
Source: public contents and foreword at 8.5.2.2, retrieved 2026-10-19.
Why this clause matters
This is the technical heart of the system. The acceptable level is the anchor: without it, a critical limit has nothing to be derived from. The common weakness is a hazard list that is long on biological hazards and thin on chemical ones, allergens, and hazards introduced by the environment or by people.
Suggested evidence to discuss with your auditor
For 8.5.2.2, 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 hazard identification table by step, with the source of each hazard
- Acceptable levels with the legal, customer or scientific basis
- Evidence that the analysis considered the environment, utilities and people
Where systems usually fall short
- Acceptable levels with no stated basis
- Chemical, allergen and environmental hazards under-represented
How to prepare
Take one step and list every way a hazard could enter it: the material, the equipment, the air, the water, the person, the previous step. Then show the control for each. The step is usually less controlled than the table suggests.
Dates
Cross-references
8.5.1.2, 8.5.1.5, 8.5.2.1, 8.5.2.3
Source
Clause 8.5.2.2. Current edition: ISO 22000:2018. Draft: ISO/DIS 22000:2026. Retrieved 2026-10-19. The full DIS text for 8.5.2.2 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.