Reducing Food Loss and Waste Through FSSC 22000: How to Combine Safety, Efficiency, and Sustainability

Food loss and waste represent one of the most serious global challenges, and now directly affect food safety standards. In discussions, these terms are often confused, but for systematic management they need to be distinguished.

Per FSSC 22000 Version 6 logic:

• Food loss: product lost before reaching the consumer due to supply chain issues (production, processing, storage, distribution).
• Food waste: product fit for consumption that is deliberately discarded at the retail or consumer stage.

This is an important distinction for management because the tools for reducing food loss and waste in production and logistics differ from solutions at the retail and consumer level.

The source provides data showing the real scale of the challenge:

• in 2022, 1.05 billion tonnes of food were lost/wasted globally at the retail, food service, and household levels;
• this represents approximately 19% of food available to consumers at these stages (per UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024);
• an additional 13% of food is lost in the supply chain before reaching retail (per FAO, 2023).

These figures explain why FLW is part of the global goal SDG 12.3: to halve food loss and waste by 2030.

For businesses, this means the topic is no longer "voluntary." It is gradually being integrated into certification requirements, procurement criteria, and investor expectations.

One of the strongest conclusions from the FSSC publication: reducing loss and waste should be viewed through the lens of the food safety management system, not separately from it.

Why this works:

• controlling hazard factors reduces product spoilage;
• better process control reduces technological losses;
• more precise storage and transport rules reduce write-offs;
• documentation discipline improves decision-making on product redistribution/donation.

FSSC 22000 effectively gives the enterprise a structured mechanism where safety and raw material efficiency operate within the same framework. Equally important is food production hygiene. Without stable sanitary conditions, an FLW strategy loses its effectiveness.

The FSSC article emphasizes the Additional Requirement regarding FLW. The essence of the requirement:

• organizations certified or seeking certification under FSSC 22000 (in food categories, excluding packaging materials) must have a documented policy and objectives for FLW reduction;
• measures must cover both in-house operations and the related supply chain;
• the importance of managed procedures for the safe transfer of edible fit-for-use products (donation management) is emphasized.

In practice, this means that "we try to waste less" is no longer sufficient. Goals, processes, evidence, and results are required.

The source conveys an important approach from the FSSC Foundation CEO: FLW is a matter of raw material efficiency. For business, this has direct economic significance.

When a company systematically reduces FLW, it:

• increases the yield of fit-for-use product;
• reduces indirect disposal costs;
• cuts margin losses due to write-offs;
• improves production plan predictability;
• lowers the carbon footprint per unit of sold product.

In other words, an FLW strategy works both as compliance and as an operational efficiency tool.

In its publication, FSSC specifically notes that inedible parts (e.g., eggshells, banana peels) are also considered in the FLW context to encourage a broader approach to resource utilization.

Instead of the "everything to landfill" scenario, alternatives are recommended:

• composting;
• co-digestion for energy;
• other models for returning value to the chain.

For an enterprise, this is a practical opportunity to transform a cost item into a managed resource flow.

According to data in the source:

• FLW accounts for approximately 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions;
• this is nearly five times greater than the aviation sector's emissions (per the UNEP comparison cited);
• simultaneously, 783 million people worldwide face hunger.

For businesses, these figures are important not only "for sustainability reports." They influence the regulatory focus, consumer expectations, and future partner requirements in international supply chains.

For the FLW policy to actually work, it should be rolled out in phases.

Define exactly which losses and waste you are reducing, over what period, and in which departments. Objectives must be measurable. For example, reducing packaging-stage write-offs by 15% within one year. The FLW policy should be approved by top management and communicated across all organizational levels. It is equally important to link objectives to specific KPIs and assign accountability so that progress can be tracked during regular management review sessions. Without clear, quantifiable goals, an FLW program remains declarative and is unlikely to withstand scrutiny during a certification audit.

Break the chain into stages: receiving, storage, preparation, production, packaging, and transportation. At each stage, identify sources of FLW and establish baseline loss levels in quantifiable terms: tonnes, percentage of incoming raw materials, or write-off costs. This map becomes the foundation for prioritization: typically, two or three stages account for up to 80% of all losses. Regularly updating the map enables you to track trends and assess the effectiveness of corrective actions. Without a baseline measurement, it is impossible to set realistic targets or demonstrate progress to auditors.

Pay special attention to areas where losses are systemic: temperature deviations, shelf life management, packaging damage, technological defects, and product returns. Apply HACCP principles to identify critical points where losses have the greatest impact on both safety and efficiency. For each such point, define acceptable limits, monitoring methods, and corrective actions. For example, storage temperature control can simultaneously affect product safety and write-off volumes. Integrating FLW controls into your existing CCP system reduces procedural duplication and improves overall process governance.

A formalized procedure is needed for the safe transfer of edible product that does not enter the standard sales channel. This may include donation to charitable organizations, conversion to animal feed, or redirection to alternative commercial channels. It is critical that the procedure ensures full traceability and compliance with food safety requirements at every stage, including protection against food fraud and intentional contamination. Document the fitness assessment criteria, storage and transport conditions, and responsible personnel. Such a system not only reduces waste but also creates additional value for the company and the community it serves.

Separately describe how you handle by-product streams: composting, energy recovery, and recycling. For each category of inedible fractions, determine the optimal diversion channel based on the resource use hierarchy. For instance, peels, pits, or shells can serve as feedstock for composting, co-digestion to produce biogas, or industrial processing. Document the collection, temporary storage, and handover procedures with processing partners. Include these streams in the overall FLW accounting system to maintain a complete picture of the enterprise's resource efficiency and to present measurable results during audits.

The team must understand not only "what to do" but also why it is critical for food safety, costs, and overall company performance. Develop a training program covering FLW fundamentals, the role each department plays in loss reduction, and practical examples from your own production environment. Conduct regular training sessions, not only during the initial rollout but also whenever processes, equipment, or product ranges change. Engage shop-floor personnel in identifying problem areas: those working on the line are often the first to notice sources of systemic losses.

Regular internal audits should evaluate not only the existence of a policy but also its actual implementation and the effectiveness of actions taken. Include FLW criteria in the internal audit checklist and assign competent auditors to assess this area. Verify that documented objectives align with actual performance figures, and analyze corrective actions along with their outcomes. Audit results should be reported to management during review sessions and used to update FLW objectives annually. This approach ensures continuous improvement and audit readiness for external FSSC 22000 certification assessments.

To prevent the policy from being purely formal, metrics are needed. A practical minimum:

• share of loss/waste as a % of incoming raw materials;
• losses by process stage;
• share of fit-for-use product redirected to safe alternative channels;
• volume of inedible fractions diverted from landfill;
• cost of write-offs;
• trend of corrective actions and repeat deviations.

Metrics must be assigned to responsible persons and linked to regular management review sessions.

In its publication, FSSC emphasizes the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration and provides examples of partnerships with relevant organizations (including UNIDO and WPO).

For a company, this is a signal: the FLW problem cannot be solved solely "within the enterprise fence." Cooperation with suppliers, logistics providers, retail, associations, and, in terms of packaging, with designers and packaging solution manufacturers is essential.

A particularly promising area mentioned in the source is smart packaging approaches that simultaneously protect the product and reduce write-offs at later stages of the chain.

The FSSC material clearly demonstrates that reducing food loss and waste is not a standalone "green initiative" but part of a mature food safety management system. Through FSSC 22000 Version 6, this topic has gained structured requirements that businesses must translate into specific policies, objectives, processes, and evidence of results.

Food loss and waste directly affect operating margins, brand reputation, and compliance with international requirements. The strongest model for a company in 2026 is to combine safety, raw material efficiency, and sustainability into a single operational system. This is what delivers compliance, economic impact, and reputational resilience. Contact our specialists for implementation support of your FLW program under FSSC 22000 Version 6.