IFS is known for its globally recognised product safety and quality standards and programmes for companies within the food and consumer goods supply chain. Many retailers and brand owners rely on IFS certification.

The portfolio has now been expanded to include the Product Integrity Assessment (PIA) programme.

Food fraud has become an increasingly significant challenge for quality management in the food industry due to global and complex supply chains. In the case of such fraud, the integrity and authenticity of food products is strained. Critical reports of counterfeit honey, olive oil or meat become entrenched among consumers and endanger the reputation of an entire industry.

For this reason, IFS has expanded its portfolio to include an industry-specific assessment programme. The IFS Product Integrity Assessment (IFS PIA) reviews a company's risk management along the entire value chain with regard to its product integrity. It aims to raise awareness of product integrity and control risks related to product integrity and food fraud within the supply chain. IFS PIA assesses not only the production processes in the manufacturing facility, but also the management procedures, the supply chain as well as the company's handling of commodity-related risks.

IFS PIA asks the question: Is the company able to meet the customer specification in such a way that a product fully complies with everything that is communicated and what can be expected on this basis?
The programme is a benchmark assessment for food integrity management and therefore not a certification standard. The company decides how to meet the requirements, depending on customer expectations and the accepted level of compliance. The IFS PIA programme is suitable for all companies, whether they are large, medium or small.

The objective of IFS PIA is to check the supply chain of a company to determine where potential risks exist along the supply chain that could jeopardise the product integrity of the food produced. With the help of IFS PIA, the requirements of the food retailers as well as legal demands on the integrity and production of a food product can be checked. Furthermore, manufacturers gain a competitive advantage by having integrity risks thoroughly investigated or at best averted.

The assessment against the IFS PIA checklist, an assessment report & assessment score, an action plan, and a professional assessor's conclusion provides insights into the management of product integrity in the company. The assessment score serves as an indicator of the degree of compliance with the benchmark.

Risks, as well as weaknesses along the company's food value chain, are considered holistically and across all stages, with particular attention to the following questions:
• Management Commitment & Company Culture
• Supply Chain & Subcontractors
• Claims & Certificates
• Product & Process Integrity Risk Management
• Traceability & Batch Balance
• Product Integrity Management System
• Product Integrity Financial Management

Prior to the assessment, the company receives a questionnaire about its products, critical raw materials and product claims used by the company. This information is used by the auditor to prepare for the assessment. Retailers who are customers of the company are invited by IFS to submit a private label product specification for the assessment. The on-site assessment is conducted by an IFS trained and approved assessor.

The assessment describes the maturity of a company's product integrity management using five scoring levels, reflecting to management how the company is positioned in terms of risk management.

Points are awarded from +20 points (A scoring) to -20 points (D scoring) depending on the assessment. There is no 'pass' or 'fail' and this differentiated approach means that points can also be awarded for 'partial compliance'. This allows the assessor to address areas for improvement without this having a significant negative impact on the final score.

In addition to the A-D scoring, the auditor may decide to give the company a "KO" (knock out) or a "major" non-conformity. A KO non-conformity can be given for any requirement where a deliberate product integrity problem (fraud) has been identified. A major non-conformity can be given for any requirement where an unintentional product integrity problem has been identified.

The IFS PIA assessment cycle is based on the final result, which is divided into four different levels. Each of these levels has a different assessment cycle, ranging from six months to three years.

The reporting concludes with the definition of preventive and corrective actions. It offers the possibility of developing corrective measures and solution scenarios based on individually defined recommendations in order to make the management framework of the company more future-proof and thus more resilient.

Since the IFS PIA is an assessment standard and not a certification, companies can independently assess and determine the extent to which they follow or comply with the recommendations for corrective actions. Furthermore, management is put in a position to further develop product integrity management independently in the future and to align it with corresponding benchmarks.

The areas of application of IFS IPA are manifold: all types of food processing can be analysed, such as the already mentioned risk-prone products honey and meat, but also, amongst others, confectionery. With the help of IFS PIA, the respective product can be checked with special attention to the raw materials used.