Like all the Certification Program Owners (CPOs), BRCGS updates their standard every few years. This year, they launched Food Safety Issue 9 on August 1^st. With Issue 9 audits beginning in February, we are about halfway through the transition period and have taken action to support you with two dozen new BRCGS Issue 9 observations.

All 24 observations are in your Alchemy Manager site today, and we encourage you to use them with Alchemy Coach to verify that your training on BRC Issue 9 is creating the desired worker changes. As BRC has rebranded to BRCGS since releasing Issue 8, our observation names reflect this change. While most of the new observations directly replace a corresponding Issue 8 observation, we’ve added observations to address new parts of Issue 9, like Requirements for Traded Products. As with Issue 8, we are providing you with comprehensive coverage of the Standard, touching on every section at some level.

New BRC Issue 9 Observations

• BRCGS FS- 1 Senior Management Commitment- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 2 The Food Safety Plan – HACCP- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 3 Food Safety and Quality Management System- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.1 External Standards and Site Security- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.2 Food Defense- Issue 9- Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.3 Layout, Product Flow, and Segregation- Issue 9- Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.4 Building- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.5 Utilities- Water, Ice, Air and Other Gases- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.6 Equipment- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.7 Maintenance- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.8 Staff Facilities- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.9 Chemical and Physical Product Contamination Control- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.10 Foreign Body Detection and Removal Equipment- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.11 Housekeeping and Hygiene- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.12 Waste and Waste Disposal- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.13 Management of Surplus Food and Products for Animal Feed- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.14 Pest Management- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.15 Storage Facilities- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 4.16 Dispatch and Transport- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 5 Product Control- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 6 Process Control- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 7 Personnel- Issue 9, Part II
• BRCGS FS- 8 Production Risk Zones- Issue 9- Part II
• BRCGS FS- 9 Requirements for Traded Products- Issue 9- Part II

Because the need for Issue 8 observations is now minimal, we’ve retired them to avoid any confusion. If you use any of the observations below in your Learning Plans, you will need to re-create the plans using the corresponding Issue 9 observations instead.

BRC Issue 8 Observations Retiring

• BRC FS- 1 Senior Management Commitment- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 2 The Food Safety Plan – HACCP- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 3 Food Safety and Quality Management System- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.1 External Standards- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.2 Site Security and Food Defense- Issue 8- Part II
• BRC FS- 4.3 Layout, Product Flow, and Segregation- Issue 8- Part II
• BRC FS- 4.4 Building Fabric, Raw Material Handling, Preparation, Processing, Packing and Storage Areas- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.5 Utilities- Water, Ice, Air and Other Gases- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.6 Equipment- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.7 Maintenance- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.8 Staff Facilities- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.9 Chemical and Physical Product Contamination Control, Raw Materials- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.10 Foreign Body Detection and Removal Equipment- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.11 Housekeeping and Hygiene- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.12 Waste and Waste Disposal- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.13 Management of Surplus Food and Products for Animal Feed- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.14 Pest Control- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.15 Storage Facilities- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 4.16 Dispatch and Transport- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 5 Product Control- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 6 Process Control- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 7 Personnel- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 8.1 Layout, Product Flow, and Segregation in High-Risk Zones- Issue 8- Part II
• BRC FS- 8.2 Building Fabric in High-Risk and High-Care Zones- Issue 8, Part II
• BRC FS- 8.3 Maintenance in High-Risk and High-Care Zones- Issue 8- Part II

We’re glad you are using Coach and are pleased to support you through this important transition. If you need further resources or want to accelerate your program, our BRC-savvy Consulting team offers the important Sites Training, a BRCGS Issue 9 Conversion Service, and more.

Please send any feedback and questions you have about Alchemy products or courseware to productfeedback@alchemysystems.com.