IFS Food: Frequently asked questions

Which scope and rules apply?

IFS Food assesses food products and production processes against safety, authenticity, quality, legal and customer requirements. Read Version 8 with its current doctrine, including the April 2026 update. Food is not automatically the appropriate scope for a business providing only logistics.

What must the application explain?

Describe product and technology scopes, production sites and customer specifications in the application. Heat processing and chilled preparation can require different process evidence. Use the official IFS search to check an approved certification body’s scope and suitable auditor competence.

How is practice demonstrated?

Review the recipe and specification revision, raw material controls, process results and label approval for a selected batch together. Traceability exercises support recall preparation. A finding should distinguish the decision about affected product from the root cause and measures preventing recurrence.

How are continuity and costs planned?

A quotation depends on product and technology scopes, the site, personnel and required audit work. Separate consultancy from the approved body’s audit fee. Certification is not decided by paperwork alone: audit findings and the applicable IFS decision rules govern the outcome.

Is an existing certificate enough after a change?

A hypothetical producer starts a customer’s new recipe while planning to use old labels. Compare recipe, allergen declaration, specification and label versions. First identify affected batches and document the product decision if they conflict; editing a label in the document folder does not resolve physical stock. Customer approval, actual production and corrective-action evidence must refer to the same product version.

Does Kayra make the certification decision?

Kayra Patent consultancy supports scope definition, record organisation and tracking unfinished preparation work. The relevant authorised or scheme approved body performs the audit and makes the certification decision. Separate consultancy and that body’s services in the quotation.

Official sources

Content checked: 3 October 2026. Scheme rules rely on official sources; record structures and work plans are editorial recommendations. Check the complete requirements and the body’s current scope separately.

• IFS — Food standard and audit process
• IFS — Food 8 doctrine, version 5
• IFS — Food Version 8 Doctrine Version 5, April 2026