Food Safety Management System Consultants in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah & Saudi Arabia
Nathan ISO Consulting implements and certifies ISO 22000:2018 Food Safety Management Systems for manufacturers, caterers, cold chain operators, importers and food service groups across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC.
Whether you are a food manufacturer in Dubai Industrial City preparing for retailer onboarding, a catering company serving hotels and airlines in Abu Dhabi, a cold store operator in Jebel Ali, or an exporter in Jeddah entering European markets, our food safety consultants build the hazard analysis on your production line — not from a template library — and take you through to an accredited certificate.
What Is ISO 22000:2018?
ISO 22000:2018 is the international standard for Food Safety Management Systems. It combines two things that previously sat in separate documents: the Plan-Do-Check-Act management framework shared with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and the technical food safety discipline of HACCP — Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points.
That combination is what makes it commercially valuable. A HACCP plan alone proves your technical food safety process. It says nothing about leadership commitment, resourcing, competence management, or whether the system survives staff turnover. ISO 22000 closes that gap, which is why buyers increasingly ask for it instead of HACCP alone.
The standard applies across the entire food chain. Growers, processors, manufacturers, caterers, cold chain and logistics operators, packaging producers, retailers and animal feed producers can all certify. What changes between them is the technical annex — the ISO/TS 22002 series — supplying sector-specific prerequisite programme requirements beneath the management clauses.
| Sector | Applicable technical annex | Where audit scrutiny concentrates |
|---|---|---|
| Food and beverage manufacturing | ISO/TS 22002-1 | Allergen cross-contact, CCP monitoring records, calibration, cleaning validation |
| Catering and food service | ISO/TS 22002-2 | Temperature control, personal hygiene, supplier verification, holding times |
| Farming and primary production | ISO/TS 22002-3 | Water source safety, pesticide and veterinary residue control |
| Food packaging manufacturing | ISO/TS 22002-4 | Migration risk, print ink controls, foreign body prevention |
| Transport and storage | ISO/TS 22002-5 | Cold chain continuity, vehicle sanitation, load segregation |
| Animal feed production | ISO/TS 22002-6 | Cross-contamination between medicated and non-medicated feed, ingredient traceability |
The hazard analysis comes first. It requires a cross-functional food safety team — not one QA manager working alone — to map every process step, identify biological, chemical, physical and allergen hazards at each step, assess likelihood and severity, and determine control measures. Critical Control Points are identified where a hazard must be controlled to prevent it reaching an unacceptable level; operational prerequisite programmes handle the rest. Auditors examine this document closely, and a hazard analysis copied from another facility rarely survives contact with a real audit.
Prerequisite programmes are the second. Facility and equipment layout, cleaning and sanitation, pest control, personnel hygiene, allergen management, supplier control, traceability and recall, storage and transport, waste management. Weak prerequisite programmes are the single most common reason a food operation fails a client audit even after certification — the paperwork says one thing and the wall behind the fryer says another.
Why ISO 22000 Certification Matters in the UAE and GCC
Dubai Municipality’s Food Safety Department runs facility grading, inspection and the food code that every Dubai operator knows intimately. The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) regulates food safety, animal health and import control across the emirate. Sharjah operates its own municipal food control section, and each Northern Emirate applies municipality-level requirements. A certified FSMS materially reduces the volume and severity of findings across all of them, because the underlying controls are the same regardless of which inspector arrives.
The UAE imports the majority of its food supply, which puts import documentation, cold chain integrity and supplier verification at the centre of most FSMS scopes in this market. Organisations that have never systematically verified their overseas suppliers discover this gap quickly during gap analysis.
GCC food exporters selling into the EU, UK or US increasingly find that ISO 22000 — and its GFSI-benchmarked extension FSSC 22000 — is what unlocks retailer onboarding. HACCP alone does not satisfy a GFSI-recognition requirement, and neither does a domestic municipality permit, however rigorous the local inspection regime.
Hotel groups, airline catering, hospital and school food service, and large retailers increasingly run a two-tier supplier list. Certified suppliers move to commercial negotiation; uncertified suppliers face a lengthy safety questionnaire before price is discussed. Several of our UAE clients report the weeks saved in onboarding exceeded the value of the certificate itself.
Traceability requirements mean a certified operation can bound a problem in hours rather than days. In an actual recall, that difference determines whether the event is a contained withdrawal or a public-facing crisis affecting the entire brand.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority sets food safety regulation and import control in the Kingdom, tightly linked to Vision 2030 food security priorities. Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain each operate municipal or ministerial food control regimes with the same direction of travel toward supplier pre-qualification built around certified management systems.
Nathan ISO Consulting’s ISO 22000 Services
We start on your process floor, not in a meeting room — walking the line, reviewing existing HACCP documentation, checking prerequisite programmes physically, and issuing a clause-by-clause findings report with a prioritised action plan.
We help establish and train a genuine cross-functional food safety team drawn from production, QA, maintenance, hygiene and procurement, so the hazard analysis is owned internally and can be defended under audit questioning.
Process flow mapping, hazard identification across biological, chemical, physical and allergen categories, significance assessment, CCP determination with critical limits, and operational prerequisite programme definition — built on your line with your production supervisors.
Facility and equipment controls, cleaning and sanitation procedures with validation, pest control management, personnel hygiene, allergen segregation and changeover controls, chemical storage, waste management and utilities control, aligned to the relevant ISO/TS 22002 annex.
Forward and backward traceability from raw material lot through to finished product and customer, tested through a timed mock recall exercise with documented results and improvement actions.
Documented supplier evaluation criteria, approval procedures, incoming inspection requirements and ongoing performance monitoring — particularly important for import-heavy UAE operations.
The 2018 revision requires both: food defence addressing intentional contamination or sabotage, and food fraud addressing economically motivated adulteration. Each needs a documented vulnerability assessment and mitigation plan, not a policy statement.
Food safety awareness for all production and handling staff, delivered in English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali, Nepali or Tagalog as your workforce requires, plus internal auditor training for your nominated staff.
A full internal audit including night shift and weekend operations — the one time the system is least supervised is the one time it is rarely checked — followed by a properly minuted management review.
Certification body selection, Stage 1 and Stage 2 audit attendance, and nonconformity closure handled by us.
Where FSSC 22000, standalone HACCP recognition, or a specific retailer supplier code also applies, we structure the FSMS to satisfy all of them from one set of records rather than duplicating effort across schemes.
Our ISO 22000 Certification Process
Consultation and fixed proposal. Discussion of your products, processes, sites and target markets, followed by a fixed written quotation at no charge.
Facility gap assessment. Line walkthrough, document review and prerequisite programme verification with a written findings report.
Food safety team formation. Cross-functional team established, roles assigned and team trained.
Process mapping and hazard analysis. Flow diagrams verified on site, hazards identified and assessed, CCPs and OPRPs determined with critical limits.
Prerequisite programme build-out. Hygiene, pest control, allergen, cleaning, supplier and facility controls matched to your actual layout.
Documentation development. FSMS manual where required, procedures, monitoring records, corrective action and verification protocols.
Traceability and mock recall. System established and tested through a timed exercise with documented results.
Training rollout. Multi-language awareness delivery plus internal auditor qualification.
Internal audit and verification. Full audit cycle covering all shifts, with genuine findings and verified corrective action.
Management review. Structured review covering every required input, properly minuted.
Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits. Documentation review then full implementation audit, with our consultant on site.
Certification and surveillance support. Nonconformity closure, certificate issue and ongoing support across the three-year cycle.
Why Choose Nathan ISO Consulting
Hazard analysis built on your line. With your production supervisors, not edited from a previous client’s document. Auditors spot template hazard analyses within the first hour of Stage 2.
Prerequisite programmes verified physically. We check the pest control station, the allergen changeover, the calibration log — before the certification body does.
Regulatory fluency across the region. Working knowledge of Dubai Municipality food code requirements, ADAFSA, Sharjah municipal controls and SFDA expectations in Saudi Arabia.
Import chain expertise. Cold chain integrity, supplier verification and import documentation — the controls import-heavy UAE operators most often lack.
Multi-language training delivery. Awareness sessions in the languages your production workforce actually speaks.
Timed mock recall as standard. Not a paper exercise. We run it, time it, and fix what it exposes.
One dedicated lead consultant throughout. Continuity from facility assessment through surveillance audits.
FSSC 22000 pathway planned. If GFSI recognition is on your roadmap, we structure the FSMS so the step up is straightforward rather than a second project.
Fixed written pricing. Agreed upfront with audit attendance included, no variation invoices.
Independent of certification bodies. Certification is issued independently under ISO/IEC 17021, which is what makes your certificate credible to retailers and institutional buyers.
Industries We Serve
Food and beverage manufacturing. Dairy, bakery, confectionery, beverages, snacks, ready meals, sauces and condiments, and meat and poultry processing.
Catering and food service. Contract catering, airline catering, hotel and restaurant groups, hospital and school food service, and central production kitchens.
Cold chain, storage and logistics. Cold stores, refrigerated transport, temperature-controlled warehousing and last-mile delivery operations.
Food import, trading and distribution. Importers, distributors and wholesalers managing overseas supplier verification and import documentation.
Food packaging manufacturing. Primary and secondary food contact packaging producers under ISO/TS 22002-4.
Retail and supermarket operations. In-store bakery, butchery, delicatessen and fresh produce handling.
Agriculture and primary production. Farms, greenhouses, aquaculture and date production supplying processing and export chains.
Water and beverage bottling. Bottled water, juice and soft drink production with associated hygiene and packaging controls.
Locations We Serve
ISO 22000 consultants across Dubai — Al Quoz, Al Qusais, Ras Al Khor, Jebel Ali, Dubai Investment Park, Dubai Industrial City, Dubai South and Dubai Production City — plus JAFZA, DMCC, DAFZA and Dubai Silicon Oasis, and food businesses regulated by Dubai Municipality Food Safety Department.
Abu Dhabi city, Mussafah, ICAD, KEZAD, Khalifa Port, Al Dhafra and Al Ain — including operations regulated by ADAFSA and organisations supplying Abu Dhabi hospitality, healthcare and institutional catering contracts.
Sharjah city and industrial areas, Hamriyah Free Zone, SAIF Zone; Ajman and Ajman Free Zone; Ras Al Khaimah and RAKEZ; Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone; Fujairah and Fujairah Free Zone.
Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Al Khobar, Jubail, Yanbu, Mecca, Medina, Taif, Tabuk, Al Ahsa, Qassim and Buraidah — including MODON industrial cities, King Abdullah Economic City, and food producers and importers regulated by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority.
Qatar — Doha, Lusail, Mesaieed and the Qatar Free Zones. Kuwait — Kuwait City, Shuwaikh, Shuaiba and Sabhan. Oman — Muscat, Sohar, Salalah, Duqm and Barka. Bahrain — Manama, Sitra, Hidd and Bahrain International Investment Park.
What Determines the Cost of ISO 22000 Certification?
Certification body audit fees follow mandatory audit-day tables based on headcount, number of sites, and the number of HACCP studies required — a facility producing several distinct product categories needs more than one hazard analysis, which increases audit days.
Our consultancy fee is separate and fixed in writing before engagement, driven by the number of product lines and processes, the state of existing prerequisite programmes, workforce size and training languages required, and whether you are also targeting FSSC 22000 or a specific retailer scheme alongside the base standard.
Get Started with ISO 22000 Certification
For ISO 22000 certification in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, the Northern Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman or Bahrain, call +971 50 258 5024, email info@nathanisoconsulting.com, or visit our contact page for a facility walkthrough and a fixed written proposal.
Frequently Asked Questions About ISO 22000 Certification
No. HACCP is a hazard-control methodology and forms the technical core of ISO 22000, but the standard adds a full management system layer around it — leadership commitment, resource management, competence, internal audit, management review and continual improvement. Operators already running HACCP find the gap smaller than expected, but rarely zero.
FSSC 22000 combines ISO 22000 with a sector-specific ISO/TS 22002 prerequisite programme plus additional scheme requirements, and is benchmarked under the Global Food Safety Initiative. Retailers in Europe, the UK and increasingly the GCC specify FSSC 22000 by name. Implementing ISO 22000 with the technical annex already in place makes the step up straightforward.
Dubai Municipality operates its own food safety inspection and grading system rather than mandating ISO 22000. In practice a certified FSMS produces noticeably fewer municipality findings, since the same controls that satisfy the standard also satisfy most of the municipal food code.
Ten to fourteen weeks is typical for a single facility with reasonably established practices. Multi-site operations, or those combining ISO 22000 with FSSC 22000 additional requirements, usually need sixteen to twenty weeks.
Many food service operators run on HACCP alone for years. ISO 22000 becomes relevant once you supply institutional clients, hotels or airlines that specify it, operate multiple outlets needing consistent control, or want the governance structure that keeps the system alive after key staff leave.
Two related but distinct requirements added in 2018. Food defence addresses intentional contamination — sabotage or tampering. Food fraud addresses economically motivated adulteration, such as substituting a cheaper ingredient. Both require a documented vulnerability assessment and mitigation plan.
Yes. The standard scales down. What matters is that the hazard analysis and prerequisite programmes match your actual process, not that you have a large QA department. Small bakeries, central kitchens and single-line producers certify regularly.
The standard requires traceability and withdrawal capability but does not fix a testing frequency. Good practice, and what most certification bodies expect to see, is at least one documented mock recall per year with a recorded completion time.
It requires you to identify allergen hazards and control cross-contact within your process. Label accuracy against national labelling law is a related but separate legal compliance matter, which we address alongside the FSMS build so the two never conflict.
It adds a supplier verification burden rather than a blocker. You will need documented supplier food safety performance evidence, appropriate certificates or test results from origin, and cold chain integrity evidence on arrival. This is the control import-heavy UAE operators most commonly lack when we first assess them.
A Critical Control Point is a step where control is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level, with measurable critical limits and monitoring — cooking temperature, metal detection, pasteurisation. An operational prerequisite programme controls a significant hazard but without the measurable critical limit that defines a CCP. Auditors examine the justification for classifying each control one way or the other.
The standard requires verification that your controls are effective, which usually involves some testing — microbiological, allergen residue after cleaning, or water quality. This can be conducted by an accredited external laboratory rather than in-house, which is what most SME food businesses in the region do.
Cold chain integrity is treated as a significant hazard for chilled and frozen products, with monitoring at receipt, during storage, and through transport, plus defined corrective action when limits are exceeded. Given regional ambient conditions, certification bodies examine cold chain evidence carefully during summer audits.
Yes, with the certification body applying multi-site sampling, though food safety multi-site rules are stricter than for ISO 9001 because hazards differ between facilities. Each site typically needs its own hazard analysis, and high-risk sites are usually audited more frequently than a sampling plan alone would require.
Look for accreditation from a recognised IAF member — EIAC, ENAS, GAC in Saudi Arabia, UKAS or ANAB — with ISO 22000 in the accreditation scope. For FSSC 22000 the certification body must additionally be approved by the FSSC Foundation. We advise on this during scoping.
Yes, provided the products and processes fall within the declared scope. Contract manufacturers and private label producers certify routinely, and their brand-owner customers frequently require it as a condition of the supply agreement.
Minor findings are closed by submitting corrective action evidence, usually within thirty to ninety days. Major findings, which in food safety often relate to CCP control failures or hygiene, require verified closure before the certificate is issued. We handle root cause analysis and evidence packaging.
Only if they are within your declared scope and under your control. Where you outsource storage or transport, those providers become suppliers requiring evaluation and verification rather than sites within your certificate — though some customers will ask that logistics providers hold their own certification.
Yes. HACCP training, food safety team training and internal auditor qualification are included in our full implementation programmes and available as standalone services.
By keeping the system live — updating the hazard analysis when products, suppliers or equipment change, maintaining monitoring and verification records, running the annual mock recall, completing internal audits across all shifts, and holding management review on schedule. A frozen hazard analysis is the most common surveillance finding in this sector.
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