SQF and FSSC 22000 Certification for Beer, Wine & Spirits

Choose a program your customers accept, because each customer decides which programs it takes. Both are GFSI-recognized, and both cover water, cleaning, glass and foreign matter, allergens, labeling, food defense and food fraud. They differ in how the audit works, how findings are scored and who issues the certificate. SQF is a food safety code with a 100-point audit score and a recertification audit every 12 months. FSSC 22000 is a management system scheme built on ISO 22000, with a three-year certificate, annual surveillance audits and no audit score. Through Kiwa, SQF certificates come from Kiwa ASI, and FSSC 22000 certificates from Kiwa VERIN B.V., a Kiwa group certification body licensed by Foundation FSSC.

SQF FSC 16 and FSSC 22000 category CIV. In SQF, beer, wine and spirits fall under FSC 16: Ice, Drink, and Beverage Processing, which lists wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages, under the SQF Food Safety Code: Food Manufacturing. In FSSC 22000, they fall under category CIV, processing of ambient stable products, which names beverages; Version 7 groups beverages, including alcoholic beverages, as subcategory CIV-6.

It's the older name for certification to an SQF Food Safety Code, which for these sites is the SQF Food Safety Code: Food Manufacturing. SQF's three programs, the SQF Fundamentals Program, the SQF Food Safety Codes and the SQF Quality Code, were historically known as Levels 1, 2 and 3, and GFSI's list of recognized programs still labels the Edition 9 food safety codes "level 2." The SQF Quality Code, once Level 3, is optional.

No. ISO 22000 is the international standard for food safety management systems. FSSC 22000 is a certification scheme built on it: it adds the prerequisite program standard for your category, ISO/TS 22002-1 for food manufacturing, and the FSSC 22000 additional requirements. ISO 22000 certification on its own isn't GFSI-recognized; FSSC 22000 is.

No federal law requires either one. Alcoholic beverage makers must meet TTB's rules on permits, formulas and labels and FDA's food rules, including facility registration and current good manufacturing practices, whether or not they're certified. Certification is voluntary, though brand owners, retailers and other buyers may ask for GFSI-recognized certification.

First-year cost can range from about $6,000 for a small, well-prepared site to $25,000 or more for a larger plant that needs outside help and upgrades. These are estimates only; your audit fee depends on the audit duration your certification body calculates. The first-year total includes the audit fee (roughly $4,500–$9,000+), SQFI registration ($650 for the Food Manufacturing code, capped at $800 for two or more codes), training, any outside help and any facility upgrades.

Plan on at least four to five months from the day your system starts producing records, and longer if you're building it from scratch. SQFI recommends at least 90 days of records before the certification audit, the audit takes at least two days, non-conformances must be closed within 30 days, and SQF gives the certification body up to 45 days after the audit to make its certification decision. The biggest variables are whether a HACCP plan and environmental monitoring program already exist.

70 out of 100 under Edition 9, with no non-conformances left outstanding. Every audit starts at 100 points; each minor non-conformance deducts 1 point, each major 5 and each critical 50. A score of 70–85 (C – Complies) adds a six-month surveillance audit, and a score below 70 or any critical non-conformance fails an initial audit.

Every 12 months. Recertification audits fall within 30 days either side of the anniversary of the last day of your initial certification audit. Sites rated C – Complies (70–85) under Edition 9 also get a surveillance audit at six months, and at least one recertification audit every three years is unannounced and fully on-site.

Edition 9, for now. SQF audits use Edition 9 until Edition 10 audits begin, which SQFI says will be no earlier than January 2, 2027, depending on GFSI benchmarking. GFSI opened its public consultation on Edition 10 on September 29, 2026. A single audit won't mix requirements from both editions, and a surveillance audit that follows an Edition 9 audit stays on Edition 9, even if it falls after Edition 10 audits begin. Kiwa ASI's ANAB accreditation currently covers specific SQF Edition 9 codes, so ask which edition your first audit will use, and about our Edition 10 status, when you request a quote.

Yes, if we can meet SQF's auditor registration rule for your food sector categories, which we check before we quote. Under Edition 9, you can change to another SQFI-licensed certification body after one certification cycle (the annual period between certification audits), once all non-conformances are closed, as long as the certificate isn't suspended or under threat of suspension or withdrawal. If a surveillance audit is due, change after it. Your certification number, recertification date and unannounced audit schedule carry over, and your current certificate stays valid until it expires. Once Edition 10 applies (no earlier than January 2, 2027), you can switch after your certificate is issued and before your next audit window opens. Kiwa ASI's ANAB accreditation currently covers specific SQF Edition 9 codes, so ask us about Edition 10 status before you plan an Edition 10 transfer. Send your current certificate and your last recertification and surveillance audit reports.

Every calendar year. An FSSC 22000 certificate lasts three years, with a surveillance audit every calendar year and a recertification audit before it expires, and at least one surveillance audit in each three-year cycle is unannounced. Every audit, including surveillance, takes at least 2 days (1.5 days for some small, simple sites), and there's no audit score or grade; findings are graded minor, major or critical. Through Kiwa, certificates are issued by Kiwa VERIN B.V.

Yes. They're separate programs with separate audits and certificates, so a site can hold both if different customers ask for different programs.

Kiwa ASI delivers FSSC 22000 certification in the United States as part of the Kiwa group. Certificates are issued by Kiwa VERIN B.V., a Kiwa group certification body licensed by Foundation FSSC and accredited by the Dutch Accreditation Council (RvA, registration C684) to ISO/IEC 17021-1 and ISO 22003-1. Foundation FSSC's public register lists category CIV, which covers beverages, in Kiwa VERIN B.V.'s licensed scope (full for Version 6, provisional for Version 7) and the United States among its countries (Foundation FSSC). A licensed category doesn't by itself mean an auditor qualified for your products is available, so ask about auditor availability when you request a quote. Training is delivered separately from certification. For the scheme in full, see our FSSC 22000 certification page.

For SQF, Kiwa ASI is accredited for the code these sites use. ASI Food Safety, LLC (Kiwa ASI) is licensed by SQFI and accredited by ANAB (accreditation ID 1222) to ISO/IEC 17065 for specific SQF Edition 9 codes, including the SQF Food Safety Code: Food Manufacturing, which SQF uses for FSC 16 beer, wine, spirits and other beverages. ANAB's listing names codes, not food sector categories, so accreditation alone doesn't confirm we can audit your category. SQF rules require an auditor registered with SQFI for your food sector category, or a registered auditor assisted by an SQFI-approved technical expert. Before we quote, we check whether we can meet that rule and tell you if we can't. For FSSC 22000, certificates are issued by Kiwa VERIN B.V., accredited by the Dutch Accreditation Council (RvA, C684).

No. Kiwa ASI audits and issues SQF certificates; it doesn't provide laboratory testing. SQF requires external testing to be done by laboratories accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 or an equivalent standard (2.4.4.2), FSSC 22000 requires competent laboratories (2.5.1), and your TTB and FDA obligations apply whether or not you're certified. The auditor reviews your results, such as alcohol content, sulfite or microbiological results, as part of the audit.

No, though some requirements under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) don't apply to alcoholic beverages. FDA's preventive controls and supply-chain program requirements (21 CFR Part 117, subparts C and G) don't apply to alcoholic beverages at a facility that needs a TTB permit, registration or notice approval and must register with FDA (117.5(i)). The facility still registers with FDA and follows FDA's current good manufacturing practices (subpart B), and FDA keeps its authority over adulterated and misbranded alcoholic beverages. Other food at the same facility, such as non-alcoholic beer or kombucha under 0.5% alcohol, gets this exemption only if it's prepackaged and no more than 5% of the facility's sales; otherwise, subparts C and G apply to it unless another exemption does, such as the one for qualified facilities (very small businesses, 117.5(a)).

Yes, unless an exemption applies. Alcoholic beverages are food under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and TTB says manufacturers and processors of alcohol must register with FDA under the Bioterrorism Act. Exemptions include farms, retail food establishments and restaurants (21 CFR 1.226). Registrations are renewed between October 1 and December 31 of each even-numbered year, so 2026 is a renewal year. SQF or FSSC 22000 certification isn't FDA registration.

It depends on the drink. TTB's labeling rules under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act cover distilled spirits, wine of 7% to 24% alcohol by volume and malt beverages, which are made with both malted barley and hops, when sold in interstate commerce. FDA's labeling rules cover wine under 7% alcohol by volume, such as many hard ciders, and beer made without both malted barley and hops, such as sorghum or rice beer; TTB's tax-code labeling rules also apply to them. Non-alcoholic beer made with malted barley and hops generally stays under TTB's labeling rules, while non-alcoholic wine and other non-alcoholic drinks follow FDA's, plus TTB's tax-code labeling rules for non-alcoholic wine and cereal beverages.

Not yet on TTB-labeled drinks. TTB's rules make major food allergen statements voluntary, but if you declare one, you must declare all the major food allergens used in production. TTB proposed mandatory allergen labeling on January 17, 2025, including fining and processing agents such as egg white, isinglass (fish) and casein (milk), and hadn't published a final rule as of October 2026. Sulfites at 10 parts per million or more, FD&C Yellow No. 5, and cochineal extract or carmine must already be declared. Drinks under FDA labeling, such as wine under 7% alcohol, already follow FDA's allergen labeling law. In SQF, label accuracy is part of Allergen Management (2.8.1, Mandatory).

Only if it qualifies under FDA's gluten-free standard. Under TTB Ruling 2020-2, TTB-labeled drinks may say "gluten-free" only where the product would be entitled to that claim under FDA's regulations, such as products made without ingredients that contain gluten. A beer fermented from grains containing gluten and then processed, treated or crafted to remove gluten can say so only with TTB's qualifying statement that its gluten content can't be verified and that it may contain gluten, and the producer must file a description of the gluten-removal method with its label application. Beers under FDA labeling, such as sorghum beers, follow FDA's gluten-free rule directly.

The preventive controls rule may apply, and the label rules may change. A finished drink under 0.5% alcohol by volume isn't an alcoholic beverage under federal rules, so the alcoholic beverage part of FDA's exemption (117.5(i)(1)) doesn't cover it. It's exempt from subparts C and G of 21 CFR Part 117 only if it's prepackaged and no more than 5% of the facility's sales (117.5(i)(2)), or if another exemption applies, such as the one for qualified facilities (117.5(a)). Non-alcoholic beer made with malted barley and hops generally stays under TTB's labeling rules, while non-alcoholic wine and other non-alcoholic drinks follow FDA's. Without alcohol, the drink also loses one of its hurdles against pathogens, so controls such as pasteurization or sterile filtration need validating (SQF 2.5.1, Mandatory). In SQF, these products stay in FSC 16; see why SQF matters for non-alcoholic beer.

When it reaches 0.5% alcohol by volume or more at any point, including after bottling. TTB says kombucha that reaches 0.5% alcohol or more by volume at any time during production must be made on TTB-qualified premises and is subject to TTB regulation, even if the finished drink is below 0.5%. If TTB finds a marketplace sample at 0.5% or more, it expects the producer either to change its method so fermentation doesn't continue after bottling or to qualify with TTB as an alcoholic beverage producer. Kombucha made without both malted barley and hops is labeled under FDA's rules rather than TTB's FAA Act rules. In SQF, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic kombucha fall under FSC 16.

No SQF, FSSC 22000 or other certification is required for it, but FDA's rules apply, and state feed laws may also apply. A brewery or distillery that follows FDA's human food good manufacturing practices and doesn't further process its spent grain isn't subject to the rest of FDA's animal food rule (21 CFR Part 507) for it. It must still hold and distribute the grain under 21 CFR 507.28 and 117.95: protected from contamination, in containers and vehicles examined before use, and labeled with its common or usual name (507.12). Drying, pelleting or heat-treating it for feed requires good manufacturing practices for that processing and, unless the facility is a qualified facility or otherwise exempt, a hazard analysis to decide whether any hazard needs a preventive control. In SQF, manufacturing animal feed is FSC 34: Animal Feed Manufacturing, under its own code.

Too much pressure, such as from refermentation in the package or over-carbonation. In 2015, for example, a hard cider was recalled because, in the words of FDA's enforcement record, "bottles may burst under increased pressure" due to concerns of refermentation. In SQF, the auditor looks at how your hazard analysis covers package pressure (2.4.3), your product testing and release (2.4.4 and 2.4.7), and validation of controls such as pasteurization or sterile filtration (2.5.1). FSSC 22000 covers it through hazard analysis and the hazard control plan (ISO 22000 clause 8.5).

How you keep glass out of processing areas and manage breakage. Glass and similar materials aren't permitted in food processing and contact zones, except as product packaging, glass dial covers on measuring instruments, or mercury-in-glass (MIG) thermometers required by regulation, and any glass that's required there must be listed in a glass inventory with its location and condition (11.7.3.2). The auditor looks for regular inspections, inspection of glass instrument covers at the start of each shift, and isolating, cleaning, inspecting and clearing any breakage area before production restarts (11.7.3.3–11.7.3.5). FSSC 22000 also requires procedures for managing breakages and a risk assessment for foreign body detection equipment (2.5.11).

During the peak of your season, if you're a seasonal site. SQF treats a site as seasonal when its major production activities run no more than five consecutive months in a calendar year, and the initial certification audit then takes place during the peak operational part of the season. If a significant change in your season means your 60-day recertification window can't be met, you can agree with your certification body to temporarily reset the recertification date so it falls in your peak season (Edition 9 Part A, 8.3 and 11.3). A winery that bottles or processes year-round may not be seasonal; your certification body confirms this when it plans your audit.

The company carries out the recall, overseen by TTB for wine, distilled spirits and malt beverages covered by the FAA Act, and by FDA for drinks generally outside TTB's labeling authority. Under the FDA–TTB memorandum of understanding that took effect June 30, 2025, TTB has primary responsibility for issuing recall notices and monitoring voluntary recalls of adulterated wine, distilled spirits and malt beverages covered by the FAA Act, with FDA providing health hazard evaluations. FDA has primary recall responsibility for drinks generally outside TTB's labeling authority, such as wine under 7% alcohol and beer made without both malted barley and hops. TTB also reminds industry members of their reporting obligations through FDA's Reportable Food Registry. In SQF, your withdrawal and recall system is Mandatory and must be tested at least once a year (2.6.3).

Not for most imported alcoholic beverages. FDA's FSVP rule doesn't apply to alcoholic beverages imported from a foreign supplier that would need a TTB permit, registration or approval if it were in the United States and is required to register with FDA (21 CFR 1.501(e)). Raw materials and other ingredients imported for use in alcoholic beverages are also exempt when the importer uses them in its own registered facility and meets the rule's other conditions. In SQF, imported materials still go through your Approved Supplier Program (2.3.4, Mandatory).

It depends on the company, so ask your customer. As a published example, Diageo's Global Quality Policy says all its products must "be produced in a manufacturing unit that has an internationally recognised (GFSI) food safety system such as FSSC 22000" (Diageo). The Master Brewers Association of the Americas' food safety decision guide starts brewers with good brewing practices and a HACCP plan, then points them to food safety management systems such as SQF and FSSC 22000 (MBAA). Requirements for co-packers, contract producers and suppliers can differ from public statements.