SQF and FSSC 22000 Certification for Spices, Seasonings & Flavors

Choose a program your customers accept, because each customer decides which programs it takes. Both are GFSI-recognized, and both cover Salmonella, foreign matter, heavy metals, food fraud, allergens and labeling. 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 19 and FSSC 22000 categories CIV and K. Under SQF Edition 9, spices, seasonings, flavorings and colorings fall under FSC 19: Food Ingredient Manufacturing, under the SQF Food Safety Code: Food Manufacturing, and liquid sauces and marinades under FSC 18. In FSSC 22000, dried spices fall under category CIV, processing of ambient stable products, and category K, production of (bio)chemicals, lists flavorings. Your certification body confirms the category for each product when it sets your scope.

The category, the scoring and the corrective action deadline. Edition 10 lists spices, salt, sugar, condiments and soup mixes under FSC 18, renamed Preserved Foods and Food Ingredient Manufacturing, and renames FSC 19 Food Additive Manufacturing, which keeps flavorings and colorings. Approved suppliers (2.3.4), the food safety plan (2.4.3), allergen management (2.8.1), environmental monitoring (2.4.8) and foreign matter control (11.7.3) become Core Clauses, where a minor non-conformance deducts 2 points and a major 7; ratings become Certified (80–100) or Certified with Surveillance (70–79); and corrective actions get 40 days. Edition 10 audits start no earlier than January 2, 2027, depending on GFSI benchmarking, so audits today still use Edition 9 and FSC 19. Kiwa ASI's ANAB accreditation currently covers specific SQF Edition 9 codes, and no Edition 10 code.

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 under Version 6, and the FSSC 22000 additional requirements. ISO 22000 certification on its own isn't GFSI-recognized; FSSC 22000 is.

No law requires either one. Spice, seasoning and flavor makers must meet FDA's rules, including facility registration, good manufacturing practices, preventive controls unless exempt, and labeling, whether or not they're certified. Certification is voluntary, though food manufacturers and other buyers may ask their suppliers 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 categories CIV and K, which cover dried spices and flavorings, 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. For the scheme in full, see our FSSC 22000 certification page.

Yes, if your certificate is valid and accredited; expired or suspended certificates can't be transferred. Kiwa VERIN B.V., which issues FSSC 22000 certificates for Kiwa ASI clients, reviews your certificate, last audit report and open nonconformities before the transfer, sometimes with a site visit, and the transfer must be completed before your certificate expires. Ask about auditor availability for your category when you request a quote.

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 19 spices, seasonings and flavors. 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). The auditor reviews your results, such as Salmonella, heavy metal or fumigant residue results, as part of the audit.

No FDA rule requires a specific treatment, but your food safety plan must control Salmonella if your hazard analysis identifies it. Under FDA's preventive controls rule, a facility either applies a preventive control, such as a validated steam process, or relies on its customer to control the hazard, with a disclosure in the documents accompanying the food and the customer's annual written assurance (21 CFR 117.136). FDA's risk profile notes that ethylene oxide, steam treatment and irradiation are commonly applied to spices. In SQF, validation of any kill step is Mandatory (2.5.1).

Yes, under the preventive controls rule's customer provisions. You disclose in documents accompanying the food that it's "not processed to control [identified hazard]" and annually obtain your customer's written assurance that it has procedures that will significantly minimize or prevent the hazard (21 CFR 117.136(a)(2)); importers have a parallel rule (21 CFR 1.507). FDA has announced enforcement discretion for some written assurance requirements, so check its current policy. Auditors will look at how you identify and segregate untreated lots.

Yes, for now. EPA allows residues of up to 7 ppm on dried herbs and spices except basil (40 CFR 180.151). EPA's January 2025 interim decision would end ethylene oxide use on some food commodities and, for many spices, including black pepper, cinnamon, cumin and nutmeg, allow it until January 1, 2032, and after that only under reconditioning proposals approved by FDA or to retreat lots when an alternative primary treatment fails. The decision is interim and could change, so check EPA's current status before you plan around it.

Retail packages of irradiated spices carry FDA's irradiation logo and the statement "Treated with radiation" or "Treated by irradiation," and irradiated spices shipped to a manufacturer or processor must carry "Treated with radiation—do not irradiate again" or "Treated by irradiation—do not irradiate again" on the label, labeling and invoices or bills of lading (21 CFR 179.26(c)(3)). FDA allows culinary herbs, seeds, spices and vegetable seasonings to be irradiated up to 30 kilograys (kGy) (179.26(b)).

With public health alerts and recall recommendations. In March 2024, FDA recommended recalls of ground cinnamon from six distributors with lead from 2.03 to 3.4 parts per million (ppm). Its later alert table, updated September 28, 2026, lists 21 brands with lead from 2.03 to 10.7 ppm. Imported foods from firms on the Red List of Import Alert 99-42 for heavy metals can also be detained without physical examination. In SQF, set heavy metal limits in your specifications (2.3.2.9) and approve suppliers (2.3.4, Mandatory).

As "spice and coloring," or by name. FDA says paprika, turmeric, saffron and other spices that are also colors are declared as "spice and coloring" unless declared by their common or usual name (21 CFR 101.22(a)(2)). Other spices may be declared collectively as "spice" (101.22(h)(1)). Onion, garlic and celery aren't spices under FDA's definition (celery seed is), and onion, garlic and celery powders are declared by their common names (101.22(h)(3)).

Yes. A flavoring, coloring or incidental additive that is or contains a major food allergen is subject to FDA's allergen labeling requirements (21 U.S.C. 343(w)(4)), and allergens used as ingredients in a blend are declared like any other ingredient. Sesame has been one of the nine U.S. major food allergens since January 1, 2023. Mustard and celery are allergens in the European Union but not U.S. major food allergens. In SQF, allergen management is Mandatory (2.8.1).

It depends on where spices are sampled. FDA's risk profile found Salmonella in 6.6% of imported spice shipments sampled when offered for U.S. entry in fiscal years 2007–2009, and filth in 12%. FDA's 2013–2015 survey of packaged spices at U.S. retail found Salmonella in less than 1% of samples of each of 11 spice types. Both programs expect your food safety plan to control Salmonella, through a validated kill step or documented supplier and customer controls.

Fresh herbs are; dried spices aren't. FDA's Food Traceability List under FSMA section 204 includes fresh herbs, such as parsley, cilantro and basil, and fresh peppers, but not dried spices or dried herbs. Congress directed FDA not to enforce the traceability rule before July 20, 2028. SQF still requires one-step-forward, one-step-back traceability (2.6.2 Product Trace, Mandatory).

At least 35% ethyl alcohol by volume, under FDA's standard of identity for vanilla extract (21 CFR 169.175). Products with less alcohol need a different name, such as vanilla flavoring. In SQF, product formulation falls under 2.3.1.