A global food safety and quality certification, BRCGS (British Retail Consortium Global Standards) initially focused on food safety but now comprises various sectors such as packaging, consumer products, and retail. It aims to ensure that businesses maintain high standards of safety and quality throughout their operations, from production to distribution.

Established in 1996 by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), BRCGS sets benchmarks that help companies maintain the integrity of their supply chains, safeguard consumers, and protect brand reputation. These standards are developed in collaboration with industry experts, retailers, manufacturers, and certification bodies, and are aligned with the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), ensuring global applicability and acceptance.

Although BRCGS standards aren’t mandatory by law, they are often required by leading retailers, manufacturers, and brand owners as part of their supplier approval processes. This makes BRCGS certification a practical necessity for companies aiming to access and remain competitive in international markets. Similar to ISO certifications, BRCGS standards are voluntary yet widely adopted, and involve third-party audits to verify compliance. Achieving certification demonstrates a business’s commitment to high standards of safety, quality, traceability, and continuous improvement.

The recent rollout of “BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 7” signals a critical shift in how businesses approach packaging safety, quality, and compliance. With audits under this new standard, officially begun on April 28, 2025, packaging manufacturers and their food industry clients must prepare for a more rigorous, risk-based, and culture-driven audit landscape.

But where complexity rises, so, too, does the opportunity for innovation.

This article explores how digital transformation can simplify and strengthen the path to compliance, turning the burden of regulation into a competitive advantage, and how tech-forward tools can help organizations lead, not lag, in this new regulatory environment.

Issue 7: A new chapter in packaging safety

Published in October 2024, Issue 7 addresses the evolving demands of global food safety, including heightened consumer expectations, U.S. Food and Drug Administration alignment, and a growing emphasis on safety culture and traceability. With more detailed expectations, including risk assessment, allergen control, outsourced activities, and traceability, the standard asks organizations to go beyond what exists now for BRCGS compliance.

The changes aren’t cosmetic; they require strategic shifts in mindset, behavior, and system infrastructure. So what’s new, and how can technology meet these demands?

From paper-based to Codex-aligned: Digitizing hazard and risk assessment

One of the most significant changes in Issue 7 is the restructured approach to hazard analysis and risk assessment (HARA), now aligned with the Codex Alimentarius principles. The Codex is a collection of internationally recognized standards, guidelines, and codes of practice developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1963. Its main agenda is to protect consumer health and ensure fair practices in the food trade by setting harmonized standards for food quality and safety.

This updated approach requires a more detailed analysis of all types of risks—biological, chemical, physical, and operational—throughout the entire packaging production process. Digital tools such as templates and risk libraries help maintain consistency across sites, while automated workflows make sure reviews and updates happen on time. Real-time dashboards give clear visibility into current risk levels and how they’re being managed. Altogether, this reduces manual work and errors while keeping businesses audit-ready with well-organized and easily accessible records.

Turning food safety culture into measurable compliance

Issue 7 raises the bar on product safety culture, transforming it from a theoretical ideal into a measurable and auditable expectation. Companies are now expected to clearly define the behaviors that reflect a strong safety culture, evaluate employees based on these standards, and ensure that accountability is shared across all departments—not just the quality team.

By capturing data around behaviors and engagement, organizations can demonstrate cultural maturity rather than relying solely on anecdotal evidence during audits.

To support this, tools like learning management systems (LMS) can deliver targeted training based on roles and track course completion. Behavior-monitoring solutions help document daily compliance practices, highlight any irregularities, and feed into continuous improvement programs. Anonymous feedback systems align with whistleblower policies and can uncover hidden concerns. By capturing data around behaviors and engagement, organizations can demonstrate cultural maturity rather than relying solely on anecdotal evidence during audits.

Strengthening allergen management through data

Allergens—while often overlooked in the context of packaging—are now a focal point under Issue 7. The new requirement for a formal allergen risk assessment forces businesses to scrutinize everything from raw material sourcing to shared storage areas. A digitized approach to allergen management plays a crucial role here, with centralized material-specification systems linking allergen data directly to packaging components. Automated alerts can flag potential risks when there are changes in formulations or suppliers, while real-time data sharing ensures that procurement, quality assurance, and production teams remain in sync.

This level of control and visibility is especially vital in identifying and managing indirect allergen risks, such as those arising from ink migration or adhesive residues, ultimately supporting traceability and accountability throughout the supply chain.

Recall readiness and audit success with end-to-end traceability

Under Issue 7, traceability has evolved from a once-a-year formality to a critical, ongoing compliance function. Businesses are now required to rigorously test their traceability systems at least once a year, ensuring both forward and backward tracking across all materials, processes, and packaging stages. This involves mapping the entire supply chain—from raw material intake to final product dispatch.

Modern systems enable automated mock recalls to assess how quickly and accurately information can be retrieved while also generating detailed compliance reports with time-stamped records to satisfy auditor requirements. This level of preparedness is essential not just for BRCGS but for inspections from bodies like the FDA, where traceability failures are among the most common violations.

Managing outsourced processes with full view

As companies increasingly rely on third-party services—be it for lamination, printing, or logistics—Issue 7 calls for better documentation, risk assessment, and performance monitoring of these outsourced activities.

This comprehensive approach not only strengthens supply chain integrity but also simplifies the process of demonstrating compliance during external audits.

Businesses must capture and evaluate supplier risk profiles using customizable checklists and scoring systems while linking essential documents—such as audit reports, contracts, and certificates—directly to each supplier’s record. Automated workflows help streamline approvals, reevaluations, and compliance checks, reducing oversight gaps. This comprehensive approach not only strengthens supply chain integrity but also simplifies the process of demonstrating compliance during external audits.

Building a strong audit trail for equipment and infrastructure

Equipment is now subject to stricter scrutiny, with heightened expectations for contamination prevention, thorough maintenance documentation, and well-trained staff. This raises the burden of proof, making it difficult for manual records alone to provide adequate support.

To meet these demands, standardized digital data capture for all equipment types and processes is essential. Automated alerts help guarantee timely completion of tasks and necessary follow-ups, while easily accessible records support both internal reviews and external audits. This is particularly important when explaining complex technical setups or compliance-related upgrades during a certification visit.

Using digital insights to support sustainability goals

Although sustainability isn’t currently a mandatory requirement for BRCGS certification, Issue 7 actively encourages businesses to identify and manage their environmental impacts, including waste generation, recyclability, and energy consumption.

To support these efforts, environmental monitoring tools can track key metrics such as emissions, resource use, and material reuse, while digital design platforms enable companies to assess the sustainability performance of their packaging—like recyclability or carbon footprint—before it reaches production. Maintaining audit trails of these initiatives not only demonstrates a proactive approach to evolving industry expectations but also helps businesses align with upcoming regulations and appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.

Embracing digital readiness for long-term advantage

Although Issue 7 doesn’t mandate digital transformation, its structural changes align closely with what digital systems excel at: clarity, consistency, real-time access, and integration. As regulatory demands grow stricter and supply chains become more intricate, manual methods are increasingly inadequate for managing the scale and complexity involved. Digital tools enable quicker responses to auditor inquiries, smoother cross-functional collaboration, dependable records of compliance, and earlier detection of nonconformances.

As regulatory demands grow stricter and supply chains become more intricate, manual methods are increasingly inadequate for managing the scale and complexity involved.

More important, they build the groundwork for organizational resilience. Whether it’s handling an unannounced FDA inspection, rolling out a new product, or bringing a new supplier on board, being digitally equipped allows companies to respond swiftly and confidently without compromising on safety or compliance.

“BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 7” challenges organizations to mature—not just in documentation, but also in culture, systems, and strategic alignment. Although the road to compliance may seem steep, digital transformation can flatten the curve. By embracing tech-enabled processes, businesses can turn complex requirements into manageable routines—and transform audits from stress tests into strategic showcases.