The article introduces ISO 20001:2026, the new standard for food loss and waste management systems. It explains how the standard helps food supply chain organizations prevent and reduce food loss and waste, and notes FSSC’s part in developing it.
New ISO Food Loss and Waste Standard Sets Out Practical Pathway for Supply Chain Action
Food loss and waste means significant quantities of food produced for human consumption are lost, alongside major economic losses, increased food insecurity and malnutrition, wasted agricultural resources such as water, fertilizer and land, and added climate pressure from global food-system emissions.
The new international standard from ISO places food loss and waste at the center of sustainable food system action, offering a management-system approach for organizations across the food supply chain. ISO 20001:2026 frames prevention and reduction of food loss and waste as a strategic, measurable and collaborative business priority. The standard links to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially Sustainable Development Goal 12 and Target 12.3, which calls for halving per capita global food waste at retail and consumer levels and reducing losses along production and supply chains by 2030.
For organizations, adopting a food loss and waste management system, it can help measure, quantify, monitor, prevent and minimize losses, including calculating their economic cost. It also supports clearer communication and reporting, improved processes, value creation from by-products, and alignment with customer, legal, regulatory, sustainability, ESG and circular economy requirements.
A central feature is a principle-based framework that prioritizes preventing excess food and food loss and waste at source. Where prevention is not possible, it encourages retaining value for human consumption through repurposing, upcycling, redistribution and donation of safe food. If food is unsuitable for people, animal feed or animal food may be the next preferred option, followed by uses that retain materials, nutrients or energy. By incorporating familiar ISO management-system thinking, using a process approach supported by the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and risk-based thinking, organizations can plan objectives and resources, implement actions, monitor and evaluate results, and continually improve performance.
The message is clear: reducing food loss and waste is both an environmental imperative and a business discipline requiring leadership, measurement, collaboration and continual improvement.
FSSC is proud to have been a part of the development of the new ISO 20001 standard and further supports the reduction of food loss and waste in it’s flagship Scheme FSSC 22000 as part of our continued efforts to support organizations in meeting the UN SDGs.
Our Technical Director, Elsabe Mathee, quotes, “Reducing food loss and waste is both an environmental imperative and a business discipline requiring leadership, measurement, collaboration, and continual improvement. I’m proud to have been part of the development of the new ISO 20001 Standard on Food Loss and Waste Management, which provides a clear structure for organizations seeking to build FLW reduction into their management systems. As part of our continued efforts to support organizations in meeting the UN SDGs and making a difference in the world of food safety and sustainability, FSSC has also introduced FLW reduction requirements in our flagship Scheme, FSSC 22000, to drive uptake and deliver impact through our certified organizations.”
