GFSI Food Safety Software (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC)
Software that supports GFSI certification. End-to-end lot traceability, QC holds, COA and inspection records, and CAPA for SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000 audits.
GFSI (the Global Food Safety Initiative) is an industry coalition that benchmarks food safety certification schemes like SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000 against a common set of requirements, so that one recognized audit is accepted across retailers and brand owners worldwide. It matters because major grocers, foodservice buyers, and co-manufacturers increasingly make a GFSI-recognized certificate a condition of doing business, and the audits hinge on the same traceability, lot control, and documented evidence that WorkCell already manages on the production floor.
Sound Familiar?
One-up, one-back traceability that lives in three systems
Receiving logs sit in a binder, batch records live on the line, and finished-goods shipments are tracked in a spreadsheet, so when a supplier issues a recall or an auditor calls a mock trace, your team spends hours reconciling lot codes by hand instead of pulling a single genealogy from supplier lot to shipped pallet.
Holds and dispositions managed on sticky notes
An out-of-spec micro result or a foreign material complaint should freeze the affected lots immediately, but without enforced QC hold states product keeps moving, positive-release decisions go undocumented, and your SQF or BRCGS auditor finds finished goods that shipped before the COA cleared.
Specifications and procedures drift out of revision
The line runs to a formula the lab updated last quarter, label declarations reference an allergen statement that changed, and nobody can prove which specification revision produced a given batch, so a GFSI auditor writing up document control has plenty to find.
Corrective actions that never close the loop
Nonconformances from internal audits, customer complaints, and environmental swabs pile up in email threads with copied root causes and no effectiveness check, and the next FSSC 22000 surveillance audit flags the same recurring issue you wrote up at the last one.
Core Capabilities
End-to-end lot traceability
Every incoming ingredient lot, work order batch, and outbound shipment is linked in one genealogy, so a forward or backward trace runs in seconds across receiving, multi-location storage zones, production, and lot-linked shipments. Mock recalls and GFSI trace exercises pull a complete chain from supplier lot to customer pallet without leaving the system.
QC hold states and positive release
Inspections move lots through quarantine, hold, and released states with the disposition recorded against the lot. Material out of spec is frozen before it can be picked or shipped, and positive-release product only clears once the required COA and test results are logged, giving auditors documented evidence of every hold decision.
Inspection templates and COA management
AQL-based and attribute inspection templates capture receiving, in-process, and finished-goods checks against the active specification, and Certificate of Analysis templates record the lab results that support positive release and customer COAs. Multiple inspection types tie back to the part, lot, and work order they govern.
NCR and CAPA workflows
Nonconformances open from inspections, complaints, or audit findings with a severity matrix, and 8-D CAPA drives containment, root cause analysis, corrective action, and effectiveness verification to closure. Recurring food safety issues become trackable trends instead of buried email threads.
Versioned specifications and recipes
Multi-level versioned BOMs and routings hold formulas, allergen and ingredient declarations, and process steps under effective-dated revision control, so engineering change control via versioning means every batch records exactly which specification revision produced it and label claims stay aligned to the formula that ran.
Audit-ready evidence on demand
Lot genealogy, hold and release records, inspection results, COAs, NCRs, and CAPAs are queryable by lot, product, supplier, or date range, so SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000 auditors pull objective evidence directly from WorkCell instead of chasing paper across the plant.
By The Numbers
Estimated foodborne illnesses in the United States each year, the public-health backdrop that drives GFSI buyer requirements
U.S. CDC
FDA Reportable Food Registry and recall expectations make rapid one-up, one-back traceability essential, and FSMA Section 204 sets electronic traceability recordkeeping requirements
U.S. FDA
The Global Food Safety Initiative benchmarks and recognizes schemes including SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000 under the Consumer Goods Forum
GFSI, The Consumer Goods Forum
Connected Modules
Quality
Inspections, COAs, QC hold states, NCRs with a severity matrix, and 8-D CAPA live as first-class objects tied to the lots, work orders, and suppliers they govern.
Inventory
Lot and serial tracking with multi-location zones carries ingredient and finished-goods genealogy from receiving through storage to shipment, so one-up, one-back traces resolve instantly.
Engineering
Versioned BOMs and routings hold formulas, allergen declarations, and process steps under effective-dated revision control so every batch records its exact specification.
Common Questions
What is GFSI?
GFSI, the Global Food Safety Initiative, is a coalition under the Consumer Goods Forum that benchmarks food safety certification schemes against a common baseline of requirements. Rather than certifying companies itself, GFSI recognizes schemes such as SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000, so a single recognized audit is accepted by retailers and brand owners worldwide instead of each buyer running its own.
What is the difference between SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000?
All three are GFSI-recognized schemes that cover the same food safety fundamentals but differ in origin and structure. SQF (Safe Quality Food) is administered by FMI and is common in North America, BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standards) originated with British retailers and is widely used in retail supply, and FSSC 22000 is built on ISO 22000 plus sector-specific prerequisite programs. Because all three are GFSI-benchmarked, the underlying traceability, hold, and documentation evidence WorkCell manages supports an audit to any of them.
Who needs to be GFSI certified?
GFSI certification is not a legal mandate, it is a market requirement. Food and beverage manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, co-packers, and distributors typically pursue a GFSI-recognized certificate because major grocery retailers, foodservice operators, and brand owners require it from the suppliers they buy from. If your customer's purchasing policy lists SQF, BRCGS, or FSSC 22000, you need it to keep that account.
Is WorkCell GFSI certified?
No. GFSI recognizes schemes that certify food businesses and their sites, not software, so no ERP is GFSI certified. WorkCell is the system of record whose features support your certification: end-to-end lot traceability, QC hold and positive-release states, inspection and COA management, versioned specifications, and NCR and CAPA workflows that produce the documented evidence an SQF, BRCGS, or FSSC 22000 auditor expects.
How does WorkCell support a food safety recall or mock trace?
WorkCell links every ingredient lot, batch, and shipment in one genealogy, so a backward trace from a supplier lot or a forward trace to affected customers runs in seconds rather than hours. QC hold states freeze the implicated lots immediately, and the full chain from receiving through lot-linked shipment is exportable as objective evidence for the mock recalls GFSI schemes require you to run.
What documentation do GFSI auditors expect to see?
Auditors expect controlled, retrievable evidence: lot traceability from supplier to customer, hold and positive-release records, inspection results and Certificates of Analysis tied to the active specification, version-controlled formulas and procedures, and nonconformance and CAPA records with effectiveness verification. WorkCell keeps that evidence queryable by lot, product, supplier, or date range, which is what shortens the audit.
GFSI Food Safety Software (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC)
Walk into your next SQF, BRCGS, or FSSC 22000 audit with traceability that holds up.