Templates and records · IFS Food · Clause 4.2.1
IFS Food raw material and product specifications
What you buy and what you sell has to be described in writing, agreed and current. IFS treats it as a KO requirement.
In one sentence
In IFS Food, specifications describe each raw material, packaging material and finished product — composition, quality and safety parameters, allergens, legal requirements, shelf life — in a current version, agreed with the supplier or customer and accessible to whoever needs it, because clause 4.2.1 of the standard includes a KO requirement on their existence and updating.
- Where the standard requires it
- IFS Food · Clause 4.2.1 Clause references follow the numbering of IFS Food Version 8. Where a record underpins a KO requirement, its sheet says so.
- Type of information
- Mandatory document Document to be kept up to date; includes a KO requirement (4.2.1)
- Who fills it in
- Quality, with purchasing and product development Purchasing obtains the supplier's data sheet; quality reviews and approves it
- When
- Before the raw material is used And at every change of recipe, supplier or legislation, with a defined periodic review
- How long it is kept
- Current and previous versions Withdrawn versions are kept, like any record, for at least one year after the shelf life of the last batch made with them.
What the standard requires
What IFS Food demands and what it leaves to your judgement
The standard requires specifications for all raw materials, including food-contact packaging, and for finished products. They must comply with legislation, be available to the staff who use them and be reviewed whenever the recipe, the process or the supplier changes.
Where the customer requires it, the finished product specification is agreed with them; if there is no formal agreement, the company must be able to show that the customer is aware of it. Out-of-date specifications, or ones that do not match the actual recipe, are a common finding.
Supplier technical data sheets can serve as specifications if they contain what is needed and the company has reviewed them; simply filing them is not enough.
Structure
Fields the template should include
- Name, internal code and supplier or customer
- Composition and ingredients, with origin where relevant
- Allergens present and risk of cross-contact
- Physico-chemical and microbiological parameters with their tolerances
- Applicable legal requirements and declarations (GMO, irradiation, origin)
- Packaging, labelling, storage conditions and shelf life
- Version, date and approval
- Evidence of agreement or acknowledgement by the other party
Example
Example: wheat flour for a fictitious bakery
Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Raw material | T55 wheat flour · code RM-014 · Southern Mills (fictitious) |
| Composition | 100% soft wheat · EU origin |
| Allergens | Gluten · possible traces of soya from a shared line at the mill |
| Parameters | Moisture ≤ 15% · protein 11-12% · ochratoxin A within the legal limit |
| Microbiology | Mould count ≤ 10⁴ cfu/g |
| Storage | Dry place, ≤ 25 °C · shelf life 9 months |
| Version | v3 · 2 March 2026 · approved by quality |
| Agreement | Signed by the supplier on the portal on 5 March 2026 |
At the audit
Mistakes auditors commonly flag
- Technical data sheets years old that nobody has checked with the supplier.
- The specification does not include the allergen trace risk the supplier does declare.
- Recipe changes without reviewing the finished product specification.
- Food-contact packaging with no specification or declaration of compliance.
- Customer specifications agreed by email and never brought into the system.
In Kimobox
How this record is kept in Kimobox
- 1Each item requires a current technical data sheet with its allergen declaration, which the supplier uploads through the supplier portal.
- 2The data sheet's expiry is tracked and requested from the supplier before it lapses.
- 3A new version of the data sheet triggers a review of the allergen matrix and of the products that use that raw material.
- 4The specifications agreed with each customer sit in the same system as the batch certificates of analysis.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before getting started
Does the supplier's technical data sheet serve as a specification?
Yes, if it contains all the parameters relevant to safety and quality, if the company has reviewed and approved it, and if it is kept up to date. Filing it without review does not comply.
How often are specifications reviewed?
IFS requires them to be reviewed when something affecting them changes and at a frequency defined by the company. Many set a review at least every three years, or annually for the highest-risk raw materials.
Do we need specifications for packaging?
For food-contact packaging, yes, together with its declaration of compliance. It is one of the points the standard mentions explicitly.
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Sources
Where each figure comes from
References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.
- IFS Food Version 8 — Standard for auditing product and process compliance in relation to food safety and quality IFS Management GmbH · Version 8, April 2023
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers EUR-Lex · 25 October 2011
- Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs EUR-Lex · 29 April 2004