Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai gets the first ISO 22000 certification in GCC

It is the first ISO 22000 certified hotel in the GCC.

ISO 22000 specifies the requirements for an organisation to have a food safety management system in the food chain.

The system needs to demonstrate an ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe at the time of consumption.

This includes the organisation's direct or indirect involvement in one or more steps of the food chain process.

The ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System focuses on food safety in the following areas:
- The components of food operations and process flow of food
- Food borne illness and preventive aspects
- Hazard Anaylsis Critical Control Points (HACCP)
- Controlling contaminants
- Time and temperature control
- Categories of food
- Appropriate hygiene conditions
- Personal hygiene
- Control measures, monitoring corrective actions
- Validation and verification

The same also specifies the requirements for a food safety management system that combines the following generally recognized key elements to ensure food safety along the food chain up to the point of final consumption: interactive communications, system management, pre-requisite programmes and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles.

HACCP is an internationally recognised food safety management system that employs standardised principles for food safety risk analysis as well as the identification, evaluation and control of hazards considered significant for food safety.

For hotel kitchens, these principles involve an entire range of activities, from food purchasing to storage and food preparation whilst also requiring extensive staff training and coordination from other hotel departments such as engineering and food and beverage service operations.

Shangri-la Hotel, Dubai has also been awarded the Certificate of Approval by the United Registrar of Systems, Ltd. (URS) to signify compliance with the international standards of ISO 14001.

The certification is the culmination of the hotel's initiatives towards being a truly environment-friendly hotel facility.

It indicates that the hotel conforms to internationally set environmental standards in every aspect of its operations.

ISO 14001 is a series of voluntary standards covering various aspects of environmental management and procedures that address environmental issues like energy consumption, water consumption, solid and water waste disposal which the hotel achieved after a six-month long training, consultation, assessment and audit process.

The hotel's ISO team is headed by Resident Manager Rene Egle together with Shangri-La Corporate Executive Trainee Walid Wafik.

Other committees are headed by an executive committee member or a department head and consist of a document team, legal, waste management, preventive maintenance, training, communications and internal audit teams.

Area Manager and General Manager Bernhard Haechler remarks, "Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai is proud of its continued dedication to uphold the highest standards of food hygiene and sanitation as well as the protection of the environment while maintaining the highest quality in its services and hospitality. This is also a feat as our hotel is the first establishment awarded the ISO 22000 certification in the GCC."

Based in Geneva, the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide non-governmental federation composed of standard bodies from more than a hundred countries.