Food Safety
Prevents accidental contamination (bacteria, allergens, physical residues). HACCP protocols are classic examples.
Food Defense
What is Food Defense and why does your facility need it now?
Food Defense is protection against the intentional contamination of food: terrorism, sabotage, deliberate manipulation. It's not optional. It's a legal requirement in IFS, BRC and FSSC 22000.
The definition every food business needs to know
Unlike Food Safety (which protects against accidental contamination), Food Defense protects against deliberate attacks intended to harm people or the business. Since 2023, it's an explicit requirement in all reference audits in Europe.
Not the same thing
Food Safety vs Food Defense vs Food Fraud
Food Defense
Prevents intentional contamination by internal or external actors. Requires access control, immutable records and incident response plans.
Food Fraud
Prevents deliberate economic fraud (adulteration, false origin claims, dilution). Involves the entire supply chain.
2026 Regulation
What regulation requires in 2026
IFS Food
IFS Food v8 · Requirement 4.21: mandatory food defense plan with vulnerability assessment and immutable records for a minimum of 2 years.
BRC/BRCGS
BRC Issue 9 · Clause 4.2: access control, visitor verification and complete documentation of every facility entry.
FSSC 22000
FSSC 22000 v6 · Requirement 2.5.3: mitigation measures by zone, continuous monitoring and a documented response plan.
AECOSAN
Spain 2026: mandatory tamper-proof digital time tracking with remote access for the Labor Inspectorate. Fines of up to €10,000 per worker.
Complete plan
The 6 elements of a Food Defense plan
Six elements that the auditor expects to find documented and alive, not in a folder that is opened once a year.
Vulnerability assessment of the entire facility
Mitigation measures by zone and threat type
Continuous monitoring of access and activities
Incident response procedures
Periodic verification of system effectiveness
Immutable record of all activities for a minimum of 2 years
Consequences
What happens if you don't comply
Loss of IFS, BRC or FSSC certification: with all the commercial implications that entails
Fines of up to €600,000 for food regulatory violations in Spain
Civil and criminal liability in the event of an incident
Irreversible reputational damage with clients and distributors
The solution
Why a unified platform is the only real solution
A Food Defense plan is not a PDF document. It's the operating system of your facility: controlled access, continuous records, immediate alerts and complete traceability. SentyHub is that system.
Discover how SentyHub prepares you for any audit
Personalized 30-minute demo. We'll show you exactly which modules your facility needs and how to configure them.