First published in April 2019, the Control Union Vegan Standard was the first official programme offered globally for the certification of Vegan Products based on auditing and conformity assessment.
The Control Union Vegan Standard is a certification scheme for both food and non-food products and is aligned with the technical criteria of ISO 23662 for foods and food ingredients suitable for vegans. The scope of the Standard covers all production, processing, and handling of food and non-food products intended to be labelled or branded as “Vegan”.
Changes to the revised Vegan Standard
Some of the main changes to the revised standard:
- We updated the scope of the Standard with respect to vegan food, to define “food” and to include only the certification of food products produced “post-farm gate”.
- The requirements for certification were revised to include management responsibility and commitment, documentation requirements, purchasing and control of suppliers, traceability, and correction actions, among other additions.
- The food safety aspects of the Standard were enhanced to include requirements for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), allergen control, and operational control.
- A new clause was added on product labelling requirements and general amendments were made to align the Standard to the requirements of ISO 23662.
- The list of animal derived ingredients was revised and subdivided into two annexes, one for “Prohibited” ingredients and one for “May contain” ingredients. These two annexes will replace Annex 1 from version 1.0 of the Standard.
- Requirements for Certification Bodies were also published in version 2.0 of the Standard.
Audits against version 2.0 of the Vegan Standard will commence 1 June 2022.
If you would like to find out more about the Control Union Vegan Standard or would like to make an application for your products, please don’t hesitate to contact us. More information about the program is available at:
VS - Vegan Standard 
