Earlier in 2025, the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFi) announced it would be releasing Edition 10 of its Safe Quality Food (SQF) Code to align with the latest Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarking criteria, updated regulatory requirements, and scientific changes. The publication date was targeted for September 2025, with audits beginning in April 2026. However, SQFi recently announced that the release of SQF Edition 10 has been delayed due to an extension in the GFSI benchmarking application timeline, which now runs through March 2026.

Because of this delay, SQF Edition 9 will remain the recognized version of the SQF Code. This means that audits will continue under the requirements of Edition 9 until Edition 10 is released. At that point, sites will have a six-month transition period before audits begin under Edition 10.

As KTL reported this summer, the SQF Edition 10 changes remain focus on three critical areas: food safety culture, change management, and environmental monitoring. SQFi has reinforced that, when released, the Edition 10 changes will reflect the industry’s growing understanding that food safety is not just about compliance, but about creating a holistic, proactive approach to protecting consumers. 

With the additional time before the release and implementation of Edition 10, now is an ideal time for facilities who are certified to SQF to assess current SQF program elements, identify improvements that are internally desirable and required by Edition 10, and implement those updates that will make the SQF program more useful to the business.