Complete Guide to Passing a Food Safety Audit

Ensuring food safety and compliance is more critical than ever. This guide is designed to equip food safety teams with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the complex landscape of comprehensive food safety regulations and audits. Following the strategies outlined in this guide will teach team leaders how to prepare for a food safety audit, ensuring organizational compliance and protecting consumer health.

Food Safety Audit Guide Contents

This comprehensive guide reviews everything a food safety leader needs to know about passing their next audit. In the guide, we review:

1. The Food Safety Compliance Landscape
2. The Evolving Role of Food Safety, Compliance, and Quality
3. An Overview of Food Safety Audits and Why They Matter
4. How to Pass a Food Safety Audit
5. Food Safety Audit Checklist
6. How Vector Solutions Can Help

Types of Food Safety Audits

Food safety audits play a critical role in helping organizations “detect gaps, strengthen their programs, and build trust with customers and regulators. There are four main types of food safety audits:

• First-Party / Internal Audits: These audits are conducted by your own organization. These audits are a strategic tool to proactively assess your food safety systems before a third-party audit or incident occurs.
• Second-Party / Supplier Audits: These audits investigate a business’ suppliers and vendors to ensure they are meeting food safety standards and have appropriate quality control measures in place.
• Third-Party / Certification Audits: These audits are conducted by independent third parties, which could be a certification or regulatory body. The most common certifications include the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Safe Quality Food (SQF), and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). These audits are done to help businesses identify areas of opportunity and ensure proper corrective actions are taken to address non-compliance or weaknesses.
• Regulatory Audits: These audits are mandated by a government agency. This kind of audit can lead to temporary closure orders if they uncover severe violations. Note that other types of third-party audits don’t have this jurisdiction.

This guide can help you prepare for internal audits, external third-party audits, regulatory inspections, certification audits, and specialized audits focused on critical food safety risks.

Vector Solutions Supports All Your Food Safety Needs

From safety management solutions to a powerful learning management system (LMS) and food safety training, Vector Solutions can help you manage every element of your food safety program.

Request a demo today to learn more about why industry leaders rely on us for all their training and safety needs.