Food safety auditors FAQ – what you need to know
Cat Pryke
What are food safety auditors?
Food safety auditors are appointed by responsible food businesses to ensure that they comply with the law and meet agreed standards.
Food safety auditors are not the same as inspectors, employed by the local council or the Food Standards Agency (FSA), who visit sites to enforce food safety laws and award food hygiene ratings.
What do food safety auditors do?
Food safety auditors visit sites to carry out food safety audits on a regular basis. These visits may be announced or unannounced to managers on-site. Food safety auditors examine the site, food and processes in detail and gather evidence to alert the business to any risks to public health and/or brand reputation.
Why are food safety auditors important?
Food safety auditors report what is actually happening on site. It is not unusual to find that the procedures described in a company’s food safety management system and relied upon by the company’s senior management team to keep food safe and protect their reputation, are not being followed in practice.
There can be several reasons for this e.g. staff shortages, poor supervision, unmotivated staff, insufficient or poor quality training. A good auditor will use their time on site to explore the root causes and to coach and motivate staff by explaining the reasons for the procedures and providing practical solutions.
What are the benefits of having a food safety audit?
By improving compliance and practices within a company, food safety audits can help to:
- prevent food contamination and foodborne illness
- protect a company’s brands’ reputation
- avoid legal action being taken by inspectors e.g. business closures and prosecutions
- avoid civil action being taken by members of the public affected
Regular food safety audits demonstrate a commitment to food safety which can:
- improve the food hygiene ratings awarded by local councils
- enhance consumer trust leading to repeat custom
- open new markets as business customers require them to be in place
What is the difference between internal and external food safety auditors?
Internal food safety auditors are employed directly by the food business. Auditing is usually only one part of their role e.g. it’s an area manager or compliance or QA manager task. Suitably qualified and experienced internal food safety auditors with in-depth knowledge of the business can impact food safety standards and culture tremendously in a food business, but there can be a risk of bias and conflict of interest.
External food safety auditors provide an impartial and objective view of any risks to public health and/or brand reputation and to how well food safety is managed on sites. They may be self-employed or work for a food safety consultancy or an auditing company.
How often should food safety audits be conducted?
Comprehensive external food safety audits should be completed in accordance with the level of risk of the food and associated processes, historic compliance and the numbers and skills of any internal food safety auditors. Typically these are carried out quarterly, half-yearly or annually.
Short or ‘flash’ audits with reduced scope and depth may be carried out between times which require less time on site. Virtual audits which may examine records and question staff can also form part of audit programme, but are a low value substitute for on-site audits.
What qualifications should a food safety auditor have?
There are no specific qualifications needed for someone to call themselves a food safety auditor in the UK. However, there is little to no value in hiring food safety auditors who are not suitably qualified and experienced. In the first instance, you need to be sure that the audit set, that they have designed for you, is comprehensive, robust and suitable for your business. In the second, you need to know that they will not take what they are told and shown at face value but instead gather proof and delve deep to ensure conformance with your standards. Unqualified, inexperienced food safety auditors can also cost food businesses money by overegging the hazards and exaggerating the legal consequences of non-conformances.
Ideally, a food safety auditor should be an environmental health practitioner registered with the CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health). Look for for these letters after their name: REnvH or CEnvH (MCIEH is not equivalent). Experience as a local authority inspector with a Higher Certificate in Food Premises Inspection will also indicate a high level of competence.
Holders of food science or similar degrees, along with a lead auditor qualification may also be suitable for food manufacturing businesses. You should check that they are members of the IFST (Institute of Food Science and Technology).
How do I choose the right food safety auditors for my business?
If you are employing an internal auditor or hiring an independent external auditor check their qualification certificates and their CV to make sure that they have the appropriate knowledge and experience that your business needs. Experience of having worked in a local council enforcing food safety law as well as working within your sector of the food industry are desirable.
If you are using a food safety consultancy or auditing company to carry out external audits, check what are the minimum qualifications and experience that their auditors have. Technology focussed consultancies that carry out thousands of audits a year tend to use generic ‘tick box’ audit sets carried out by less qualified and experienced auditors to keep their costs down, but this might not provide good value if risks are missed or if the solutions that they offer are impractical or costly.
What are the key areas or components covered in a food safety audit?
Key areas or components that will be examined:
- practices in place from intake to service and/or delivery
- premises layout, facilities, structure and equipment
- food safety management records and documentation
A robust food safety audit standard suitable for the operation and sector is key to the value that regular food safety auditing can provide to a food business. It should take into account the types of food handled, the potential hazards associated with it, the processes undertaken and conformance trends.
A good food safety consultancy will work with you to define the necessary scope and depth of the audit standard for your operations. Food businesses should be wary of using generic audit sets found online or provided by software companies as these are unlikely to include the correct or necessary checks for their specific operations.
How do food safety audits differ between various sectors eg food retail, manufacturing, catering?
Food safety audit sets should vary considerably between food retail, manufacturing and catering as the risk, layouts and processes differ. Ensure the independent food safety auditor or food safety consultancy that you hire has audited your type of operation.
An auditor who has only worked in hospitality is unlikely to understand traceability and food labelling requirements for manufacturing operations. Food manufacturers often wish to work towards nationally accredited third party standards such as BRCGS or SALSA or require local authority POAO approval, so it is important auditors understand the stringent requirements to achieve these standards.
A food safety consultancy that operates in all three sectors is the best bet as they understand the full food chain and how each stage impacts on the safety of the food you provide. They will have more exposure to innovative and practical solutions to common problems.
What are the costs associated with food safety audits?
The costs associates with food safety audits vary according to the size and complexity of the operation, the minimum qualifications and experience of the auditor required, the depth and scope of the audit and the relative location of sites.
Pricing is usually based on a day rate which includes travel time and costs and is typically somewhere between £720 and £800 per day depending on the food safety consultancy or auditing company used. Independent and smaller food safety consultancies tend to offer more flexible pricing.
How do I prepare for a food safety audit?
Make sure you keep all the food safety management records and documentation that the auditor will need to see available and in order. If you keep records online make sure that there is always someone with the relevant passwords who knows how to access the information.
A good food safety consultancy will provide you guidance to distribute to your sites so that staff know what to expect on the day and do not panic.
What records and documentation are required for a food safety audit?
Typically a food safety auditor will need to see these records and documentation:
- HACCP plans and food safety management system
- Due diligence diaries and CCP checks
- EHO inspection records
- Approved food supplier list
- Supplier QA questionnaires and certification
- Menus or product lists
- Food labels
- Food promotional materials
- Recipes or product specifications
- Allergen matrices and risk assessments
- Starter health and return to work questionnaires
- Pest control reports
- Food complaints
- Training records
- Food sampling results
What are the common non-conformities found during food safety audits?
Common non-conformities found during food safety audits tend to be:
- Missing or incorrect date labels
- Missing or incorrect allergen information
- Uncovered foods
- Poor staff personal hygiene
- Dirty or poorly maintained equipment
- Dirty or poorly maintained facilities
- Out of date or incomplete food safety management systems
- Incorrectly completed or missing due diligence diaries and CCP checks
- Missing or out of date training records
Please contact us if you would like to find out about our food safety auditing services.
Any guidance given in our articles is not official and Safer Food Scores can take no responsibility if the information is used to form part of any legal or regulatory compliance for your business. However, please do get in touch if you are interested in our support services and would like to benefit from official guidance relating to your particular circumstances, email [javascript protected email address]
