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Food Manufacturing Audits: Smell Something Funny?
By Jeff Nelken, Food Safety & HACCP Expert
Audit – the word is more intimidating for food manufacturers because there is more money at stake and twice as much that can go wrong. Our recent experience – moving through the audit experience on three different occasions with three different companies – got us thinking. What's the standard a manufacturer should look for when scheduling an audit? How can one make a decision when there is no clear definition of how an audit is conducted? Further, who is best to conduct the audit, develop GMPs, SSOPs and HACCP plans? A pest control company, an industry conglomerate or a certification company?
It's a tough decision to make since each one has a specific area of expertise and different methods for scoring. By the time we were done, we felt that decisions were arbitrary, reviews inconsistent and the expertise of the auditor a gamble. Some companies even had to undergo more than 10 audits, each different from the previous.
There is the need for a standardized food-manufacturing audit that will benefit the clients we serve. We should not make the manufacturer a slave to the whims and moods of the auditor. Some of the recommendations include:
- Firms that provide audits must have standards posted on websites and in promotional materials
- The auditor must have experience with pest control
- Auditors should provide a follow-up for free or, if there is a fee, note that on the audit form
While high standards should be equal no matter what the size of the facility, auditors should cut the small manufacturer some slack because they have limited resources, time and money. Scaling down the standards of compliance without jeopardizing the quality of audit can accomplish this.
Firms should be required to post their auditing standards and interpretations on websites and in promotional material so there is no bait and switch. A contact person should be available to discuss questions and answers from the manufacturer before the audit so that they can be in compliance when the audit occurs. If a fee is to be charged for this, it should be noted on the promotional materials.
A pre-audit inspection list of systems, forms and processes should be provided. An independent ombudsman to discuss items of concern should be available. The scoring system should be standardized and fractions should be eliminated.
To avoid impropriety, auditors should impose a two-year waiting period between an audit and also offer their services as a consultant to the company they audited.
If asked, an auditor should be willing to provide other audits with the names of the client blanked out so that the current audit client can see the inspector's style. It should include examples of their scores and comments.
The auditor's score should be final. He or she should not send the audit back to corporate for revision or standardization. That should happen on the spot at the audit. Auditors should not be permitted to share personal auditing information with a client until the audit is officially completed.
Finally, the manufacturer should have an opportunity on the form to comment about his reactions to the audit and to make statements if he disagrees with the auditor. Recourse must be standardized.
It is important for the profession to present a unified picture when it comes to manufacturing audits. Let's work together and standardize what we do for the good of our audits and the industry as a whole. Let's turn this C- to an A+.
Jeff Nelken is a Food Safety & HACCP expert with more than 30 years' experience in healthcare, restaurant & hospitality training. He has worked as an expert witness with CBS, NBC, Inside Edition and Dateline NBC, MSNBC as an expert on food safety stories. Jeff has done his BS with Honors in Food Science & Management; he also did his MA in Food Management & Dietetics from New York University. His expertise is frequently relied upon by restaurants, manufacturers and law firms seeking an expert witness or guidance on food safety issues. For article feedback, contact Jeff at Jeffnelken@cs.com
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