It is important to take food safety seriously. A thorough inspection of a facility or business involved in food to make sure it complies with established guidelines and standards for food safety is known as a food safety audit. During an audit, every part of the company or facility is inspected, including the premises, staff practices, paperwork, processes, and procedures. An auditor will suggest remedial measures and other areas for improvement if they find issues.
Why Food Audit is important
In order to guarantee the quality and safety of food items throughout the business, food audit systems are essential. They support the responsibility of food service owners in order to shield patrons from health risks such as foodborne infections.
Ten Steps to Get Ready for an Audit of Food Safety
1. Educate Your Staff
A trained employee is one of the most important components of managing a food business. Make sure that the more time you invest that all the staff members have received the appropriate training time because if they are capable, they will be able to manage the facility’s numerous procedures and any unforeseen circumstances.
2. Possess Staff Sanitation Experts
One of the most important and complex areas of food safety that auditors will pay special attention to is sanitation. Without the proper assistance, making sure you are up to par with these facets of cleanliness can be challenging. To make sure your facility satisfies the criteria, you might hire specialized sanitation specialists.
3. Observe the Temperatures in the Storage Areas
Keeping food stored at the proper temperature is another essential component of food safety. To keep food safe and free from bacterial development and contamination, you must make sure cold storage rooms are kept at the proper temperature. It’s important to check cold food delivery to make sure they arrive at the proper temperature and are kept straight away after acceptance.
4. Examine the Standards for Food Safety
Another stage in getting ready for an audit is to review the food safety regulations. The food safety guidelines will specify all the things they will check for, whether it is a surprise audit or one that is advertised. Examining them and making sure your facility satisfies the requirements will get you one step closer to passing the audit.
5. Perform a mock or pre-audit.
Pre-auditing is something you should think about if you want to go above and beyond with your planning. All you need to do is to build a checklist that includes the most recent and pertinent food safety regulations. Next, you may take a tour of your facility and try to see things from the perspective of an auditor as you examine the work and procedures from beginning to end.
6. Documentation is Essential
Any kind of facility’s operation depends heavily on documentation. It is essential for food safety audits as well. By creating a paper trail, documentation makes it possible for you, the auditors, and other authorized staff to examine how the facility operates. Keeping up with the right paperwork also guarantees that you have documentation in case something goes wrong or a recall is required.
7. Employee gatherings
Employee training alone is insufficient. Staff meetings should be implemented as well, particularly in the time frame preceding a food audit system to make sure you use this session well so that your staff members are aware about their duties and roles and relevant guidelines.During this period, you may also instruct your staff on how to respond appropriately to enquiries from auditors.
8. Instill Trust in Your Group
Employees may experience anxiety during audits. Pre-audits, responsibility reviews, and reaction practice are all excellent methods to boost your staff members’ self-assurance. In order for everyone to feel confident in their expertise and prepared for any questions an auditor may have, it’s critical to collaborate with your team and create a good food safety culture and work environment.
9. Establish Liability
Within your institution, no one should be doing more than another. Employees should be assigned tasks related to food safety equally, and your HACCP plan should specify what each individual is responsible for. Employees are more likely to get overloaded, which can result in errors and accidents when duties and responsibilities are divided.
10. Install a Sanitary Drainage system
Another step in getting ready for a food safety audit is making sure you have a suitable, food-safe drainage system. Together with smaller hub and area drains, FoodSafe Drains provides efficient wastewater management solutions such as their 10,000 Series Slot Drain and FoodSafe Trench Drain. With food-grade T304 and T316 stainless steel, these systems are NSF-certified, guaranteeing their resistance to the growth of germs.
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