Audits for Food Safety
27 09 2007What’s the value of a 3rd party audit in a food processing facility?
It’s the retailers that are demanding the 3rd party audit of food processing facilities. The problem is that each customer has their own favorite audit that they demand if you want to do business with them. As you might guess their is no standard, yet, about 80% of the verification process of the different audits are basically the same. Some maybe focus a little more on “good manufacturing practices” (GMP) while others might focus on the traceback or paper work. But in the end they are all similar in nature.
How many audits are out their?
AIB http://www.aibinternational.com/auditservices/
SGS http://www.sgs.com/
BRC http://www.brc.org.uk/standards/default.asp?mainsection_id=5
EFSIS http://www.efsis.com/
Dutch HACCP http://www.bsi-emea.com/Food+Safety/Standards/Dutch_HACCP.xalter
GFSI http://www.ciesnet.com/2-wwedo/2.2-programmes/2.2.foodsafety.gfsi.asp
And the list goes on. Of course some retailers have their own in house audits.
The GFSI (European based) is trying to standardize the test by benchmarking the major audits. Thus far they have gotten 7 retailers to agree to accept the GFSI audit in lieu of any of the other audits. This perhaps is a step in the right direction but as long as the majority have not gone along with the GFSI concept it ends up just being another audit.
In China Frozen Vegetable processing facilities which I am familiar, it is not uncommon to have 3 or 4 audits per year, or more, to comply with their customers request. The supplier has to pay the invoice which is over $2500 per audit. If you want to do the business then you must do the audits. Some major multinational companies, like Cargill, may have up to 17 audits in one year! One has to wonder what is the suppliers business, food processing or taking audits?
Having to have so many audits per year is not only time consuming, but costly. How much value is their in so many audits? Would it not be better to have one audit per year and invest the money spent on all the other audits into improvements in the factory?
Why are our customers so egocentric in thinking that only “their” audit is acceptable.
I also find it ironic that some of the USA frozen facilities don’t have 3rd party audits themselves but they demand that the China facility have the audit. Sounds like a little cognitive dissonance to me. You may ask why they don’t do it and the reason is generally because of the cost and they don’t want to be told by a 3rd party auditor that they have problems that need to be attended to. They fear the results they may be presented with. God for bid they fail the audit.
The ultimate goal for us all is Food Safety and this is more true in China today with all the negative press on recalls. Audits are good because it is a check system, but one is sufficient. With a standard audit accepted by all we can make further progress in providing the safest food possible to the end consumers. And that is our GOAL.
Technorati Tags: Noon International, Food Safety, China, Audit, 3rd party audit, GMP
