The foodservice industry is finding outside food safety and quality assurance audits can ensure that suppliers and distributors are on track with GMPs.

Many in the foodservice industry are familiar with the statistics: 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths each year due to foodborne illness. The good news is that some foodborne illnesses are declining.

The bad news is that new pathogens have emerged in their place. Add the growing threat of bioterrorism and the public’s increasing sensitivities to food-related allergens, and it’s easy to see that safe food remains one of the country’s top public health issues.

Safe food is also important to the business and brand integrity of companies that provide food for consumption. That is why food companies are implementing formal food safety management systems.

One of the major goals of a food safety program is to reduce risk behaviors that can cause foodborne illnesses while charting a course for continuous improvement. A study of 2,400 restaurants in the United States, for example, found restaurants that implement formal food safety management systems are able to significantly reduce food safety violations and typically experience ongoing improvements.

Specifically, the study shows that providing employee training and committing to standard operating procedures for tasks such as cooling, food holding and cooking are key to reducing food safety violations.

Once a food safety management system is in place, many food companies turn to independent, third-party food safety audits and inspections to show levels of compliance with their program and point out specific risk factors. This, in turn, helps to shape intervention strategies and drives decision-making on issues such as employee training, equipment purchases and facility design.

Links in the Chain
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “food from unsafe sources” is linked to about 5 percent of foodborne illness outbreaks. Even with a perfect HACCP system, a food company can fall victim to a supply chain problem.

Part of the problem is the significant increase in foods being imported from other countries and the complex chain of custody from growing fields and packing houses through to distribution and, finally, retail.

Most border inspections are visual; food is rarely tested in a lab for contamination. Moreover, only about two percent of imported produce and seafood gets inspected at all, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

A thorough food safety audit at the retail level will evaluate the procedures the foodservice operator or grocer has in place for inspecting all incoming supplies -food and non-food -should shipments arrive during the audit. In addition, vendor assurance audits can be used to determine how well the food is handled before it arrives. In fact, many food retailers have been requiring such audits of their suppliers for the past several years. And now, food processors and distributors have begun to request and conduct GMP audits on their own as they seek to implement voluntary standardization and conformity assessment programs.

No Time Like the Present
When it comes to scheduling an independent food safety audit, there’s no time like the present, especially if your business has invested in its brand, which is worth protecting. If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, the time for a food safety audit is right now.

· Have you had a suspected foodborne illness claim or outbreak?
· Do you lack a formal food safety management system?
· Are you unsure of the level of adherence to standard operating procedures in your facility?
· Has there been high employee turnover in your operations? Do your employees lack updated training and certification?
· Have you recently changed suppliers/vendors? Are you unsure whether your suppliers meet industry standards for food safety and quality?
· Did your last health department inspection cite any critical violations?
· Have you seen signs of pest infestation or structural damage?

Anatomy of an Audit
A third-party food safety auditor will look at a number of issues, checking that proper systems are in place, identifying solutions and documenting corrective actions to be taken after the audit. At the retail level, food safety audits typically focus on four key areas: receiving and storage, employee and management issues, temperature control, and maintenance and general sanitation. The audit should note critical violations -items directly related to the public’s protection from foodborne illnesses -which must be corrected immediately. It also should note non-critical violations -items related to maintenance of foodservice operations and cleanliness -which should be corrected promptly.

· Receiving and storage -The auditor will inspect all incoming supplies (food and non-food), checking for damage/spoilage, temperature abuse and signs of pest contamination. The process for moving incoming refrigerated and frozen items to proper storage will be evaluated, as well. The auditor will also check that food is stored with no potential for cross-contamination.
· Maintenance and general sanitation – Here, the auditor will evaluate cleaning and sanitation procedures for food contact surfaces, equipment and utensils. Evaluation of pest management practices and restroom cleanliness, operation and supplies will be included, as well.
· Employee and management issues – The auditor will need to see proof that a manager from each shift is certified in an accredited food safety program. Handwashing compliance and training will be evaluated, as will the use of gloves, hairnets and other protective apparel.
· Temperature control – Auditors will confirm that local and state health department guidelines are being following for proper food handling. The auditor will also want to see how temperatures are checked and that thermometers are properly calibrated and used.
GMP audits and other food safety audits at the processor level are more complex than those carried out at the retail level and may take as many as four or five days to complete. A large percentage of time during a GMP audit is spent reviewing the plant’s documentation of its HACCP and GMP programs and making sure those properly documented programs are properly implemented, too. Microbiological testing -which remains rare at the retail level -is another important component of a GMP-level food safety audit.

It is important to remember that a food safety audit is a snapshot of a facility’s food safety systems at a particular point in time. That is why it’s particularly important to choose an audit company with certified and calibrated auditors to ensure that the input provided is accurate, consistent and technically sound. Finally, the audit process should be consultative and educational, with an emphasis on corrective actions and process improvement.  FAD

Richard Ennis is president and CEO of the Food Safety Division of The Steritech Group Inc. He can be reached at richard. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . For a free copy of the Annual Food Safety Audit Trends Report, visit www.steritech.com or www.nraef.org.