Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Internal Audit (First- Party Audit): An audit performed by the auditee on its own
system or process.
Lead Auditor: The individual designated by the auditing body to lead the audit team.
This individual is responsible for all aspects of the planning, preparation, and
conducting of the audit.
Third - Party Audit: A third-party audit is defi ned in the American Society for Quality
Audit Handbook (Russell 2000) as an audit “that is performed by an audit organi-
zation independent of the customer-supplier relationship and is free of any confl ict
of interest.” The independence of the audit organization is critical in ensuring that
the third-party audit is neutral and impartial in its assessment of the safety of the
food handling system.
Third - Party Audit Standard: Third-party audits are performed by auditing organiza-
tions to evaluate the auditee's system or process and establish compliance with
mutually agreed upon criteria. The criteria are usually either “client-developed
standards” or an “industry standard” that is frequently utilized in that industry. The
leafy greens industry relies on the Commodity Specifi c Food Safety Guidelines for
the Production and Harvest of Lettuce and Leafy Greens (California Department
of Food and Agriculture 2007) as the standard for audits carried out by the USDA
and the California Department of Food and Agriculture in California and Arizona.
Auditing organizations such as GlobalGAP and Safe Quality Food (SQF) have
defi ned standards that are also widely used in the industry.
Preparing for a Third-Party Audit
It is important for operations to be prepared for third-party audits at any time by
knowing the applicable audit standards and working vigilantly to maintain compli-
ance. Because there are many different audit standards used in the produce industry,
it would not be feasible to cover all the aspects of the different audit standards here.
Instead, the next several sections will cover in a more general way the major compo-
nents of preparing for third-party audits. The most critical element in being prepared
for third-party audits is having a working food safety program. To be successful, this
program requires careful planning and thorough implementation so that it is ingrained
into the practices of every employee and every component of the operation.
Development and Implementation of a Food Safety Plan
Food safety plans outline the policies and procedures auditees follow to conform to
audit standards and serve as the foundation of the working food safety program. Food
safety plans are developed in one of two ways: hiring an outside consultant or having
the auditee critically evaluate its own operation. Both approaches are widely used in
the produce industry, but it is recommended that an auditee develop and implement
its own food safety plan.
The fi rst step in developing a food safety plan is identifying specifi c risks within
the operation, similar to the fi rst step operations followed under a HACCP program.
Once a hazard analysis has been conducted, policies and procedures can be used to
develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to minimize the risks of microbial
contamination occurring. The following excerpt helps defi ne SOPs (U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency 2007 ):
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