An inspection is a thorough physical review of a food facility to assess what is actually happening in a facility at a moment in time. This snapshot gives a realistic assessment of conditions that can be both positive and negative for food processing. An inspection focuses on physical review. An audit is a systematic evaluation of food facility documentation to determine if Programs and related activities achieve planned expectations. An auditor looks at data over time to see if positive or negative trends are developing. An audit focuses on documentation review.
Benefits of Inspection and Audit
Choosing an inspection or an audit depends on the goal. Many organizations choose both because inspections and audits support each other.
Choose an inspection to:
• Reveal actual practices or issues that may not be apparent from paperwork
• Focus on root causes, not just on symptoms
• Educate personnel through interaction with an inspector
• Identify, reduce, eliminate, and prevent food hazards in a facility
• Prevent expensive and damaging recalls
• Comply with government regulation and industry expectations for safe food
• Improve and maintain a healthy, sanitary environment for food handling
• Produce safe food products
Choose an audit to:
• Comply with benchmarked standards
• Realize effi ciencies through better management of documentation
• Achieve certifi cation
• Look at trends over time
Introduction to the Standards
The AIB International Consolidated Standards for Inspection of Prerequisite and Food Safety Programs are statements that represent key requirements that a facility must meet in order to keep the food products in a facility wholesome and safe. The Standards also reflect what an inspector would expect to see in a facility that maintains a food-safe processing environment.
The Categories
The Standards include five categories:
1. Operational Methods and Personnel Practices
The receipt, storage, monitoring, handling, and processing of raw materials to manufacture and distribute safe final product.
Standards in this category are related to food handling and processing. Facilities need to be confi dent that personnel, processes, and conditions do not introduce a food safety concern as raw materials are received, transferred, stored, transported, manipulated, or processed to deliver a fi nal product. The Operational Methods and Personnel Practices Standards show how a facility can prevent people and processes from contaminating a product.
2. Maintenance for Food Safety
The design, upkeep, and management of equipment, buildings, and grounds to provide a sanitary, efficient, and reliable manufacturing environment.
Standards in this category are related to equipment, grounds, and structures. The design, construction, and maintenance of equipment and buildings are critical to providing and maintaining a food-safe environment. The Maintenance for Food Safety Standards provide best practices for optimizing the design and care of the facility and equipment so that they are easy to manage and do not create sanitation or food safety issues.
3. Cleaning Practices
The cleaning and sanitizing of equipment, utensils, and buildings to provide a wholesome and safe processing environment.
Standards in this category are related to cleaning and sanitizing. The methods of cleaning and sanitizing, the types of chemicals used, the frequency of cleaning activities, and the control of microbes must all be done expertly to protect products from food safety issues. The Cleaning Practices Standards give cleaning guidelines to prevent contamination.
4. Integrated Pest Management
The assessment, monitoring, and management of pest activity to identify, prevent, and eliminate conditions that could promote or sustain a pest population.
Standards in this category are related to pest management. While it is important to remove pests from a facility, it is more important to prevent pests from ever having the opportunity to thrive in a food environment. The Integrated Pest Management Standards give strategies for managing multiple approaches to ensure that pests do not adulterate food products.
5. Adequacy of Prerequisite and Food Safety Programs
The coordination of management support, cross-functional teams, documentation, education, training, and monitoring systems to ensure all departments of the facility work together effectively to deliver a wholesome and safe final product.
Standards in this category are related to management and teamwork. It is important to have Programs in place, but if a Program is not formalized through designing, planning, management, documentation, and review, then Prerequisite Programs will depend on who is undertaking a given activity or task that day. The Adequacy Standards make sure that Prerequisite Programs are carefully designed and implemented to ensure consistency across the entire facility.
Note: While other categories focus mainly on inspection, this category largely involves evaluation of Program documentation. However, the observations made and documents reviewed in the fi rst four categories will directly affect how the inspector will assess the facility in the Adequacy category. Findings on the fl oor are a direct reflection of how well Programs have been implemented.