How can you improve your food safety auditing skills as a food technologist?

I could add also some hints: 1. A deep knowledge of food legislation. 2. Deep knowledge and understanding of microbiology and chemistry and technology. 3. Do not neglect every single one requirement. Goes deep in evry aspect of the audit. Many times topics like HACCP are not audited deeply, but this is the basis of the whole system. 4. Learning to "jump" within the standard and requlations. 5. Trying to avoid just a simple cross-check. 6. Never going with some expectations how things should be. There is a lot others. Many times looks that the auditor job is easy. If you have ti do a really good job, not just a sipmle formal check there are a lot of skills auditor should have.

To become a proficient food safety auditor, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with the relevant standards that apply to your sector and products. ???? These standards can be national, regional, international, industry-specific, or even customer-specific. Examples include ISO 22000, HACCP, BRC, SQF, FSSC 22000, and GFSI. ???? Stay updated with the latest revisions and amendments of these standards to ensure your auditing process aligns with the current requirements. This knowledge will empower you to assess food production, processing, and distribution effectively, ensuring compliance and protecting consumer health. ?????? Remember, knowledge is power when it comes to food safety auditing!

It is important to be updated with the latest revisions and amendments of these standards, as this knowledge is essential in ensuring the relevance and efficacy of your auditing processes. Regular updates will help you align your practices with industry best practices.

For example, if you're auditing a dairy processing facility, the purpose could be to assess compliance with hygiene and sanitation standards, the scope might cover all processing stages, and the objective could be to identify areas for improvement in pathogen control. The checklist might include items like ingredients, sanitation practices, and adherence to temperature control during production. It is also important to inform the auditee, perhaps a dairy farm, about the upcoming audit date, giving them ample time to organize relevant documentation, train staff, and address any potential issues.

In meat processing facilities, inspect documentation related to food safety protocols, such as records of temperature monitoring during meat processing, sanitation logs, and employee training records. Engage with processing staff to understand if they understand and follow safety protocols. Observe their practices during meat handling and processing. If a previous audit identified an issue, verify during the current audit that the corrective actions were implemented.

Auditor must have competent on Food Safety standard requirements as well as ISO19011 skills to ensure he do not miss any part of scope of audit as planned manner, not only observation, evaluation also auditor should concentrate on client food operation and routine work progression on it, example checking hiden operation and execute operation.

It is important to include all relevant information. For example, in reporting on a meat processing facility audit, provide detailed info on the audit scope (covering areas like processing, storage, and hygiene), criteria (compliance to regulatory standards), objectives (ensuring food safety compliance), methods (inspection, interviews, observations), and results (findings during the audit).

-Schedule follow-up activities promptly after the completion of the initial audit. This may involve a series of planned visits or virtual check-ins to assess the progress of corrective actions. -Verify the implementation of corrective actions by conducting a detailed review. For instance, if the initial audit identified equipment maintenance issues, confirm that repairs were made and that the equipment now complies with safety standards. -Continuously monitor compliance with food safety standards and regulations. If the audit revealed concerns regarding personnel hygiene, observe and assess ongoing practices.