As someone who has over two decades of food safety and quality management experience, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the frustrating when it comes to food safety audits. My name is Mariam, and I work for a manufacturing site that produces goods enjoyed by countless families. Today, I want to share my thoughts on the current value that many food safety audits bring to operations like mine and what needs to change.
A Compliance Checklist or a Path to Excellence
Sorry, but I need to be bold here. If there’s one word that captures the current state of most food safety audits, it’s “non-innovative.” Audits have become little more than checklists. Are the boxes ticked? Is everything in order on paper? Then you pass. But what happens next? For most of us auditees, the answer is “not much.” We’re left with a certificate on the wall, but the experience rarely leaves us with actionable insights to improve our processes.
This approach doesn’t inspire continuous improvement. Instead, it fosters a culture of “hide and seek.” We know that auditors are here to evaluate us, so naturally, we’re cautious. Issues are masked, and conversations become guarded. Why? Because the audit outcome is binary: pass or fail. In this high-stakes environment, transparency feels risky, not rewarding.
The Officer Approach: A Missed Opportunity
Some auditors adopt what I call the “officer approach.” They come in with an air of authority, ready to enforce rules. While I understand their mandate and how the audit process is structured, this style does little to foster collaboration. When auditors position themselves as enforcers rather than partners, they miss an opportunity to truly add value. Their focus becomes finding failures against the checklist rather than helping us explore ways to solve them.
Instead, we need auditors who act as strategic advisors. These professionals wouldn’t just flag non-conformances; they’d help us understand root causes and brainstorm sustainable solutions. They’d leverage their knowledge from visiting multiple facilities to provide insights into best practices. This shift in approach would transform audits from a dreaded obligation into a valuable opportunity for growth.
The Fatigue of Multiple Certifications
Another challenge is the sheer number of certifications we’re expected to maintain. Each comes with its own set of requirements and its own audits. The overlap between them is massive, yet no one seems to address this redundancy. We spend countless hours preparing for these audits, but the value we derive doesn’t justify the effort. Resources, time, energy, and money could be better spent on initiatives that genuinely improve food safety and quality.
From my perspective, here’s what would make audits more meaningful:
- Collaboration Over Confrontation: The audit process should create an environment where we feel safe sharing challenges. This could lead to richer, more productive discussions.
- Focus on Continuous Improvement: Instead of treating audits as a pass/fail exercise, the process should be redesigned to embrace opportunities for growth and innovation.
- Streamlined Certification Processes: There’s a clear need to harmonize standards and reduce redundant audits. A more unified approach would save everyone time and money.
- Auditors Acting as Strategic Advisors: Auditors possess a unique bird’s-eye view of the industry. Allowing them the flexibility to advise through anonymized learnings and best practices would offer us valuable insights and innovative ideas for improvement.
A Call to Action
For the food industry, food associations, and scheme owners, we need you to rethink the role of auditing. Audits have the potential to be more than compliance; they can be catalysts for change. When auditors walk into our facilities, they should not just look for what’s wrong. Audits should help us see what we could do better. Be our partners, not our judges.
For auditing organizations, it’s time to revisit your training programs. Equip auditors with the skills to communicate effectively and think strategically. Emphasize empathy and problem-solving alongside technical knowledge. And please push for greater alignment between certification schemes to reduce the burden on sites like mine.
The Path Forward
I’ve seen firsthand the potential of audits to drive real change. When done right, they can uncover inefficiencies, inspire innovation, and elevate food safety standards across the board. But to unlock this potential, we must move beyond the rigid frameworks of compliance.
Let’s make audits a tool for continuous improvement. Let’s build a culture of trust and collaboration. And let’s ensure that every audit adds tangible value to the facilities it evaluates. Only then will food safety auditing genuinely fulfill its promise for auditors, for auditees, and most importantly, for the consumers who rely on us every day.
By Tülay Kahraman
January 27, 2025