Third-party food safety auditing is burdened with challenges that hold back its true power.
In a recent LinkedIn poll, we asked: “What is your biggest frustration as a 3rd-party auditor while performing your job?”. The results discussed hereafter were very much in line with what our 2024 Think Tank on the future of food safety auditing uncovered:
Overwhelmed by rising complexity: 35%
The relentless expansion of requirements often exceeds what can be thoroughly examined during typical audits, leaving vital areas insufficiently covered. Moreover, reporting has become cumbersome, entangled in a complex network of various requirements, expectations, and needs from auditors, auditees, certification bodies, accreditation bodies, scheme owners, and governing bodies.
Unfortunately, this reduces reporting to a mere formality rather than a strategic tool for enhancing food safety. The industry’s slow embrace of digital reporting technologies adds to these problems, further hampering efficiency and innovation.
Burdened by qualification and maintenance costs: 35%
Certification bodies today are grappling with a system burdened by ever-changing requirements that force auditors into narrow specializations and strain limited resources. This constant evolution creates misalignment among product category schemes and requires specific qualifications and continuous, costly training, sometimes leaving freelance auditors to shoulder the financial burden.
The pressure of these frequent modifications puts audit quality at risk and deepens the shortage of qualified professionals, ultimately undermining the rigorous enforcement of safety standards.
Frustrated with the compensation gap compared to consultants: 17%
Third-party auditors in the food safety sector are increasingly disillusioned with their profession, driven by perceptions of inadequate compensation and limited career advancement opportunities. Many auditors feel undervalued, juggling demanding workloads with little recognition for their crucial role in ensuring food safety.
In contrast, consultants are seen as enjoying more lucrative and balanced careers, benefiting from higher pay, fewer administrative burdens, and better work-life balance. This imbalance has led to a growing reluctance among auditors to remain in the profession.
Undervalued for the critical work done: 13%
The food safety industry faces a critical issue of attracting and retaining qualified auditors. As the demand for skilled professionals grows, the profession struggles due to a lack of recognition for auditors’ vital contributions to safeguarding public health and safety. This lack of awareness and appreciation leads to a stagnant talent pool that fails to meet the industry’s needs fully.
A call to action for certification bodies, scheme owners, and governing bodies.
Certification bodies, scheme owners, and governing bodies must embrace transformative reforms to modernize third-party food safety auditing and reduce frustrations.
Refining why and how updates to requirements are managed and communicated will help prevent unintended complexity while ensuring that essential changes are conveyed and supported by thorough stakeholder feedback and impact assessments.
Embracing advanced digital tools and streamlining processes can reclaim the strategic value of audits, turning audit reports into powerful instruments for continuous improvement.
We must reassess how we value auditors and their contributions. We must ensure fair compensation, provide clear career advancement paths, and reduce administrative overload. Only then can we restore the appeal of this vital role. Recognizing and rewarding auditors’ work is not just critical—it is imperative for the long-term success and credibility of the third-party auditing profession.
Raising awareness of auditors’ key role and providing robust support through mentoring, professional development, and financial assistance are essential to solving this. This investment will foster a deeper pool of highly skilled auditors, empowering them to meet the industry’s diverse challenges.
To enhance the profession’s appeal, we must redefine audits as essential tools for continuous improvement—rather than just compliance exercises. We must turn audits into opportunities for process optimization, food safety improvements, and enhanced customer trust. This shift in perspective will transform the audit process, positioning it as a catalyst for sustainable growth and excellence within food safety.
Bold changes are imperative to transform the current third-party auditing system and ensure that it delivers more value than it does or says it does.
It’s time for decisive action.
By Marc Cwikowski
February 22, 2025
