Why Is Food Auditing So Important?
Food audits are much more important than people believe when it comes to certifying the fact that food safety practices were or are being respected. Basically, food auditing is all about offering assurance and transparency about the standards being used by a company.
What is very important to understand is that food safety can save lives. Without it, businesses could use unsafe practices that would end up killing people.
Foodborne Diseases
Food production auditing aims to actively prevent the appearance of foodborne illness. The statement does seem obvious but we are referring to a huge problem with food production in North America. According to the CDC, every single year around 48 million people end up sick, close to 130,000 end up hospitalized, and around 3,000 die because of foodborne diseases.
When referring to facility reputation, an outbreak of foodborne illness can easily destroy the finances and reputations of the involved companies. In many cases, it can take many years and very aggressive marketing campaigns employed to make the public aware of the fact that there is no longer a threat to worry about.
In many cases, food poisoning is due to improper food handling. However, the process can easily be managed with the use of proper inspection checklists. Quality control is mandatory for every single company managing food of any kind.
Food Safety Audit Benefits
Food safety and quality management are vital. As a result, the use of a proper food auditing system offers a real-time assessment of all that is done in terms of guaranteeing food safety. The use of auditing systems offers the business the ability to figure out if there are dangerous security gaps that exist and that need to be taken care of.
We should also add that food safety audits will improve organizational communication. There are talks being carried out with employees so several viewpoints are exposed. As a result, a much stronger food safety culture can be created inside the company.
Food safety audits give businesses the possibility of maintaining and building food safety cultures and safeguarding the well-being of consumers. Also, they increase brand reputation and have a direct link with the company’s bottom line.
The Use Of Technology In Food Safety Audits
Most food safety auditing procedures are driven by modern technology. So much data and paperwork are needed to manage all the needed food safety checklist together with quality insurance documents. Accessing such documentation is important, just like analyzing it. Without such steps, food safety audits cannot be done. Auditing apps are thus often used to help manage all workflows and documents during auditing. They also give assistance with several tasks like maintenance, getting certification records, collecting data, analyzing it, and analyzing statistics. Basically, all data is streamlined and then accessible through applications.
Every single food company out there has to keep conducting food security auditing or risk being closed. Without strict processes in place and practices that are respected, food can become dangerous for the consumer and for the bottom line of the company responsible.
