Globally, food safety is the primary concern for food and beverage companies. Failure to adhere to food safety compliance through hygiene compliance audits and ongoing monitoring and measurement can result in fines, reputational damage and potentially illness in consumers. This is why these companies rely on stringent hygiene compliance audits to ensure that food safety measures are adhered to – in a visible and traceable way.
What are hygiene compliance audits?
In order to operate, hygiene compliance audits are required by various entities – including hospitality, food retail, catering, and food production facilities. Without a hygiene compliance audit – which is a comprehensive inspection of the food facility itself, as well as associated records such as daily temperature checklists, daily hygiene, and traceability.
Swabs are taken from surfaces and food samples to test for pathogens – such as Listeria, Salmonella and E.Coli. – and the business’s compliance with all current protocols is audited and reviewed, which includes all existing hygiene policies and practices.
Once all the results are assessed, the audit findings provide the business with a clear outline of areas that require immediate intervention and ongoing improvement. An ongoing food safety management plan can then be incorporated in order to assist in identifying, avoiding, and managing risks.
Who can conduct hygiene compliance audits?
Reputable companies – such as Assurecloud – specialise in hygiene compliance audits such as this, and can assist organisations in the development and implementation of management systems to ensure that all practices are aligned with the law and industry standards.
A professional, multi-qualified environmental health practitioner ensures that a comprehensive hygiene compliance audit is carried out – and that all risks are identified, assessed, and managed.
The importance of continuous hygiene compliance audits
Safe food handling practices that are audited and enforced improve the overall productivity of a business, and seamlessly integrate health and safety into existing processes. They allow for various policies and practices to be assessed and monitored in a verifiable way – and improved upon if they are found lacking.
Without continuous hygiene compliance audits, and the enforcement of their requirements, food and beverage companies could revert to unsafe food handling practices which can undermine the brand’s credibility, and endanger the health and safety of consumers.
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Contact Assurecloud to find out more.
