If you operate in the food supply chain — manufacturing, processing, packaging, storage, or distribution — third-party audits are likely a requirement from your customers. These audits evaluate your food safety management system against internationally recognized standards. While the standards differ in structure and emphasis, they share a common thread: auditors need to see evidence that your food safety controls are defined, implemented, monitored, and documented. Software makes building and maintaining that evidence practical at scale.
Understanding GFSI-Benchmarked Standards
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarks food safety certification schemes against a common set of requirements. The major GFSI-benchmarked standards include:
SQF (Safe Quality Food)
SQF is widely used in North America and covers both food safety (SQF Food Safety Code) and quality (SQF Quality Code). It uses a three-level certification system, with Level 3 representing a comprehensive food safety and quality management system. SQF audits evaluate your food safety plan, prerequisite programs, and the records that demonstrate ongoing compliance.
BRC Global Standard for Food Safety
BRC (now BRCGS) is particularly prevalent in the UK and Europe. It's structured around a senior management commitment to food safety, a HACCP-based food safety plan, and a detailed set of requirements covering the factory environment, product control, and process control. BRC audits can be announced or unannounced, with many retailers now requiring the unannounced option.
FSSC 22000
FSSC 22000 builds on ISO 22000 (the international standard for food safety management systems) and adds sector-specific prerequisite programs (ISO/TS 22002-1 for manufacturing, ISO/TS 22002-4 for packaging). It's common in European and multinational food companies. The ISO foundation means it integrates well with other management system standards like ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
IFS Food
IFS Food is especially popular in Germany, France, and Italy. It focuses on product safety and quality, process efficiency, and compliance with customer specifications. IFS uses a scoring system where each requirement receives a rating, and the overall score determines the certification level.
Which Standard Do You Need?
The choice of standard is usually driven by your customers. Major retailers specify which GFSI-benchmarked scheme they accept. Some accept any GFSI-recognized standard, while others require a specific one. If you supply multiple retailers, you may need to satisfy requirements from more than one scheme — though the core food safety requirements overlap significantly. Check with your buyers before starting the certification process.
What Auditors Are Looking For
Regardless of the specific standard, food safety auditors evaluate three things:
1. Your System Is Defined
You have documented policies, procedures, and plans that describe how you manage food safety. This includes your HACCP plan, prerequisite programs, standard operating procedures, and management responsibilities.
2. Your System Is Implemented
What's written in your documents is actually happening on the floor. Auditors verify this through observation during the facility tour, interviews with staff, and cross-referencing records with procedures.
3. Your System Is Maintained
Records demonstrate that monitoring, verification, and corrective actions are happening consistently over time — not just the week before the audit. This is where most facilities struggle, and where software makes the biggest difference.
Common Audit Documentation Challenges
Facilities that rely on paper-based documentation systems face recurring problems during audits:
- Missing records — Temperature logs from three months ago can't be located. A corrective action form wasn't completed. A training record is missing a signature
- Inconsistent completion — Records exist for some days but not others, or some shifts but not others, creating gaps that auditors flag as monitoring failures
- Batch-filled logs — All entries for a day written in the same handwriting at the same time, indicating the records don't reflect actual monitoring
- No corrective actions documented — Monitoring logs show all results within limits — every day, every reading. Auditors know this isn't realistic and question the system's integrity
- Retrieval time — When an auditor asks for a specific record, finding it shouldn't take 30 minutes of searching through filing cabinets
- Version control — Outdated SOPs in use, superseded forms still being filled out, and no clear record of when documents were updated
How Audit Software Addresses These Issues
Food safety audit software doesn't replace your food safety management system — it provides the infrastructure to run it consistently and demonstrate compliance efficiently.
Digital Monitoring Records
Replace paper logs with digital checklists that capture monitoring data at the point of activity:
- Automatic timestamps — Every entry records the exact date, time, and user, eliminating any question about when monitoring occurred
- Guided workflows — Staff are prompted through each required check in sequence, reducing the chance of missed items
- Validation rules — Entries outside critical limits are flagged immediately and require corrective action documentation before the check can be completed
- Photo evidence — Attach photos to records for visual verification of conditions, equipment readings, or issues
- Completion tracking — Management sees in real time which checks are done, which are overdue, and which had deviations
Corrective Action Management
When monitoring reveals a deviation, the software captures the full corrective action cycle:
- What the deviation was (linked to the monitoring record that triggered it)
- Immediate action taken (product disposition, equipment adjustment, area cleaning)
- Root cause analysis
- Preventive measures to avoid recurrence
- Verification that corrective actions were effective
This creates the complete corrective action trail that auditors expect — and that paper systems rarely deliver consistently.
Document Control
Audit standards require controlled documents — SOPs, policies, forms, and plans that are reviewed, approved, and distributed in a controlled manner. Software supports this by:
- Version management — Only the current version of each document is available for use
- Review reminders — Automated notifications when documents are due for periodic review
- Access control — Only authorized personnel can approve or modify controlled documents
- Distribution records — Evidence that relevant staff have received and acknowledged updated procedures
The 15-Second Test
During an audit, when the auditor asks for a specific record — a temperature log from a particular date, a corrective action for a specific incident, a training record for a particular employee — you should be able to retrieve it within seconds, not minutes. Digital records with search and filter capabilities make this possible. If your current system can't do this, it's a practical indicator that software would improve your audit performance.
Prerequisite Program Management
All GFSI standards require robust prerequisite programs (PRPs) — the foundational practices that create the conditions for food safety. These typically include:
- Cleaning and sanitation — Schedules, procedures, verification records, and chemical safety data
- Pest management — Monitoring records, trend analysis, and corrective actions for pest activity
- Supplier approval — Qualification records, certificates, and incoming inspection results
- Calibration — Equipment calibration schedules, records, and out-of-calibration responses
- Maintenance — Preventive maintenance schedules and completion records for food safety-related equipment
- Training — Training records with topics, dates, attendees, and competency assessments
- Environmental monitoring — Sampling schedules, results, and trend tracking for pathogen and indicator organisms
Each of these generates records that auditors will review. Software ensures these records are created consistently, stored centrally, and retrievable quickly.
Preparing for the Audit
With the right software infrastructure, audit preparation shifts from a frantic multi-week scramble to a routine review process:
Ongoing Readiness
When your daily monitoring, corrective actions, and prerequisite programs are running through software, audit readiness is a byproduct of normal operations rather than a special project. Records are complete because the system enforces completion. Deviations are documented because the system requires it.
Pre-Audit Review
Before the audit, use software reporting to review:
- Completion rates for all monitoring activities — are there gaps?
- Open corrective actions — are any unresolved?
- Document review status — are all SOPs current?
- Training records — is everyone up to date?
- Calibration status — is any equipment overdue?
During the Audit
When the auditor is on site, the ability to pull records quickly demonstrates system maturity. Auditors notice when a facility can immediately retrieve any requested record — it signals that the food safety management system is genuinely embedded in operations, not assembled for the audit.
Multi-Site Certification
Organizations with multiple facilities face the challenge of maintaining consistent food safety standards across all locations. Software helps by:
- Standardized programs — The same monitoring checklists, corrective action workflows, and documentation standards across all sites
- Centralized visibility — Corporate food safety teams can monitor compliance status across all facilities in real time
- Benchmarking — Compare audit scores, corrective action rates, and compliance metrics between locations
- Shared learning — When one facility resolves a non-conformance, the corrective action can be shared across sites to prevent similar issues
- Consistent audit preparation — Every facility follows the same pre-audit review process
Start Before the Audit, Not Because of It
The most common mistake facilities make is implementing audit software in response to a poor audit result. By then, you're behind. The best time to implement is when your current system is working but fragile — when you're passing audits but spending too much time on preparation, or when you know your records have gaps that you've been fortunate enough to avoid questions about. Build the system during stable times so it's reliable when the auditor arrives.
Need to strengthen your audit documentation? Miratag's digital checklists help food businesses build consistent monitoring records, track corrective actions, and maintain audit-ready documentation across every facility. Contact us to discuss your food safety audit needs.
