Internal audits of the food-safety system
Plain-language summary
Run planned internal audits to check the FSMS meets the standard and your own requirements, and is working in practice.
What the clause is really asking
Internal audit is how you find problems before a certifier or a consumer does. This clause requires a planned audit programme based on the importance and past performance of areas, conducted by objective and impartial auditors, with results reported to management and nonconformities acted on. It is the system checking itself honestly.
What auditors look for
Auditors review your audit programme, schedule and reports - do they cover the whole FSMS over the cycle, are auditors competent and independent of the area they audit, are findings real and closed out. A programme that always finds nothing is itself a red flag.
Typical evidence
Internal audit programme and schedule; auditor competence and independence records; audit reports and findings; corrective actions and close-out
How to comply — recommendations
Schedule audits across the whole system over a defined cycle, weighted toward higher-risk and weaker-performing areas. Use trained auditors who do not audit their own work, and expect them to find genuine issues. Track findings to closure and feed the results into management review. Two FSSC 22000 points to build in: quality elements must sit inside the internal audit scope (2.5.9), and multi-site organisations must run the programme from the central function with auditors who meet defined criteria — a 40-hour lead auditor course for the internal lead auditor, a 16-hour internal auditor course for the others, and at least 8 hours of scheme training (2.5.18.2).
Common nonconformities
Auditors auditing their own area; programme not covering the full FSMS; findings not closed out; audits that never find anything; quality requirements left out of the audit scope; multi-site auditors without the required course hours
Related clauses
ISO 22000 9.3, 10.1; ISO 9001 9.2; ISO 19011; FSSC 22000 2.5.9 (quality in the audit scope), 2.5.18 (multi-site internal audits)
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