Source of Article:
If everyone who takes a
test is getting an A, how hard can the test be? This is the
question that occurred to me yesterday watching a fine presentation by Dr.
Paul A. Hall, Ph.D. Dr. Hall was the speaker who presented
immediately before I did at the Almond Board of California's 13th Annual Food
Quality and Safety Symposium. Dr. Hall was addressing a question we
have asked here many times- why have we seen a string of foodborne illness
outbreaks from facilities supposedly subject to third party audits? The
recent Salmonella outbreak connected to PCA
peanut products is a shining example. One answer? Auditors are
not giving out bad marks. Perhaps based on a desire to be
hired again, auditors are handing out A's like candy on
halloween. Take a look at this chart from this study
of food safety audits: (the study was conducted in Europe)
There was an auditing
company giving its highest rating to more than 98% of the time.
Overall, more than 93% of audits resulted in the highest
rating. If, as I suspect, results like this would also be found
in the U.S., it would help explain why plants that have "superior"
ratings are the source of food recalls. For third-party audits to
mean something, the possibility of negative feedback, and poor scores must
exist. Industry has to find a way to increae the independence and
effectiveness of third-party audits. Otherwise, they are a waste
of time and money. The chart is from
"Checklist Governance, Risk Oriented Audits to Improve the
Quality of Certification Standards in the Food Sector" F.
Albersmeier, H. Shulze, A. Spiller, G. Jahn. (2009) |
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