Audit or Inspection: What is the Difference?

A food inspection and a food safety audit can both help to improve operational performance. They also both assess conformance to set standards. There are, however, subtle differences.

A food safety audit is a systematic evaluation of food facility documentation to determine if food safety practices, programs and related activities, including procedures and record keeping, are achieving planned expectations. Generally, an auditor looks at data over a set time period to see if positive or negative trends are developing. 

In comparison, food safety inspections provide a thorough physical review of a food facility to assess what is happening in production during a precise moment in time. This snapshot—typically lasting between two and four days—provides a realistic assessment of conditions. These can be both positive and negative. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) mandates routine inspections typically conducted by either local health departments or regulatory agencies. “Although food safety audits are not a legal requirement, by conducting internal or external audits, food processors can be assured their processes are conforming to these defined food safety standards,” Fortress notes.

Food safety audits play an essential role in supporting safe food consumption, brand integrity, regulatory compliance, supply chain management, risk assessment and prevention, and promoting operational excellence. Given the numerous critical control points in a processing plant, Fortress advises routinely and systematically revisiting potential hygiene and contamination hazards as part of a regular risk assessment and food safety program.

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