Recently, a number of growers have asked:
“Who can accompany me during a third party food safety audit?”
Perhaps you had someone write your farm food safety plan for you or, you have a food safety consultant and you would like them to participate in or attend the audit.
The USDA weighed in on this question and stated:
” There are no written requirements restricting the number of individuals on an audit. We allow the auditor to make that decision as far as how many people they wish to accompany them. A consultant can accompany the auditor and act as an observer but may not act as a participant in the audit.”
If you would like someone to accompany with you during the audit be sure to ask the inspector where they stand on who may attend the audit with you.
