Verification and the food industry

What is verification?

Verification can be defined as being another level of proof that something or a particular fact, hypothesis or theory is actually correct. It forms an important part of any investigation process.

HACCP Verification and the food industry 

Verification is required as part of any HACCP based food safety program or system. Principle 6 of HACCP requires that the food business establishes procedures for verification. The frequency should be sufficient to support that the HACCP system is effectively working. The food business must be able to demonstrate to external food safety auditors that their HACCP system and food safety program has been implemented and it is effective.

Verification schedules

A verification schedule is a document which lists all of the activities that your food business will undertake in certain period of time. A good schedule will include the following elements:

• The activity – what are you going to verify.
• The frequency of the activity – how often is your food business going to perform the activity.
• Person responsible – who is the person within your food business that is responsible for ensuring the activity gets completed.
• Date of verification – what was the date that the activity was last performed
• Record of verification – what is the name of the record that supports the activity was undertaken.

Common Verification Activities

Examples of verification activities include:

• Confirmation that critical control points (CCPs) are under control
• 3rd party HACCP certification audits
• Microbiological testing of finished product
• Internal audits of HACCP systems
• Swabbing of equipment after cleaning activities
• Mock food product recalls
• End of shelf life assessment
• Review of employee training competency
• Label review to product formulation and legal requirements
• Supplier performance
• Good manufacturing practices (GMP) audits
• Calibration of equipment
• Product assessment to specification
• Crisis management and business continuity testing

In summary, verification is an important part of the overall operation and effectiveness of your HACCP food safety program. Records to support all verification activities are required to be kept by the food business. This provides a level of evidence or proof during your external audits and for the purpose of due diligence.

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