Assessment of Food Safety Management Systems

Assessment of food safety management systems is a verification activity with the objective of evaluating the compliance with set standards. While it cannot be relied upon for ensuring safety, it is important for verifying that stakeholders comply with safety and regulatory requirements. Assessment can be carried out by authorities or by the private sector itself. It can be comprehensive and cover the assessment of the entire food safety management system, or be partial and limited to some elements of the food safety management system, operations or products. This will depend on the purpose of the assessment. The validity of the assessment depends on a number of factors, in particular the competence of assessors. The frequency and scope must be based on the level of risk presented by the operation. Among different factors, the previous records of compliance are important criteria to be considered.