Food Safety Audits Glossary

Audit criteria 

The reference used by auditors to assess the performance of a food safety system. Examples of audit criteria include: regulations, standards, contract and customer requirements and internal procedures.  

Audit findings

The findings are the results collected during the audit. These findings are evaluated and measured against, or compared to, the audit criteria.

Audit scope 

This refers to the extent and boundaries of the audit and includes physical location, activities and processes to be audited.  

Audit team

This refers to the auditor(s) who conduct the audit.  When more than one auditor is involved, one person should be designated as the lead auditor. 

Corrective action 

This is an action the company being audited must undertake to eliminate the cause of a non-conformance and ensure conformance to audit criteria.

Lead auditor

This refers to the key member of the audit team who is responsible for preparing the audit plan, chairing meetings, assigning tasks to auditors, submitting the audit report and leading the audit team.   

Non-conformance

This is a deviation from the requirements specified in the audit criteria. Non-conformances may be classified as minor, major or critical. The type of non-conformance depends on the impact the deviation has on the integrity of the food safety system being audited, the safety of the product and the severity of the deviation. In most third-party audits, major and critical non-conformances must be corrected before certification and/or recognition can be granted or renewed.

Objective evidence

This is factual information collected during the audit. It describes the findings of the audit and is used to determine if the audit criteria has been met. Objective evidence can be collected through personnel interviews, observation of activities and review of documents, records, etc.

For more information, email the Food Safety and Inspection Branch or call 204-795-8418 in Winnipeg.