Tag Archives: Compliance

Doctrines serve as authoritative interpretations of how specific requirements should be understood and applied. They are not optional guidance. They define the expected approach during certification audits. In April 2026, IFS published updated doctrines across three of its core standards. Updates reflect accumulated audit experience, emerging regulatory priorities, and feedback from the certification ecosystem. When…

Auditor rotation exists for a good reason, it protects independence and reduces the risk of an auditor becoming too close to a site. But rotation also has a cost that is rarely discussed openly, the loss of accumulated context about a facility’s history, its recurring risk areas, and how previous findings were actually resolved. A…

Audit findings are graded for a reason, minor, major, critical, but that grading describes severity at a single point in time. It does not describe trajectory. A minor finding, left unexamined for what it might indicate structurally, can be the earliest visible sign of a gap that later resurfaces as something far more serious. Most…

Traceability systems are a core requirement under IFS Food, BRCGS, and EU food law. Most certified companies have documented procedures and can demonstrate traceability during standard audit exercises. The more demanding question is how those systems perform when speed and accuracy are required simultaneously — during a product recall, a customer complaint investigation, or a…

Supplier audits and certification audits serve different purposes. A certification audit assesses a supplier’s system against a defined standard. A supplier audit, conducted by or on behalf of a buyer, evaluates whether that supplier relationship presents specific risks relevant to a particular product or process. The following reflects a general pattern observed across multiple audit…

Certification is, by design, a point in time assessment. It answers whether requirements were met on the day of the audit. It does not answer where pressure is accumulating in a supply chain, or which findings are early signals of a larger issue still forming. Retailers and manufacturers relying solely on certificate status may be…

Standards provide a common framework, but risk does not distribute evenly across product categories. Cold chain integrity, allergen cross contact, microbiological sensitivity, and shelf life pressure all carry different weight depending on what is actually being produced. A generic audit approach can confirm compliance against a standard while still missing the specific pressure points that…

Certification provides a robust, standardized framework for food safety. However, for buyers—retailers and manufacturers—who require extra certainty regarding their specific product, process, or quality tolerances, certification is often just the starting point. Industry discussions often highlight this distinction: “All certified. All audited. All compliant… What’s your incoming inspection failure rate? About 15%.” This is not…

Doctrines serve as authoritative interpretations of how specific requirements should be understood and applied. They are not optional guidance. They define the expected approach during certification audits. In April 2026, IFS published updated doctrines across three of its core standards. Updates reflect accumulated audit experience, emerging regulatory priorities, and feedback from the certification ecosystem. When…