N.C. MarketReady Hosts Mock Third-Party Audit
The N.C. MarketReady Fresh Produce Safety – Field to Family program offered a mock third-party audit to educate N.C. Cooperative Extension agents and growers on the requirements for GAPs certification. This link leads to a slideshow detailing the event.
USDA GAP Audit Verification Program
With the increasing focus on Good Agricultural Practices to verify that farms are producing fruits and vegetables in the safest manner possible, third-party audits are being utilized by the retail and food service industry to verify their suppliers are in conformance to specific agricultural best practices. Since 1999, the Agricultural Marketing Service has been actively involved with the produce industry offering auditing services throughout the food chain to verify that best practices are being followed. USDA now has 5 audit matrices specific to industry needs as follows:
1. USDA Audit
2. USDA Audit Subway Distribution Centers (excel sheet)
3. Tomato Audit Protocol for the Fresh Tomato Supply Chain
Looking for participating companies that have obtained USDA GAPs Certification:
Third-Party Auditors
These companies and government agencies provide third-party audits for Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) certification. Visit their sites and contact them for information on setting up an audit.
*This list is not all-inclusive.
- North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS)
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- AIB International
- NFS Davis Fresh Technologies
- GlobalGAP
- ISO International Standards Organization
- Primus Labs
- Scientific Certification Systems
- Silliker
Farm Food Safety Expectations
A power point that was created by Ed LaClaire with NSF Davis Fresh for an educational mock audit/risk assessment that took place on the small farm unit at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems.
Audits Benchmarking Matrix
United Fresh has created an auditing matrix that provides infrastructure of a side by side comparison of audit organizations and food safety standards that are most commonly used in the produce industry.
Preparing for the Farm Ranch Audit
This publication was created by NSF Davis Fresh and outlines the various areas an audit will address; ranch documents, water sources, employee documents, chemicals, wildlife and livestock, harvest, and transportation.
NSF Davis Fresh’s Farm Evaluation
This evaluation walks through possible scenarios which a third party auditor may encounter on a GAPs certification audit and provides possible solutions to the issues.
