Food Safety Audits

There are few aspects of your hospitality business that are more important than creating, maintaining, and continuously improving your food handling systems. It is not only a science, but also a regulatory and customer health issue that requires professional guidance, staff training, and a commitment to ongoing evaluation to minimize your risk and liability.

Goodwin & Associates has partnered with Sherwin Food Safety to provide our clients with a comprehensive food safety audit service that identifies all food handling sanitation issues, while also providing training to improve procedures and/or employee behavior to proactively meet health code compliance and protect your businesses’ reputation.

Depending upon your needs, our comprehensive Food Safety Audit program provides:

Evaluation
Reporting
Hazard Analysis
Complaint Investigation
Closure (or Imminent Closure) Management
Design Plan Review
Online Employee Certification Programs

Evaluation

Auditors follow the flow of food from receiving to service, and the audit is conducted to enable auditors to see and experience the full variety of food preparation and service components. The auditing process is based on the 2009 Food Code guidelines
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food & Drug Administration - FDA) and recognized industry-wide best practices.

Reporting

Our sophisticated online reporting system can provide numerous types of reports to easily analyze the results of our food safety audits and identify trends within the cumulative data. The reports are customized for each client, regularly updated with current information, and clearly formatted for review and presentation. The graphs are interactive, providing the user the ability to view the data on a macro level and also drill down to specific locations and time frames.

Reports are available on a local, regional, district, and company-wide level. A user hierarchy is established to specify who within the organization can access different types and levels of information. All reports are viewed through a secure server and all data is encrypted to ensure that information is only viewed by authorized individuals. Keyword triggers can be used to alert management if an reports contains mention of instances that require immediate attention. View a sample report.

Hazard Analysis

Many jurisdictions require that every food service facility have written procedures for controlling and monitoring the handling of potentially hazardous foods. We can develop working procedures and plans, also known as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) that include flow charts, temperature logs, sanitation operating procedures, and other related documentation for both regulatory and internal compliance.

Complaint Investigation

In the event of a food borne illness complaint or suspected outbreak, we can coordinate all aspects of the investigation, including interviewing complainants, laboratory analysis of food samples, enteric testing and diagnosis, and working cooperatively with local health officials if necessary.

Usually, our complaint investigation services are completely turnkey in nature, in that all complaints received at the unit or corporate level are immediately turned over to us for appropriate follow-up and documentation.

This is an extremely valuable service that can help multi-unit operations track important data concerning complaint frequency and the specific food(s) involved in those complaints.

Closure (or Imminent Closure) Management

If an establishment has been cited for critical violations and/or closed, we’ll work closely with the health department to determine the specific problem(s), assist in taking appropriate remedial action, and bring the operation back into compliance — and re-opened — quickly.

Design Plan Review

Our trained professionals can review architectural design specifications and facilitate the installation of equipment — for both new and existing food service facilities — and assist in obtaining local permits. Our experts can help you determine the most cost effective layout and design to eliminate potential problems down the road, and ensure that all equipment meets regulatory standards and energy conservation needs.