Insights from “Food Certifications in 15” with Joel Verke and Alex Hanley
Preparing for What’s Now Required
With Safe Quality Food Institute (SQF) Version 10 now requiring vertical audits—and their continued use in BRCGS—food manufacturers must adapt quickly.
In Part 2 of Food Certifications in 15, Joel Verke and Alex Hanley break down the real-world value of vertical audits—and why they are worth implementing beyond compliance alone.
1. Be Ready for Your Certification Audit
The most immediate reason to conduct vertical audits is simple: you will be expected to perform them.
Rather than encountering them for the first time during a certification audit, organizations should:
- Practice regularly
- Build internal competency
- Integrate them into routine audit activities
Preparation reduces risk, improves confidence, and leads to stronger audit performance.
2. Improve Consistency Through Better Records
Records are often seen as a burden—but they are one of the most powerful tools in a food safety system.
Vertical audits reinforce the purpose of documentation:
- Ensuring consistent execution of processes
- Demonstrating ongoing compliance, not just point-in-time readiness
- Providing objective evidence of system performance
By sampling records across specific production days, vertical audits ensure that documentation reflects real operations—not curated examples.
3. Strengthen Internal Audits: Find It, Fix It
An internal audit that finds no issues is rarely a strong one.
Vertical audits encourage teams to:
- Identify gaps and inconsistencies
- Investigate root causes
- Implement corrective actions
This “find it and fix it” approach transforms internal audits from a compliance exercise into a continuous improvement tool.
4. Focus on Your Programs, Not Just the Standard
One of the biggest advantages of vertical auditing is its focus on your actual operations.
Instead of working line-by-line through a standard, teams evaluate:
- Their own procedures
- Their own records
- Their own implementation
This makes audits more practical, more relevant, and easier for cross-functional teams to engage with.
5. Build a True Food Safety Culture
Food safety cannot rest solely on the quality or QA team.
Vertical audits help distribute responsibility by:
- Engaging supervisors and managers across departments
- Reinforcing daily verification activities
- Encouraging ownership of food safety practices
As Hanley highlights, when each department verifies its own processes, and audits others, food safety becomes a shared responsibility.
6. Develop Transferable Skills Across Your Team
One often-overlooked benefit of vertical audits is their role in training and development.
By participating in vertical audits, employees learn to:
- Review and verify records
- Understand system interconnections
- Identify risks and inconsistencies
These skills extend beyond audits, improving day-to-day supervision and operational awareness.
Why Work with PJRFSI?
At Perry Johnson Registrars Food Safety, Inc. (PJRFSI), we go beyond simply issuing certificates. We partner with organizations to help them build stronger, more effective food safety systems.
Our approach includes:
- Practical, process-focused audits aligned with modern requirements
- Clear, actionable feedback that supports improvement
- Industry expertise across SQF, BRCGS, and other GFSI-recognized schemes
As vertical audits become a core expectation, choosing the right certification body can make all the difference.
Final Thoughts
Vertical audits are more than just a new requirement, they represent a smarter, more effective way to evaluate food safety systems.
By moving beyond checklists and focusing on real-world performance, organizations can:
- Improve consistency
- Strengthen internal audits
- Build a sustainable food safety culture
If your organization is preparing for upcoming certification changes, now is the time to integrate vertical audits into your program and ensure you are truly ready.
To watch the full recording, head over to our YouTube channel.
