Expert Guide to Building Verification and Validation Schedule
We got asked a lot about “what I need to do for my food safety management system?” or “how do I know what to do for food safety?”. A good way to ensure that we don’t miss our food safety is by building a food safety verification and validation schedule.
A proper food safety verification and validation program can help mitigate this risk by verifying that specific procedures are being followed in the production of food products. Verification and validation are very important steps in any food manufacturing facility. They are reviewed and inspected during food safety audits -whether for a HACCP audit or an SQF audit.
This blog will provide an expert step-by-step guide to creating a validation and verification program for your food facility. It will discuss policies and procedures related to food safety verification and validation and methods for implementing verification and validation efforts within a food facility. Finally, you’ll learn how to evaluate the results of your verification and validation programs to ensure their effectiveness.
Identify Your Verification and Validation Requirements
Verification and validation procedures are typically considered non-daily tasks. Thus, it is often can be easily forgotten.
Thus, it is important to have an actual verification and validation schedule, to ensure that we do not miss the important verification and validation activities.
We will need to identify our verification and validation activities to build a verification and validation schedule. You can identify these activities by reviewing each food safety procedure and food safety plan.
Be sure to understand the differences between verification activities and validation activities. They can be easily confused.
Validation: refers to an element of verification focused on collecting and evaluating scientific and technical information to determine if the HACCP food safety (or quality) plan is properly implemented and will effectively control the hazards (CODEX). (SQF Code 9.0 Food Manufacturing)
In short, validation refers to evaluating if our process is effective at controlling or mitigating the identified hazards.
Validation examples: metal detector validation, product pH, cooking time and temperature, trending etc.
Verification refers to activities other than monitoring, determining the validity of the HACCP food safety (or quality) plan, and ensuring that the system operates according to the plan(CODEX). (SQF Code 9.0 Food Manufacturing)
In short, verification refers to the activity that we conduct to ensure that our plan operates as intended.
Verification examples: HACCP process flow, document review, record review and internal audit.
Once you have identified the activities, list them in an Excel calendar -click here to download a copy of the verification and validation schedule calendar. In this calendar, list the validation activities, frequency, the person responsible for the activities and where to document the validation record. Do the same for verification activities.
Tips for building and following your verification and validation calendar:
- Plan and align your verification and validation activities according to your current implementation plan. For example, if the metal detector validation is due in Mar 2023, list the tasks for March reoccurrence.
- Ensure the person responsible are aware of their roles and where to document the validation and verification records.
- Regularly review your validation and verification calendar
We like to list our verification and validation activities in a software calendar, so we get a reminder and do not miss the activities. If you are not working with food safety software, you can use Outlook calendar or Excel documents. Just make sure you don’t miss the verification and validation activities.
If you are new to food safety software, it is a great way to keep track of food safety tasks and records. Contact SFPM Consulting for an exclusive offer for your food safety software needs.
Assess results to ensure the effectiveness of food safety verification and validation
Considerations must be given to the business needs. As businesses grow and change, their food safety verification and validation schedule may not be effective anymore. It’s important to reassess the schedule regularly to ensure it meets your needs.
The food safety verification and validation schedule should be updated as necessary to reflect changes in the business or changes in the food being processed. Additionally, the schedule should be adapted to account for new technologies or methods employees use.
In conclusion, we discussed the importance of food safety verification and validation and outlined the steps necessary to successfully implement these practices in a food manufacturing facility. By following these simple guidelines, you’ll be able to ensure that you don’t miss your verification and validation activities listed on your food safety procedures.