It is your responsibility to regularly check that food safety and suitability is being well managed in your business.
• What to check and how often, depends on the effect of something going wrong in your business. You should check the most important things (e.g.thermometers) most often.
• An audit by a company you supply also counts as an internal check, but you must still conduct regular checks yourself.
• You should check:◦ that people are doing what they need to,◦ the procedures you have put in place are being followed and are effective,◦ your facilities and equipment remain suitable for the food activities at your business.
• You or one of your staff must be your own internal verifier (self-auditor).

• You are responsible for your business and the food you produce. If you wait for someone else to tell you that something has gone wrong, it may become costly and your food may make people sick.
• Check your plan is working well by (for example):◦ checking whether staff are carrying out key food safety behaviours (e.g. washing hands etc.)
,◦ checking records are being completed and kept,◦ looking through records to check that things are working as expected,
◦ reviewing ‘When something goes wrong information and checking that steps have been taken to prevent problems from happening again,
◦ running food safety quizzes with staff,◦ using the ‘Show’ sections in this template to ask the same questions or check the same things that your verifier would ask or look at,
◦ testing the environment or foods for certain bugs or chemicals to show procedures (e.g. cleaning and sanitising) are effective.

Some notes about testing
There are specific requirements for testing in some situations (e.g. self-supply water). There are also rules about certain limits for bugs or chemicals in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code www.foodstandards.govt.nz/code/Pages/default.aspxA limit doesn’t mean you always have to test the food for that bug or chemical. If you are thinking about using sampling and testing to show your plan is working well, this shouldn’t be the only check that you do. It is not possible to test your way to food safety.
• Testing can be a useful tool, but it has limitations. If, for example, testing results find harmful bugs, that might mean some part of the process is not working well. Checking the plan is working well
• A negative result may not prove that your plan is working perfectly (or that the food is safe). Bugs, in particular, are not usually evenly distributed in food. It is possible to test some food and get a negative result when another part of the food in the same batch has high levels of harmful bugs.
• If you want to include testing as one of your checks, itis often more effective to test the environment rather than final foods.
• If you use sampling and testing as part of your procedure for checking, it is highly recommended that the testing plan is developed by an expert. If you don't have an expert in your business, a consultant, your verifier or MPI can provide information about putting together a sampling and testing plan.

• You must set up procedures for regularly checking that you and your staff are making safe and suitable food and meeting your requirements and responsibilities

under the Food Act 2014.

• Follow the procedure on ‘When something goes wrong’ if your self-checks identify mistakes or actions that could have made food unsafe or unsuitable.

• Show your verifier:

◦◦ how you check that your procedures are working

well,

◦◦ results of the checks you have made.