It’s that time of the year (or every four years to be more exact). You get the warning from your inspector, or the call comes in directly from an EIAO; it’s time for your periodic Food Safety Assessment (FSA). They follow up with a letter in which you are told to provide 60 days of records, all of your supporting documents, include your HACCP Plans, SSOP, GMPs, scientific documents, etc., a place to work, access to your facility, to include a tour, etc.
The first thing you notice after the call is your IIC is a bit uptight. Truth be told, they don’t like FSAs any more than you do. The in-plant inspector’s job is to spot check. The EIAO is going to look at a solid 60 days (at a minimum) of history. Inevitably, your inspector thinks they have missed something and their goal is to find it before the EIAO arrives. So on top of going through a FSA, you have an in-plant inspector who is on edge. Sound familiar?