I recently performed an audit for a company I just started working for and struggling with my findings.
The company I audited is a third party cold storage plant. The setup is a large bank of docks with gated partitions segregating the leased docks for each company within the massive complex.
The reason I mention this is that although we would only be storing cryo-vac sealed dairy products in this facility, during an audit I found that there is not only no documented evidence of routine and effective cleaning, there is also no environmental program or allergen control program to validate their procedures (I should mention that storage for this company is not strictly dedicated for dairy-they also store raw pork and other products across multiple industries. To me this raises huge red flags for cross contamination and overall sanitation at the storage company.
My company is not yet SQF but I am a driving force behind pushing them for certification, something senior management has stated that we WILL do. On the other hand, I am getting large pushback from senior management essentially saying that my audit of this cold storage facility was almost a formality and that we WILL likely use them for storage.
Am I erring too much on the side of caution or am I assessing the situation fairly in my observations and required corrective actions (something I should push heavily on senior management).
I welcome all comments and if I need to clarify anything please let me know.
Thanks in Advance!