Preparing for an ISO 22000 Certification Audit: An Insider's View from a Certification Body

We, at Guard is Certifications Poland, have seen hundreds of food production facilities—from small family-run businesses to large holdings. Each is unique, but the feeling of anxiety before the first (and sometimes even the next) audit is similar. The good news: an audit isn't an exam with tricky questions. It's a professional dialogue about how your system actually ensures food safety every day. And yes, we have insights that will make you feel calmer and more confident during the audit.
Imagine your system isn't a set of rules, but a living person. It has a skeleton (structure, procedures), a brain (management and risk analysis), a circulatory system (communication and document flow), and an immune system (corrective actions).

The auditor isn't looking for a perfect picture, but for logic and evidence.
1. Logic: Why are you doing it this way? Is your handwashing procedure based on WHO recommendations, or is it just "feeling right"? Does your HACCP plan take into account the specifics of your raw materials, or is it a template downloaded from the internet? We want to see a sense of purpose in every action.
2. Evidence: You say you conduct staff training? Great, show us the protocols, records in your personnel files, and photos from the training. You claim you monitor the refrigerator temperature? Great, but where are the monitoring logs for the last three months? Words without evidence are just good talk for an auditor.
You won't believe it, but 70% of impressions are formed before we even open the first folder of documents. These are unspoken signals that speak louder than any report about the safety culture at your facility.
These observations form a "first impression" of the maturity of your safety culture.
There are documents that are the heart of your system. If they are problematic, recovery will be difficult. Here's our internal "must-have" checklist, which we expect to see in perfect condition:
1. Food Safety Policy and Objectives. This is your "constitution." It must be signed by management, communicated to EVERY employee (we'll definitely ask the line operator about this), and be measurable. "Becoming better" is not a goal. "Reduce complaints by 15% by the end of the year" is.
2. HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) Plan. This is the brain of your system. We'll be examining it under a microscope. The logic of hazard identification, the rationale for CCP selection, the established critical limits, the monitoring and corrective action procedures—there can be no compromise here.
3. CCP Monitoring Records. This is your system's ECG. If your HACCP plan says "check temperatures every 2 hours," you should have records for every day, every 2 hours. Omissions or backdated figures (and we see them!) are direct evidence that the system isn't working.
4. Management review protocols. This is proof that the director hasn't simply signed off on the policy, but is actually involved in the system, analyzing its performance, and making decisions.
5. Internal audit program and its results. You must be your own strictest auditor. If your internal audits don't find any problems, we're more suspicious than if you found 10 nonconformities and already developed an action plan.

Let's finish with the most interesting part. These are the little things that sometimes undo months of hard work. Please don't do them.

• "Theatrical production." When on audit day, all employees wear perfectly new lab coats (with tags), and there's a mat at the entrance that wasn't there yesterday and won't be there tomorrow. We value authenticity. It's better to honestly demonstrate a working system, with its minor flaws, than a perfect but false performance.
• The answer "We've always done it this way." This is the worst answer you can give to an auditor. It indicates a lack of a systematic approach. The correct answer always begins with: "According to our procedure...," "Based on risk analysis...," "In accordance with the requirements of the standard..."
• Hide problems. Found an expired product? Don't try to discreetly remove it. Instead, say: "Yes, this was our oversight. Here is our procedure for managing nonconforming products; we will now draw up a report and conduct an investigation into why this happened." Such honesty commands immense respect and proves that your system works!
• "Lost" documents. Frantically searching for the right log or instruction. Organize your "audit office" so that any document can be found in 30 seconds. This demonstrates that you control the system, not the system controls you.

At GUARD IS CERTIFICATIONS POLAND, we believe that a certification audit is not a court of law, but a constructive dialogue between two professionals. You are professionals in producing your product. We are professionals in assessing management systems. Together, we achieve a common goal – guaranteeing consumer safety and strengthening