"In 2009, United Fresh hosted the Global Conference on Produce Food Safety Standards - the first-ever opportunity for the produce industry to hear directly from 16 auditing organizations how they assure the quality of their audits and standards, as well as why their audits should be trusted," said Dr. David Gombas, United Fresh senior vice president of food safety and technology. "The Audits Benchmarking Matrix is a direct output from that conference, enabling audit customers to compare the quality systems of these organizations and make informed choices of which audit programs to accept."

The Audits Benchmarking Matrix working group, led by Disney Consumer Products' Gail Murray, invited all of the audit organizations involved in the Global Conference to provide written responses to specific questions designed to elicit information about their internal quality programs. Questions asked in the Audits Benchmarking Matrix range from which program features most assure the reliability of the audits performed by the organization, to listing their requirements for auditor experience in the food industry.

The Audits Benchmarking Matrix allows users to select and compare any of eight organizations that perform pre-farm gate - or GAP - audits, seven organizations that perform post-farm gate - or GMP - audits, and four organizations whose standards have been benchmarked by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). 

"Trust is the most important factor in deciding whether to use an audit organization," said Gombas. "This means trust in both the audit process and in the auditor. The Audits Benchmarking Matrix allows interested parties to compare what these companies say about themselves from the convenience of a desktop."

The Audits Benchmarking Matrix is freely accessible from the United Fresh website here, and comments about the Audits Benchmarking Matrix can be sent directly to Dr. Gombas at 202-303-3400 ext. 411.