The United Fresh Produce Association’s Audits Benchmarking Matrix, an online tool designed to help produce supplier and customer companies compare third party audit and certification organizations, has been updated and is now available at www.unitedfresh.org/matrix.

The Audits Benchmarking Matrix was designed by the United Fresh Food Safety & Technology (FS&T) Council and launched in early 2010. The purpose of the matrix is to provide a side-by-side comparison of the most commonly used third party audit organizations and GFSI-benchmarked certification standards in the U.S. and Canada.

Divided into three separate sections: pre-farm gate (i.e., GAP audits of on-farm operations), post-farm gate (i.e., GMP audits of packinghouse, processing and warehouse/distribution operations), and GFSI-benchmarked standards, the matrix allows companies to focus just on those organizations relevant to their operation. The matrix includes the audit process questions that companies typically ask when evaluating which third party audit organization or standard is most applicable and appropriate, such as "Describe the cost formula for pricing audits and what is included in the audit cost," and "How are auditors trained to assess hazards and risk of potential food safety issues?" Answers to the questions were provided by each of the organizations in their own words.

The matrix update was led by FS&T Council member Gail Murray, Senior Manager, Safety and Quality Systems at Disney Consumer Products. "Several more audit organizations have been added to the Matrix, including CanadaGAP, NCSI Americas and PrimusGFS," said Murray. "The Audits Benchmarking Matrix is a unique tool for searching and comparing audit organizations’ processes and quality assurance programs right from the convenience of your desktop."

For more information on the United Fresh Audits Benchmarking Matrix, visit www.unitedfresh.org/matrix, or contact Dr. David Gombas, United Fresh senior vice president food safety and technology at 202-303-3400, ext. 411 or dgombas@unitedfresh.org.