Verification and review

Three words are easy to confuse. Monitoring is the check you do at the time: are we inside the limit now? Validation comes before you rely on the plan: is there evidence that it can work? Verification comes afterwards and is carried out in addition to monitoring: has the control been operating as intended?

Verification includes observation, auditing, calibration, sampling and testing, and reviewing records. A manager might read the week's cooking records, check that corrective actions were carried out, test a probe in iced water, or watch a cook taking a temperature. A manufacturer might send samples to a laboratory.

Verification should be carried out by someone other than the person who did the monitoring and the corrective actions. A person checking their own work is likely to miss the same things twice. In a very small business that may be hard. If some verification cannot be done in-house, an outside expert or qualified third party should do it.

UK law says verification procedures must be carried out regularly. How often depends on the risk, but it should be often enough to confirm that the system is working.

The whole system also needs a review. Codex says the system should be reviewed periodically, and whenever there is a significant change that could affect the hazards or control measures. UK law says that when any modification is made in the product, process or any step, the business must review the procedure and make any necessary changes.

Verification looks for warning signs as well as gaps. A fridge record that shows exactly the same figure every day, or a week of entries in the same pen and handwriting, may mean that checks are not really being done. A good manager asks why, without assuming the worst, and goes to see for themselves.

Common reasons for a review are a new dish or ingredient, a new supplier, new equipment, a new process, new information about a hazard, repeated failures, complaints and incidents.

Imagine a cafe adds a satay sauce to its menu. This brings in peanuts, which are a new allergen for the kitchen. It also adds a new preparation step. The cafe must update its allergen information, its flow diagram and its controls before the dish goes on sale. It must not wait for the next routine review.