Online Internal & Supplier Auditing Practices Based on Your FSMS
Internal and supplier audits are how you prove your food safety management system actually works — not just on paper, but on the floor and in your supply chain. This online, self-paced course equips QA/QC and food-safety team members to plan risk-based audits, gather objective evidence, raise defensible non-conformances and drive real corrective action. Build the audit competence that FSSC 22000, BRCGS and ISO 22000 expect of you.
Our Internal & Supplier Auditing course
One focused online course to build the practical audit skills your food safety team needs to plan, conduct, report and follow up internal and supplier audits with confidence.
What Is Internal & Supplier Auditing?
Auditing is the systematic, independent and documented process of collecting objective evidence and evaluating it against a defined set of criteria — your food safety management system (FSMS), the applicable standard, your own procedures and legal requirements. An internal audit looks inward: it checks that your own system is implemented, effective and being followed, from prerequisite programmes and HACCP through to management review. A supplier audit looks outward, assessing the raw-material, ingredient, packaging and service providers whose failures can end up in your product.
Good auditing is never a fault-finding exercise or a box-ticking walk-around. It is evidence-based: the auditor plans against risk, gathers facts through observation, records and interviews, compares what is happening against the requirement, and reports findings that are specific, factual and traceable. Where a requirement is not met, the auditor raises a non-conformance that the auditee can understand, investigate and correct — making the audit a driver of genuine improvement rather than paperwork.
Because internal and supplier audits sit at the heart of the ‘check’ and ‘act’ stages of any FSMS, GFSI-benchmarked schemes such as FSSC 22000, BRCGS and ISO 22000 all require competent, impartial auditors and a functioning internal audit and supplier-approval programme. This course develops exactly that competence for the people who do the work day to day.
Who Should Do This Course?
This course is built for the people who carry out, coordinate or rely on audits within a food business — anyone who needs to audit against an FSMS with rigour and confidence.
QA & QC Officers
The frontline auditors who run internal checks and need a repeatable, evidence-based method.
Food Safety & HACCP Team Members
To audit the FSMS, prerequisite programmes and HACCP plan they helped build and maintain.
Newly Appointed Internal Auditors
Staff being added to the internal audit schedule who need core auditor skills before their first audit.
Supplier Approval & Procurement Staff
Those who assess, approve and monitor raw-material and service suppliers against food safety criteria.
Production & Line Supervisors
To understand how audits work, prepare their areas and respond constructively to findings.
Quality & Technical Managers
To lead the audit programme, review reports and ensure corrective actions are verified and closed out.
Consultants & Compliance Staff
Professionals supporting multiple sites who need a consistent, standard-aligned auditing approach.
What You Will Learn
The course takes you through the full audit cycle — from planning and preparation to on-site conduct, reporting and corrective-action follow-up — for both internal and supplier audits.
The principles of auditing: independence, impartiality, an evidence-based approach and the roles of auditor and auditee
How to plan a risk-based internal audit programme and build a schedule that covers the whole FSMS over time
Preparing for an audit: defining scope, criteria and objectives, and drafting a practical checklist from the standard and procedures
Conducting the audit — opening meetings, effective questioning and interviewing, observation and sampling of records
Gathering and recording objective evidence, and testing it against the requirement to reach sound audit conclusions
Classifying and writing clear, factual, defensible findings and non-conformances the auditee can act on
Assessing and auditing suppliers — questionnaires, documentation review, on-site supplier audits and approval criteria
Reporting results, agreeing corrective action and root-cause remediation, and verifying effective close-out
How Auditing Fits Your FSMS & the Standards
Internal audit is a mandatory element of every GFSI-benchmarked scheme. FSSC 22000 and ISO 22000 require a planned internal audit programme to confirm the FSMS conforms to requirements and is effectively implemented and maintained, while BRCGS sets out a schedule of internal audits covering the whole system, including HACCP and prerequisite programmes. Supplier assessment and approval is equally required — you must manage the food safety risk of what comes through your gate. Audits feed directly into corrective action, verification and management review, closing the loop so that problems are found and fixed before they reach the consumer.
In the South African context, a well-run audit programme also underpins compliance with Regulation R638 and your HACCP system, giving you documented, objective proof that hygiene, prerequisite and control measures are working as intended. Competent internal and supplier auditing is therefore not a ‘nice to have’ but a core requirement — and the difference between a system that merely exists on paper and one that demonstrably protects your product, your certification and your customers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an internal audit and a supplier audit?
Do I need to be an experienced auditor to take this course?
Is internal auditing actually required by FSSC 22000, BRCGS and ISO 22000?
How is the course delivered and how long does it take?
Will this course make me a certified lead auditor for certification bodies?
What is a non-conformance and why does writing them well matter?
Browse all ASC food safety courses
Every accredited online course we offer — food handler, R638, HACCP, GMP, FSSC 22000, ISO 22000, BRCGS, GLOBALG.A.P., microbiology, allergen, auditing and more.
Become the Auditor Your FSMS Needs
Whether you are running your first internal audit or tightening up your supplier-approval programme, this online, self-paced course gives you a clear, evidence-based method you can put to work straight away. Learn to plan, conduct, report and follow up audits that stand up to scrutiny — and earn a downloadable certificate of completion from a FoodBev SETA accredited, SAATCA registered provider.