A food safety audit checklist walks your kitchen or plant area by area against the rules an inspector or auditor uses. For a small food maker those rules are FDA's current good manufacturing practices, 21 CFR part 117, subpart B: personnel, staff kept away from food when sick, hands washed, jewelry off, trained; sanitary operations, the place clean and in repair, chemicals stored apart, no pests; sanitary facilities, safe water, working plumbing, stocked hand sinks, clean toilets; and processes and controls, ingredients inspected and stored to prevent allergen cross-contact, production that doesn't contaminate food, and anything contaminated rejected. Add your own labels and allergens and the records that let you trace a lot. A self-audit isn't a third-party audit, but it's how you find the gaps before a buyer's auditor or a state inspector does, and it gives you a score to improve. Below are the areas and the rules behind them, an example, and a free checklist with a score for each area.
The short version
- A food safety audit checks your operation area by area against the rules.
- For small food makers, those are FDA's good manufacturing practices, 21 CFR 117 subpart B.
- Personnel: illness, hand washing, jewelry, clothing, training with records.
- Sanitary operations: clean, in repair, chemicals stored apart, no pests.
- Sanitary facilities: safe water, plumbing, hand sinks, toilets.
- Processes and controls: ingredients checked, allergen cross-contact prevented, contaminated food rejected.
- Add labels, allergens and lot records; score each area and fix every No by a date.
- TaroStack keeps the batch records and lots an audit asks to see. More below.
The areas
| Area | What's checked | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel | Qualified, trained staff, with training records | 21 CFR 117.4 |
| Personnel | Sick staff excluded, wounds covered, hands washed, jewelry off, suitable clothing | 117.10 |
| Sanitary operations | Clean and in repair; cleaning chemicals safe and stored apart; no pests | 117.35 |
| Sanitary facilities | Safe water, plumbing without backflow, toilets, hand-washing facilities | 117.37 |
| Processes and controls | Sanitation supervised; allergen cross-contact prevented; ingredients inspected; contaminated food rejected | 117.80 |
| Labels and allergens | Major allergens declared correctly | 21 CFR part 101 |
| Records | Lots on batches and shipments | Good practice for recalls |
How sanitation is written up is in sanitation SOP template, allergens in allergen control plan template, and pests in pest control log template. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a Little Rock nut butter maker
Red Oak Nut Butters, the made-up nut butter maker in Little Rock, Arkansas, I use in these examples, grinds peanut and almond butter, and a grocery buyer asked whether it's ready for a third-party audit. Its self-audit found two gaps:
| Area | Checks | Yes | No | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personnel | 4 | 4 | 0 | 100% |
| Sanitary operations | 4 | 3 | 1 | 75% |
| Sanitary facilities | 3 | 3 | 0 | 100% |
| Processes and controls | 3 | 2 | 1 | 67% |
| Labels and allergens | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| Records | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| All areas | 16 | 14 | 2 | 88% |
| Gap | Fix | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Sanitizer strength never checked | Quat test strips; a logged check each run | October 24, 2026 |
| No record of the clean between peanut and almond runs | A signed changeover clean on the batch record | October 24, 2026 |
The changeover gap is the one an auditor would find first at a plant running peanut and almond butter on the same grinder. The business is in nut butter business plan.
Get the checklist
Download the food safety audit checklist. Two sheets: the audit, each check by area with the rule behind it, Yes, No or N/A, and for each No the fix and its due date, with every No in red; and a summary that scores each area and the whole. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The fix for the changeover gap is a signed record on every batch, and the auditor will ask to see a run from three months ago. A checklist finds the gap; it doesn't keep the records that close it.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps the batch records and lots an audit asks to see.
Checks on the batch record. Fields of your own on the batch record, a tick box for the changeover clean, a sanitizer reading, initials, with a sign-off, so every run carries its checks.
Lots on every batch and shipment. Each batch records the peanut and almond lots it used, and each order records the lots it shipped, so a recall report is one step.
And the records keep. Every batch and movement is a permanent record with who, when and why, searchable months later.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The changeover clean, signed | A sheet on the wall | A field on the batch record |
| A run from three months ago | A box of paper | The batch, searchable |
| Which customers got a lot | Invoices | One recall report |
Batches, batch records with fields of your own, lots and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.