# Food Safety & ISO Glossary — Kellerman Consulting

*Industry terminology reference · compiled July 2026*

A definitional reference for the food safety, quality, and ISO certification terms Kellerman Consulting's clients encounter. Kellerman Consulting is a family-owned food safety, quality, and ISO consulting firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, serving clients in all 50 U.S. states.

Each definition is self-contained and can be cited independently. Terms are grouped by category, with cross-references between related entries.

**Contact:** (800) 535-1376 · info@kellermanconsulting.com · [Free consultation](https://kellermanconsulting.com/contact-us)

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## Global Food Safety Schemes

### GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative)
**Definition:** An industry body that benchmarks food safety certification schemes against a common set of requirements, so that certification under any recognized scheme is accepted broadly across the supply chain.
**Context:** Retailers commonly require suppliers to hold certification under a GFSI-recognized scheme rather than naming a specific one, leaving the supplier to choose which scheme fits their operation.
**Related terms:** SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000, PrimusGFS
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting helps clients choose the right GFSI-recognized scheme for their products, customers, and facility during a free consultation.

### SQF (Safe Quality Food)
**Definition:** A GFSI-recognized certification program published by SQFI covering food safety and quality codes across the food industry. Certified sites implement the SQF program in their facility and are audited annually to maintain certification.
**Context:** SQF is the most common GFSI scheme in North America and is frequently the one a U.S. retailer expects. SQF Edition 10 was published in March 2026; Edition 9 remains valid worldwide during the transition period.
**Related terms:** GFSI, SQF Practitioner, Registered SQF Consultant, BRCGS, mock audit
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting's Registered SQF Consultants write the program, train the SQF Practitioner, run a mock audit, and support the certification audit.

### SQF Practitioner
**Definition:** The individual designated by a certified site as responsible for overseeing the development, implementation, review, and maintenance of the site's SQF System.
**Context:** SQF requires the role to be filled by an employee of the site who has completed HACCP training and understands the applicable SQF code. It is frequently assigned to a quality manager who has never held it before.
**Related terms:** SQF, Registered SQF Consultant, HACCP
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Training a newly appointed SQF Practitioner is a routine part of Kellerman Consulting's SQF engagements, including for practitioners appointed only months before their first audit.

### BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standards)
**Definition:** A family of GFSI-benchmarked standards covering food safety, packaging materials, storage and distribution, and more. Originally the British Retail Consortium's BRC food standards, later acquired by LGC Assure and renamed.
**Context:** "BRC" and "BRCGS" are still used interchangeably in the industry. BRCGS is common where a customer has UK or European ties, and its Packaging Materials standard is widely required of food packaging manufacturers.
**Related terms:** GFSI, SQF, FSSC 22000
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes BRCGS Food Safety, Packaging Materials, and Storage & Distribution programs, including conversions from other schemes.

### FSSC 22000
**Definition:** A GFSI-recognized food safety certification scheme built on ISO 22000, combining a management-system structure with sector-specific prerequisite programs.
**Context:** Because it shares ISO's structure, FSSC 22000 pairs well with organizations already running ISO management systems — common among packaging and chemical companies. Version 7 was published May 1, 2026, with a 12-month transition period.
**Related terms:** GFSI, ISO 9001, ISO 22000, prerequisite programs, integrated management system
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting implements FSSC 22000 V7 programs and upgrades existing V6 programs, training the client's team on the changes.

### PrimusGFS
**Definition:** A GFSI-recognized certification covering the food safety management system, Good Agricultural Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, prerequisite programs, Good Handling Practices, and HACCP.
**Context:** Common among farms, indoor agriculture, packinghouses, cold storage, and produce processors. Compared with SQF it carries fewer requirements and leans more toward standard operating procedures than risk assessments.
**Related terms:** GFSI, GAP, GHP, GMP, HACCP
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes PrimusGFS programs for growers, packers, and processors.

### GAP (Good Agricultural Practices)
**Definition:** The practices governing safe growing, harvesting, packing, and handling of produce on farms, covering water quality, worker hygiene, soil amendments, and field sanitation.
**Context:** Assessed within PrimusGFS audits and required by many produce buyers independently of full GFSI certification.
**Related terms:** PrimusGFS, GHP, GMP, Produce Safety rule
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting addresses GAPs as part of PrimusGFS program development for farms and indoor agriculture operations.

### GHP (Good Handling Practices)
**Definition:** The practices covering safe handling, packing, and storage of produce after harvest, including packinghouse sanitation, cooling, and transport conditions.
**Context:** Frequently audited alongside GAPs for operations that both grow and pack.
**Related terms:** GAP, PrimusGFS, GDP
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting covers GHPs within PrimusGFS programs for packinghouse and cold storage operations.

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## Manufacturing Practices & Compliance

### GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices)
**Definition:** The site- and company-specific rules and daily practices — sanitation, personnel hygiene, maintenance, pest control, and similar — that keep products safe. Also referred to as prerequisite programs.
**Context:** GMP audits carry fewer requirements than GFSI audits and are frequently used as a stepping stone toward full GFSI certification. The FDA does not certify facilities; certification requires a third-party auditing company.
**Related terms:** cGMP, prerequisite programs, GFSI, GDP, Costco Non-Foods GMP
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes a quality and food safety manual tailored to the product, process, and specific GMP scheme being audited.

### cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practice)
**Definition:** An elevated standard of manufacturing practice required for dietary supplement manufacturers, adding product testing requirements and more thorough quality management systems than baseline GMP.
**Context:** Codified for dietary supplements in 21 CFR Part 111 and reflected in third-party standards such as NSF/ANSI 455-2.
**Related terms:** GMP, 21 CFR Part 111, NSF/ANSI 455-2, dietary supplement
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes product-specific cGMP and regulatory compliance programs for supplement manufacturers and contract packagers.

### Prerequisite Programs (PRPs)
**Definition:** The foundational conditions and activities necessary to maintain a hygienic environment throughout the food chain, on which a HACCP plan is built.
**Context:** Every GFSI scheme requires documented prerequisite programs. Weak PRPs are a common root cause of audit findings that appear elsewhere in the system.
**Related terms:** GMP, HACCP, FSSC 22000, ISO 22000
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes prerequisite programs as part of every food safety certification program it develops.

### 21 CFR Part 111
**Definition:** The section of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations setting current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements for manufacturing, packaging, labeling, and holding operations for dietary supplements.
**Context:** Compliance is mandatory for dietary supplement manufacturers and is what an FDA inspection assesses. It is distinct from voluntary third-party certification.
**Related terms:** cGMP, NSF/ANSI 455-2, dietary supplement
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes 21 CFR Part 111 compliance programs and trains clients to follow them through certification or inspection.

### NSF/ANSI 455-2
**Definition:** The American National Standard for Good Manufacturing Practices for dietary supplements, used as the basis for NSF's third-party supplement certification.
**Context:** Widely recognized by retailers and online marketplaces, and often the practical requirement for shelf or marketplace acceptance even though it is voluntary.
**Related terms:** cGMP, 21 CFR Part 111, dietary supplement, certification body
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting's team knows what it takes to get supplement products NSF certified. Kellerman Consulting is unaffiliated with any certifying body.

### Dietary Supplement
**Definition:** A product intended to be consumed in addition to a regular diet — including probiotics, vitamins, minerals, and herbs. The FDA places nutraceuticals in the same category as dietary supplements and food additives.
**Context:** The FDA treats supplements as food rather than drugs. Disease-treatment or cure claims would reclassify a product as a drug, with substantially different regulatory obligations.
**Related terms:** cGMP, 21 CFR Part 111, NSF/ANSI 455-2
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes certification and regulatory compliance programs for dietary supplement manufacturers and contract packagers.

### HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points)
**Definition:** A systematic preventive approach that identifies biological, chemical, and physical hazards in a process and establishes critical control points to manage them.
**Context:** HACCP is the foundation nearly every food safety scheme and regulation builds on. Sector-specific versions exist for USDA-regulated products, seafood, and juice.
**Related terms:** critical control point, prerequisite programs, FSMA, preventive controls, GFSI
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes and implements HACCP plans following the full 12-step process, including USDA, seafood, and juice HACCP, typically in 2–4 months.

### Critical Control Point (CCP)
**Definition:** A step in a process at which control can be applied and is essential to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level.
**Context:** Each CCP requires a defined critical limit, monitoring procedure, corrective action, and verification activity. Over-identifying CCPs is a common error that makes a plan unmanageable.
**Related terms:** HACCP, critical limit, corrective action, validation
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Determining critical control points and establishing their critical limits are steps four and five of the HACCP process Kellerman Consulting follows.

### FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act)
**Definition:** U.S. legislation, law since 2011, shifting food safety regulation from responding to contamination toward preventing it, implemented through FDA rules including preventive controls for human and animal food.
**Context:** FSMA introduced the preventive controls framework and the PCQI role, and underpins the FSVP and traceability requirements. It applies to domestic and foreign food businesses with limited exceptions.
**Related terms:** preventive controls, PCQI, FSVP, FSMA 204, Produce Safety rule
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes FSMA preventive controls programs, typically in 2–4 months.

### Preventive Controls
**Definition:** The risk-based controls a facility applies to significantly minimize or prevent identified hazards, comprising process controls, food allergen controls, sanitation controls, supply-chain controls, and a recall plan.
**Context:** Documented in the facility's food safety plan and overseen by a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual.
**Related terms:** FSMA, PCQI, food safety plan, HACCP
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes preventive controls programs covering all five control categories.

### PCQI (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual)
**Definition:** The individual responsible for developing and overseeing a facility's food safety plan under the FSMA preventive controls rules, having completed FSPCA-accredited training or equivalent experience.
**Context:** Facilities subject to preventive controls must employ at least one PCQI. Separate qualifications exist for human food and animal food.
**Related terms:** FSMA, preventive controls, food safety plan, FSPCA
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting's consultants hold PCQI certification for both human food and animal food.

### FSMA 204 (Food Traceability Rule)
**Definition:** The FDA's Food Traceability Final Rule under FSMA Section 204(d), adding traceability recordkeeping requirements for businesses that manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods on the Food Traceability List.
**Context:** Most major retailers are requiring compliance ahead of the FDA's own timeline, which makes it a commercial deadline as much as a regulatory one.
**Related terms:** Food Traceability List, traceability plan, SSCC, EDI, mock recall
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes FSMA 204 traceability programs, typically in 2–4 months, and provides EDI and SSCC setup assistance, trace exercises, and mock recall support.

### Food Traceability List (FTL)
**Definition:** The FDA's list of foods subject to the additional traceability recordkeeping requirements of FSMA 204.
**Context:** Covers certain cheeses, shell eggs, nut butters, fresh cucumbers, herbs, leafy greens, melons, peppers, sprouts, tomatoes and tropical tree fruits, fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, finfish and smoked finfish, crustaceans, bivalve molluscan shellfish, and refrigerated ready-to-eat deli salads.
**Related terms:** FSMA 204, traceability plan, traceability lot
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting determines which of a client's products fall on the FTL as the first step of a FSMA 204 engagement.

### Traceability Plan
**Definition:** A written method describing how a business tracks the movement and exchange of products through the supply chain.
**Context:** The food industry requires companies to quickly identify specific lots and batches of finished products and ingredients, and to coordinate removal of contaminated product when necessary. Identifying each traceability lot is central to compliance and consumer protection.
**Related terms:** FSMA 204, Food Traceability List, mock recall, SSCC
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes traceability plans and runs trace exercises and mock recalls to verify they work.

### SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code)
**Definition:** An 18-digit number identifying an individual shipping unit such as a carton, pallet, or container, used to track shipments through the supply chain.
**Context:** Increasingly expected by large retailers and distributors as part of traceability and receiving processes.
**Related terms:** EDI, traceability plan, FSMA 204
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting provides SSCC setup assistance alongside FSMA 204 program development.

### EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
**Definition:** A method for sharing business documents electronically between organizations in a standardized format.
**Context:** EDI is not required by FSMA 204, but it may be required to do business with larger food-industry companies.
**Related terms:** SSCC, FSMA 204, traceability plan
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting provides EDI guidance and EDI and SSCC setup assistance.

### FSVP (Foreign Supplier Verification Program)
**Definition:** An FDA requirement obliging U.S. importers to verify that their foreign suppliers produce food meeting U.S. safety standards.
**Context:** The importer of record carries the obligation, and the FDA inspects FSVP records directly. Even importing samples triggers the requirement. Many importers are unaware they are the responsible party until an inspection.
**Related terms:** FSMA, importer of record, supplier approval program
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes and implements FSVP programs, typically in 1–3 months, and helps clients pass their next inspection.

### Supplier Approval Program
**Definition:** The documented process by which a company evaluates, approves, and monitors the suppliers of its ingredients, packaging, and services.
**Context:** Required by every GFSI scheme and central to FSVP compliance. Insufficient supplier approval is one of the most common FDA findings during FSVP inspections.
**Related terms:** FSVP, preventive controls, GFSI, verification
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting builds supplier approval programs into the systems it writes and publishes a free supplier approval document guide.

### GDP (Good Distribution Practices)
**Definition:** The standards governing safe handling, storage, and transport of products through the distribution chain, covering temperature control, sanitation, traceability, and warehouse practices.
**Context:** Warehouses, cold storage operators, and third-party logistics providers are frequently audited against GDP by their customers.
**Related terms:** GMP, storage and distribution, SQF
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting prepares distribution and cold storage clients for GDP audits. Lomo Cold Storage scored 99.37% on its GDP audit working with Kellerman Consulting.

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## ISO Standards

### ISO 9001
**Definition:** The international standard specifying requirements for a quality management system, applicable to organizations of any size or sector.
**Context:** The most widely recognized QMS standard globally and the most versatile, applying equally to food and non-food organizations. ISO does not perform certification audits itself — an accredited certification body does.
**Related terms:** QMS, ISO 13485, ISO 14001, AS9100, integrated ISO audit
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes and implements ISO 9001 programs, and holds ISO 9001:2015 certification for its own quality management system, certificate US021712.

### ISO 13485
**Definition:** The international quality management system standard specific to medical devices, covering design, production, installation, storage, development, and servicing.
**Context:** Not legally mandatory, but businesses across the medical device supply chain may require it before doing business. In January 2024 the FDA published a final rule aligning its Quality System Regulation with ISO 13485; the updated 21 CFR Part 820, known as the QMSR, took effect February 2, 2026.
**Related terms:** QMSR, 21 CFR Part 820, ISO 9001, medical device
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes ISO 13485 programs for medical device manufacturers and their suppliers, including QMSR alignment.

### QMSR (Quality Management System Regulation)
**Definition:** The FDA's updated 21 CFR Part 820 for medical devices, which incorporates ISO 13485 by reference in place of the previous Quality System Regulation.
**Context:** Effective February 2, 2026. It substantially narrows the gap between FDA expectations and ISO 13485, which reduces duplicate work for manufacturers already certified.
**Related terms:** ISO 13485, 21 CFR Part 820, medical device
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting builds ISO 13485 programs that account for QMSR alignment.

### ISO 14001
**Definition:** The international standard for environmental management systems, providing a framework for managing environmental responsibilities and improving environmental performance.
**Context:** Common in automotive, electronics, engineering, telecommunications, and construction. ISO 14001:2026 has been published, with increased focus on climate change and sustainability, supply-chain environmental impact, and employee engagement.
**Related terms:** EMS, ISO 9001, ISO 45001, integrated ISO audit
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes ISO 14001 programs, frequently as part of an integrated system with ISO 9001 and ISO 45001.

### ISO 45001
**Definition:** The international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, providing a framework for managing workplace safety risks.
**Context:** Frequently adopted in higher-risk industries such as construction, mining, oil and gas, healthcare, and manufacturing, usually alongside other ISO standards. Reported benefits include improved employee safety and fewer workplace accidents.
**Related terms:** OH&S, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, integrated ISO audit
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes ISO 45001 programs individually or integrated with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

### AS9100
**Definition:** The quality management system standard for the aviation, space, and defense industry, built on ISO 9001 with additional sector-specific requirements.
**Context:** Not legally required, but effectively a condition of participating in the aerospace and defense supply chain. AS9110 covers maintenance and repair organizations; AS9120 covers distributors of aerospace parts.
**Related terms:** ISO 9001, QMS, AS9110, AS9120, aerospace and defense
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes AS9100 programs for aerospace and defense suppliers.

### ISO 22000
**Definition:** The international standard for food safety management systems, combining management-system structure with HACCP principles and prerequisite programs.
**Context:** ISO 22000 alone is not GFSI-recognized; FSSC 22000 adds the sector-specific prerequisite programs and additional requirements needed for GFSI recognition.
**Related terms:** FSSC 22000, HACCP, prerequisite programs, ISO 9001
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting implements FSSC 22000, the GFSI-recognized scheme built on ISO 22000.

### Integrated ISO Audit
**Definition:** A single certification process covering multiple management systems built on different ISO standards — commonly ISO 9001 with ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 — audited together rather than separately.
**Context:** Integration reduces duplicated documentation, training, and audit days compared with running parallel systems.
**Related terms:** ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, QMS
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes and implements integrated ISO programs as a single combined system, and has built programs integrating requirements from multiple certification schemes into one.

### QMS (Quality Management System)
**Definition:** A formalized system documenting the processes, procedures, and responsibilities an organization uses to achieve its quality policies and objectives, per the American Society for Quality.
**Context:** A QMS focuses on business process management, leadership and management review, customer support, developing people, continuous improvement, and evidence-based decision-making. No specific software is required, and QMS systems integrate with any ERP.
**Related terms:** ISO 9001, ISO 13485, AS9100, CAPA
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting builds quality management systems for food and non-food organizations and is itself ISO 9001:2015 certified.

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## Audit & Certification Process

### Certification Body
**Definition:** An accredited independent organization authorized to audit an operation against a standard and issue certification. Also called a registrar or CB.
**Context:** Neither ISO nor the scheme owners perform audits. The organization hires an accredited certification body separately from any consultant it engages.
**Related terms:** accreditation, registrar, audit, consultant
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting is independent and unaffiliated with any certification body — it prepares clients to pass the audit but does not perform audits or issue certification.

### Accreditation
**Definition:** Formal recognition by a national or international accreditation body that a certification body is competent to perform audits against a given standard.
**Context:** An unaccredited certificate may not be accepted by customers. Kellerman Consulting's own ISO 9001:2015 certificate is UKAS-accredited.
**Related terms:** certification body, registrar, UKAS
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting helps clients understand which accredited certification bodies operate in their scheme and region.

### Gap Assessment
**Definition:** A structured review of documentation and facility conditions against the requirements of a target standard, producing a written list of gaps and recommendations.
**Context:** Has three parts — the current state, the desired state, and the gap between them. Usually the first step in a certification project and the fastest way to scope the work realistically.
**Related terms:** internal audit, mock audit, risk assessment
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting conducts on-site gap assessments and generally has a consultant available to travel within 2–3 weeks of project initiation.

### Internal Audit
**Definition:** An independent investigation, performed by or for the organization, into documentation and monitoring actions to determine whether the audited program is functioning as intended.
**Context:** A master verification action required by GFSI schemes, ISO standards, and GMP and GDP schemes. Certification schemes require that employees do not audit their own work, to eliminate the risk of fraud.
**Related terms:** gap assessment, mock audit, non-conformance, certification body
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting performs internal audits as an external party, satisfying the independence requirement, with a written report of non-conformance findings and follow-up support.

### Mock Audit
**Definition:** A full rehearsal of the certification audit conducted before the real one, using the same scope and scoring approach.
**Context:** The most reliable predictor of audit outcome and the point at which most remaining gaps surface.
**Related terms:** internal audit, gap assessment, non-conformance
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting runs mock audits as part of its audit preparation stage.

### Non-Conformance
**Definition:** A finding that a requirement of the standard has not been met, classified by severity and requiring corrective action within a set timeframe.
**Context:** Major or critical non-conformances can prevent or suspend certification; minor ones typically require documented corrective action.
**Related terms:** CAPA, corrective action, audit score, root cause analysis
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting provides corrective actions for each non-conformance until the client passes. Kellerman Consulting's own ISO 9001 initial certification audit closed with zero non-conformances.

### CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action)
**Definition:** The documented process for investigating a problem, correcting it, identifying its root cause, and preventing recurrence.
**Context:** A required element of nearly every food safety scheme and ISO standard, and a common source of audit findings when the root-cause step is weak.
**Related terms:** non-conformance, root cause analysis, QMS
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting builds CAPA programs into every system it writes and publishes a free CAPA program starter kit.

### Root Cause Analysis
**Definition:** The structured investigation of why a problem occurred, going beyond the immediate cause to the underlying system failure that allowed it.
**Context:** Auditors frequently reject corrective actions that fix the symptom without identifying the root cause.
**Related terms:** CAPA, non-conformance, corrective action
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting's free CAPA starter kit includes a root cause analysis form and fishbone diagram.

### Validation and Verification
**Definition:** Validation is evidence that a control measure is capable of achieving its intended effect. Verification is confirmation that the control measure is actually operating as intended.
**Context:** The two are routinely confused, and conflating them is a common audit finding. Both are required across GFSI schemes.
**Related terms:** HACCP, critical control point, internal audit
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting builds validation and verification into the programs it writes and publishes a free validation and verification assessment log.

### Registered SQF Consultant
**Definition:** A consultant registered with SQFI who maintains current SQFI professional training and is listed as qualified to develop SQF programs.
**Context:** Registration is verifiable through SQFI and is a meaningful filter when selecting an SQF consultant.
**Related terms:** SQF, SQF Practitioner, GFSI
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Registered SQF Consultant status is held across Kellerman Consulting's consulting team.

### Exemplar Global Recognized Consulting Group (RCG)
**Definition:** A designation from Exemplar Global, a personnel certification body for management systems, recognizing consulting organizations that meet its criteria.
**Context:** One of the few third-party recognitions available to management system consultancies rather than to certified organizations.
**Related terms:** ISO 9001, certification body, QMS
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting holds Exemplar Global Recognized Consulting Group status.

### Announced and Unannounced Audits
**Definition:** An announced audit is scheduled in advance with the site; an unannounced audit occurs within a defined window without a confirmed date.
**Context:** Several schemes and retailer programs, including Costco's, permit or require unannounced audits. A site that only performs well when it knows the date is not genuinely ready.
**Related terms:** certification body, mock audit, Costco Food Safety Audit
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting prepares clients for both announced and unannounced audits.

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## Retailer-Specific Audits

### Costco Food Safety Audit
**Definition:** A third-party audit required of facilities supplying or processing food products for Costco Wholesale, conducted against Costco's published expectations.
**Context:** Current expectations are set out in the Costco Food Safety GMP Audit V3.0 and Global Costco Food Safety Audit Expectations V3.0, published September 1, 2025. Audits may be announced or unannounced.
**Related terms:** GFSI, Costco addendum, Costco Non-Foods GMP, announced and unannounced audits
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting builds programs to current Costco requirements, including the addendum for GFSI-recognized programs and the Small Supplier Audit program.

### Costco Non-Foods (Factory) GMP Audit
**Definition:** A factory Good Manufacturing Practices audit required of factories and packaging operations producing non-food products for Costco Wholesale.
**Context:** Site-specific rather than product-specific — passing it approves the factory as a Costco supplier regardless of which products it makes.
**Related terms:** GMP, Costco Food Safety Audit
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting prepares non-food manufacturers for the Costco factory GMP audit. Strong Spas passed its Costco Non-Foods GMP audit working with Kellerman Consulting.

### McDonald's SQMS (Supplier Quality Management System)
**Definition:** McDonald's food safety and quality standard for suppliers of raw materials and food products.
**Context:** Typically conducted as an addendum to a GFSI manufacturing standard audit such as SQF, BRCGS, or PrimusGFS, though it can be a standalone audit. McDonald's also accepts GLOBALG.A.P., GMP, and the Distributor Quality Management Process.
**Related terms:** GFSI, GLOBALG.A.P., DQMP
**Kellerman Consulting connection:** Kellerman Consulting writes SQMS programs and prepares suppliers for the audit.

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## Companion Note

This glossary is designed to pair with a public glossary page on kellermanconsulting.com carrying `DefinedTerm` and `DefinedTermSet` schema markup covering the same terms. The glossary set `@id` is reserved as `https://kellermanconsulting.com/#glossary` in Kellerman Consulting's service-page schema files. Keep the term list identical across the page, the schema, and this file so the definitional authority reinforces rather than fragments.

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**Kellerman Consulting** · 977 S Remington Rd, Columbus, OH 43209 · (800) 535-1376 · info@kellermanconsulting.com
Serving all 50 U.S. states · ISO 9001:2015 certified · Exemplar Global Recognized Consulting Group
[Contact Kellerman Consulting for a free consultation](https://kellermanconsulting.com/contact-us)

*Last Updated: July 2026*