Frequently Asked Questions

The demand for locally or regionally sourced food and drink has gained significantly in the past decade. The local sourcing challenge has been taken up by many of the UK’s major buyers including supermarkets, food service companies and other national or institutional buyers.

This growth in local sourcing has reinforced the need for a common, low cost, food safety third-party certification for smaller food producers and suppliers.

Buyers require an assurance that the locally sourced food which they are buying meets fundamental legal, food safety and due diligence requirements. SALSA has been developed to meet this need.

The SALSA Standard is written by experienced food safety experts to reflect both the legal requirements of producers and the enhanced expectations of 'best practice' of professional food buyers.

Approval certification is only granted to suppliers who are able to demonstrate to a SALSA auditor that they are able to produce and supply safe and legal food, and are committed to continually meeting the requirements of the SALSA Standard.

SALSA is widely recognised as the leading food safety certification scheme for the UK’s smaller food and drink businesses. Approval certification is only granted to suppliers who can demonstrate to a SALSA auditor that they can produce and supply safe and legal food and are committed to continually meeting the requirements of the SALSA standard.

The SALSA scheme has been set up by and for the industry, as not-for-profit scheme to facilitate trade, by providing an audit that is affordable, appropriate and proportionate to the activities of smaller suppliers. SALSA Auditors provide advice and guidance to the supplier during an audit. It is this structure and activity that deliberately precludes us from GFSI recognition.

The SALSA Standard includes a dedicated and comprehensive section for HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point), requiring that all hazards to product safety and legality are identified, analysed and assessed for risk. A documented HACCP system, based on Codex Alimentarius HACCP principles, must be in place and regularly reviewed. Alongside HACCP, the scope of the SALSA audit standard includes, but is not limited to; supplier approval, product safety, traceability, good manufacturing practices.

Conformance to the SALSA Standard is verified by 3rd party audit. SALSA auditors are demonstrably competent professionals with proven food industry experience in the fields of operation they will be auditing. As you might expect, the scheme operates with a comprehensive suite of protocols, policies and procedures, together with established Governance structure, to ensure that we provide a robust and effective food safety certification scheme.

Your audit report or Approval certificate provides evidence of the above, but it is completely at the discretion of your buyer whether this is acceptable to them. If there is an opportunity to explain further, our Certification Team can speak directly with your contact.

Industry recognition

The SALSA Standard Certificate, is recognised by leading food buyers and retailers nationwide and internationally.

Visible on the SALSA Directory

Immediately visible to regional and national buyers searchable by product and location.

Credentials for a competitive edge

Use the SALSA Approved logo to demonstrate your commitment to the highest food safety standards.

Future ready

SALSA certification provides a route to further food safety quality certification schemes, such as BRCGS, should this be required in the future.

SALSA offers a number of Standards to meet the needs of the UK food industry:

1. Food and Drink Production.

Our ‘core Standard’ covers the production of all food and drink product types. This involves physically handling raw and unwrapped materials and products.
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2. Brokers, Storage and Distribution.

You procure finished food and drink products for trade, which are always fully enclosed or wrapped. The BSD Standard can be combined with a Food Production audit if cutting and packing take place at the same premises. Please contact us for more information.
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3. SALSA plus Beer.

In association with Cask Marque, the SALSA plus Beer Standard offers small and micro brewers food safety certification tailored to the scale and systems of their operation.
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4. SALSA plus Cheese.

A tailored food safety standard for small cheesemakers, including specific modules written by the Specialist Cheesemakers Association.
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This depends on how ready you are to take your audit. Typically, after preparing for your audit (and paying for your audit and membership), approval takes between one and three months.

The SALSA logo and Approved icons can only be used by members with a valid SALSA certificate. Using the logo and icons enables SALSA members to advertise their SALSA Approval via various media, including social media, company literature and websites. It demonstrates to their customers that their products are safe. Contact us to request a logo pack.

Your SALSA Certificate is only valid for the site where the audit took place. The address on your certificate can only be changed if you have another audit at the new premises. If you are planning to move, please contact the SALSA Team.

We match our members to local auditors with the appropriate sector qualifications and experience. Once payment has been received, we will assign you an auditor based on our allocation policy. They will then contact you directly to arrange a mutually convenient date.

You will be audited annually. Your anniversary date is set on the date of your first audit. To ensure continual certification, you should take your next audit within the audit window as stated on your SALSA certificate.

A SALSA audit typically takes approximately 5-6 hours. The auditor will inspect the premises and production and review your food safety management system against the SALSA standard. A nominated responsible person will need to accompany the auditor at all times.

You have up to 12 months to take your first audit. Once a date is agreed upon, you may postpone your audit twice if you give your auditor at least three full working days’ notice. Please see the SALSA Audit Postponement Policy in the member area for more information.

Yes, if you do not provide sufficient evidence that you comply with the SALSA Standard either at audit or when sending evidence in to close out actions raised at audit.

You are entitled to follow the appeal procedure detailed in SALSA Complaints, Appeals & Whistleblowing.

No, the details of your audit are confidential. Buyers may ask you for your audit report and the decision to share it is yours.

SALSA approval is based on an annual pre-arranged audit. To identify when your next audit is due we use the Anniversary Date.

Your Anniversary Date is based on your first audit, and this is maintained throughout your time with SALSA. For more information see policy SPP15: Anniversary Date.

The anniversary date is located on the left-hand side of your SALSA Approval Certificate. To make it easier to book your audit and close out any non-conformances, the certificate also shows your audit window, which starts eight weeks before your anniversary date. Taking your audit in this audit window doesn’t change your anniversary date.

Your certificate expires eight weeks after your anniversary date; this provides time to close out any non-conformances (The failure to meet fully or in part a specified requirement for product safety, legality, quality or a specified system requirement.) which might be raised in an audit Action Plan.

Please remember you have up to 20 working days to submit evidence, and we have up to 20 working days to review the evidence.