Vertical Trace: Connecting the Dots Across Your Food Safety System

A strong food safety system is more than a collection of individual programs. It depends on how well those programs work together. A vertical trace exercise provides a practical way to evaluate that connection by following a randomly selected product, lot, or production day through the complete record trail. Watch our SQF365 webinar presented by SCS Global Services exploring how a vertical trace exercise can provide a more complete view of your food safety system in action. Learn how random record selection can uncover gaps that traditional reviews may miss, demonstrate consistent execution across your operations, and help your facility prepare for evolving certification requirements.

3 Key Takeaways:
Follow the complete record trail: Instead of checking procedures separately, trace a single random lot or production day through every intersecting layer, such as receiving, sanitation, HACCP monitoring, labeling, and other programs.

Prevent cherry-picking of data: Randomly selecting the product and date removes subjectivity and forces the facility to demonstrate consistent, year-round operational execution instead of presenting handpicked "best-case" files.

Prepare for evolving standard requirements: Major certification schemes increasingly mandate vertical audit approaches during certification evaluations to test system alignment.