Frequently Asked Questions

ASI was originally an acronym for the American Sanitation Institute. The letters no longer carry a specific meaning, but they were kept to honor the company's history.

Yes. ASI joined the Kiwa group on December 1, 2022. Learn more about us and about Kiwa.

The ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB). Kiwa ASI's certification body, ASI Food Safety, LLC, is accredited by ANAB to ISO/IEC 17065 (accreditation ID 1222) for SQF certification (the SQF Food Safety Codes and Quality Code, Edition 9) and for CanadaGAP (Version 11.0). See the ANAB directory listing for current status and scope.

These certificates are issued by Kiwa group certification bodies that hold those scheme approvals, and Kiwa ASI is your point of contact. See BRCGS, IFS, FSSC 22000 and PrimusGFS.

Kiwa ASI's office is at 500 NW Plaza Dr, Suite 700, St. Ann, MO 63074, in the St. Louis area.

Call 1 (800) 477-0778, email US.Info@kiwa-asi.com, or send a message with the form on this page. See the contact page for more options.

Yes. Consulting is offered through ASI Training and Consulting, LLC, separately from our accredited certification body, ASI Food Safety, LLC, to safeguard against conflicts of interest. You don't need a consultant to be certified, and using one has no effect on certification decisions.

Call 1 (800) 477-0778 or email US.Info@kiwa-asi.com to schedule your audit. If you don't have a quote yet, start with the quote request form.

We recommend scheduling at least three months before your audit window to get your preferred dates. We can still accommodate shorter notice, but you'll have less flexibility with dates. You're also welcome to schedule more than three months ahead.

Audit length depends on facility size, number of employees, number of products, risk level and the standard. cGMP audits typically take 1 day for small to medium operations and can extend to 2 days for more complex ones. SQF and CSQ (cannabis and hemp) audits typically take 2 to 2.5 days, but can range from 1.5 to 3.5 days depending on the complexity of the operation.

Generally, we ask for at least 60 days of records before an audit. Some standards recommend more: for SQF, SQFI recommends at least 90 days of records before the certification audit. Exceptions are possible, for example when a state requires an audit before processing can begin.

Yes. Contact our scheduling team at 1 (800) 477-0778 or US.Info@kiwa-asi.com to cancel or reschedule. Canceling or moving an audit close to the audit date results in a cancellation fee plus any non-refundable travel expenses. If an audit is aborted on the day of the audit, you'll be charged the full price plus travel expenses.

Each retailer, manufacturer or buyer sets its own supplier requirements, so check with your customer. Many major retailers, foodservice companies and brand owners require a GFSI-recognized certification. If you'd like to know whether a specific customer accepts our audits, ask us.

Qualifications vary by standard. Every Kiwa ASI auditor completes our auditor training and meets internal requirements for education, professional certifications and industry experience, along with the auditor requirements of each standard they audit.

Use the quote request form. Tell us about your site and the standard or service you need, and we'll prepare a quote.

An invoice is sent by email after the technical review and billing process is complete. This typically takes 8 to 12 business days.

Certificates are issued after the technical review is complete and the invoice is paid.

Certified clients must notify Kiwa ASI in writing of recalls, outbreaks and significant regulatory food safety events. Use the recall, outbreak or significant regulatory food safety notification form.

Use the customer complaint form for a concern about our service, or see customer appeals to appeal a certification decision. There's no fee to appeal, and appeals are reviewed by personnel who weren't involved in the decision. You can also email US.Info@kiwa-asi.com.

Certified clients can order a banner to display their certification on the certification banner page.

No. Training certificates are issued only to the person who registers for the course, and each registration covers one attendee. To train several employees, request private training for your team, online or at your facility.

Yes. We can tailor our existing courses to your industry or needs, or work with your organization to create a custom course. Request private training to get started.

Often, yes. PCQI and HACCP training are similar, but they aren't the same. PCQI training covers FDA's Preventive Controls for Human Food rule (21 CFR Part 117), which requires a preventive controls qualified individual (PCQI) to prepare or oversee a facility's food safety plan. HACCP training covers the HACCP principles that many certification standards, customers and regulations are built on. Check what your regulator, standard and customers require.

Live online courses are listed on the training page, with dates and registration on each course page. For a group, request private training.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is a systematic, preventive approach to identifying food safety hazards and controlling them at critical control points. U.S. regulations require HACCP plans for seafood and juice (FDA) and for meat and poultry (USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service).

A food safety plan is required under FDA's Preventive Controls for Human Food rule (21 CFR Part 117) for food facilities that must register with FDA, unless an exemption applies. It builds on HACCP's risk-based hazard analysis, but its preventive controls can include process, food allergen, sanitation and supply-chain controls and a recall plan, not only critical control points. The two are similar but not identical.

Verification is "the application of methods, procedures, tests and other evaluations, in addition to monitoring, to determine whether a control measure or combination of control measures is or has been operating as intended and to establish the validity of the food safety plan" (21 CFR 117.3). In short: are we doing what we say we're doing?

Validation is "obtaining and evaluating scientific and technical evidence that a control measure, combination of control measures, or the food safety plan as a whole, when properly implemented, is capable of effectively controlling the identified hazards." In short: will what we're doing work?

A preventive controls qualified individual (PCQI) is someone who has completed training in risk-based preventive controls at least equivalent to a standardized curriculum recognized by FDA, or is otherwise qualified through job experience to develop and apply a food safety system (21 CFR 117.3). See PCQI training.