What Documents Do You Need for SALSA Certification?

The paperwork is where most of the work lives

When small producers picture a SALSA audit, they imagine the auditor walking the floor, checking the fridges, looking at the premises. That happens, but the larger part of the audit is documentation. The auditor wants to see, on paper or screen, that you have a working food safety management system: the procedures that say what you do, and the records that prove you do it.

The good news is that the document list is finite and knowable. Once you've assembled it, you've done the bulk of the preparation. Here's the full picture, organised by area.

Your HACCP plan and supporting documents

This is the centrepiece. Your HACCP plan needs to include:

1. HACCP team with names, roles, and relevant qualifications
2. Product descriptions for each product, including composition, allergens, intended use, and shelf life
3. Process flow diagrams for your products
4. Hazard analysis covering biological, chemical, physical, and allergen hazards at each step
5. CCP determination with the decision-tree rationale recorded
6. CCP control charts showing critical limits, monitoring, and corrective actions
7. Verification procedures confirming the system works
8. Management declaration signed and dated

The plan should carry a version number and date, and there should be evidence it's been reviewed. If you're not confident your HACCP plan covers all of this, our guides to hazard analysis and determining your CCPs walk through the underlying methodology.

Prerequisite programme documents

These are the procedures that support your whole operation. SALSA expects documented procedures for:

• Cleaning and disinfection - your cleaning schedule, methods, chemicals, and contact times
• Pest control - your arrangements, whether in-house or contracted, with monitoring
• Maintenance - planned maintenance and how you handle breakdowns hygienically
• Personal hygiene - your rules on handwashing, clothing, jewellery, and illness reporting
• Waste management - how waste is stored and removed
• Glass and hard plastic - your policy and any breakage procedure
• Water safety - where relevant to your process

Each procedure should be written down, not just understood in your head. An auditor needs to see the documented procedure and then the records that show it's being followed.

Records that prove control

Procedures say what you intend. Records prove it happened. You'll need to show:

1. Temperature records for fridges, freezers, and any hot holding or cooking CCPs
2. Cleaning records matching your cleaning schedule
3. Goods-in and delivery checks, including delivery temperatures
4. CCP monitoring records with actual values, not ticks
5. Corrective action records where limits were breached
6. Calibration records for thermometers and probes
7. Pest control monitoring records
8. Internal audit records showing you check your own system

Auditors look for records that are consistent, completed at the time, and filled in with real values. Gaps, ticks instead of numbers, and records that all look suspiciously filled in at once are the classic findings.

Supplier and traceability documents

SALSA places strong emphasis on knowing where your ingredients come from and being able to trace them. You'll need:

• An approved supplier list with the criteria you use to approve them
• Current supplier certificates and specifications, kept up to date
• Raw material risk assessments
• Traceability records that let you trace any batch one step back to its inputs and one step forward to where it went
• A documented recall and withdrawal procedure, ideally with evidence of a mock recall test

Expired supplier certificates are one of the most common audit findings, simply because they lapse quietly and nobody notices until the auditor does.

Allergen management documents

Given UK allergen law, this area gets particular scrutiny. Expect to need:

1. An allergen matrix showing which of the 14 allergens are present in each product
2. Cross-contamination controls documented and implemented
3. Allergen information for labelling that's accurate and reviewed when recipes change
4. Staff allergen training records

Product and labelling documents

If you produce labelled products, the auditor will check that your labels are accurate and legal:

• Correct ingredient lists with allergens emphasised
• Appropriate and validated date coding
• Correct storage instructions
• Batch coding that supports traceability
• Net quantity and business details

Training and people documents

Finally, the records that show your team is competent:

1. Food hygiene training certificates (Level 2 as a minimum for food handlers)
2. Allergen awareness training records
3. HACCP awareness training for relevant staff
4. Induction records for new starters
5. Refresher training evidence

How to make this manageable

Written out like this, the list looks daunting, and assembled across paper folders and filing cabinets it genuinely is. The single biggest difference on audit day is whether you can put your hand on any document in seconds or have to go hunting.

This is where keeping everything in one system changes the experience. FoodSafe holds your HACCP plan, records, supplier certificates, allergen information, and traceability in one place, with supplier certificate expiry tracked so it doesn't lapse unnoticed, and an audit pack generator that compiles the whole lot into a single professional PDF for your auditor. Instead of spending the week before your audit collating paper, you generate the pack in one click and spend that time on the floor instead.

Have it ready before you book

The producers who pass SALSA comfortably are the ones who treat the document list as a checklist and work through it methodically, well before the audit date. Assemble each area, check for gaps, make sure your records are current and your certificates haven't expired, and the audit becomes a confirmation of what you already know rather than a test you're hoping to scrape through.

For a full walkthrough of audit day itself, see our SALSA audit checklist.

Food safety compliance, handled.