El Pollo Loco turned to specialists for help in creating the best possible food-safety auditing system.

“It’s always been an inherent responsibility to serve safe food,” says Ken Scott, director of quality assurance for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ’n Biscuits. “But in short, there are a lot more bugs out there.”

To counter the threat of outbreaks, a growing number of companies are turning to third-party auditors to ensure that the food they buy and prepare stays safe.

Costa Mesa, Calif.-based El Pollo Loco used to perform internal audits of its farms and suppliers. But as the company looked to grow nationally, it decided to partner with third-party auditors to help maintain food-safety standards.

Director of Quality Assurance Yvonne Mackay admits that trusting an outside company with the chain’s produce and product-safety procedures—which involve inspections and lab tests—wasn’t easy. “We managed the audits for so long that we were reluctant to pass the baton,” she says.

To ensure the best system, El Pollo Loco partnered with one company that specializes in the produce supply chain and another that specializes in processing. Then it customized audits.

At Bojangles, Scott worked with third-party auditors to monitor food-safety practices at the store level.

“It’s really the case of finding the vendor with the most expertise,” Scott says.

Third-party auditors visit units unannounced once every four months. Scott uses audits to define areas of improvement, and he shares these with area directors. The vendor also helps train store-level employees. Meanwhile, area directors also perform store inspections.

“They’re an extra set of eyes,” Scott says.

Contact writer at kate.leahy@reedbusiness.com