Automatic Failure for X-Ray Machine During Initial Audit

Hi everyone,

I just went through my initial audit with Costco, and I received an automatic failure because we did not have an X-ray machine installed for foreign material detection. This was a bit of a surprise to me because, according to my understanding of Costco's Food Safety & Quality Audit Expectations, the X-ray machine is required by the anniversary audit, not necessarily during the initial audit.

Here’s the specific guideline I’m referring to:

"Facilities that have not installed a detection device by the time of their Costco anniversary audit will receive an automatic audit failure."

Since this was our first audit, I believed we had until the anniversary audit to install the equipment. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Was I wrong in assuming this timeline?

Any advice on how to handle this or how I should approach the audit team to appeal the decision would be greatly appreciated.