Technical Abstract: Market driven demands for verification that animals used to produce food receive humane care, have resulted in welfare audits becoming a reality for beef and chicken products sold to fast food chains. Dairy is targeted for similar audits and the Dairy Quality Assurance Center was approved by the retail organizations Food Marketing Institute and the National Council of Chain Restaurants in 2002 for that purpose. Several options are available for dairy certification and one audit is available to provide labeling and certification. Bunk space, appropriate diet composition, feeding and feed storage, water cleanliness and availability are covered in the audits. Although the programs cover similar topics, their outcome may be distinctly different based on the design, purpose, certification criteria, and standards on specific topics. Knowing what auditing tools are available and which one fits your production needs will become imperative as audits become necessary for dairy product marketing.