Latest Topics from the Forums
Maintaining an 18" perimeter for pallet storage
Can you please help me someone, we are small plant and it’s difficult to maintain ....what are the options?
Metal Detector Query
Hi, Refer to metal detector topic, I've a questions.
1. How frequent we need to calibrate the metal detector? I've a letter from manufacturer stated that our model of metal detector does not need calibration. However, auditor asking us to set calibration time.
2. How do we calibrate our metal detector?
Nitrogen Flush v/s Hot Fill
Hi Everyone, We manufacture soups and hot-fill our product into plastic cups (Polypropylene with Oxygen Transmission rate 3.4cc/cup/24hr/atm @77F). The water vapor transfer rate is .007g/24hr @100+RH 98%. The hot fill procedure helps sterilize the cups and improves shelf life of the product. Can we use Nitrogen Flush (modified atmospheric packaging) in addition to hot fill process to increase our shelf life? Can these two methods be used together?
Thanks!
Validation for Internal Temperature Measurement Procedure
Hi Everyone, We manufacture soups containing meat/poultry served at retail establishments. Cooling the soup bags and cups immediately after cooking is a CCP for us. The temperature should get to under 55F in less than 6 hours. We cool the soup bags using a cold water bath. In order to measure the temperature of the cooled bag a designated plant employee randomly selects one sample bag per lot and fold the bag over the thermometer probe. How can we validate the method-folding the bag over a thermometer to record the internal temperature of the soup?
Thanks for your help.
Dry ice blast cleaning and wet cleaning in a dry processing facility
Greetings, We have a primarily dry grain processing facility, with only a steaming-rolling step and subsequent conveyors while drying that are "wet".
We are looking at utilizing dry ice blast cleaning for the "wet" areas, as well as cleaning in other parts of the plant, since it does not introduce moisture into the plant. For the rest, we'll be using explosion-proof vacuums, as well as hand-brushing.
However, I'm still trying to figure out the best option for cleaning our floors. Normally, one would think that wet mopping is the best option, but in the interest of keeping as little moisture as possible out of our facility, I'd like to explore other ideas.
Is dry ice blasting a practical and economic alternative for cleaning floors as well? Since 95% of the plant is dry, do we even need to worry about floor cleaning beyond normal sweeping? What about for the floor in the "wet" area?
Thoughts? Opinions? Pros vs. Cons?
Any input would be welcome!
Thanks,
Brian
FSSC 22000, 7.9: Traceability System Requirements
Hi guys, I have a question regarding section 7.9 Traceability system of ISO 22000. What does this statement means?
"Records shall be in accordance with statutory and regulatory requirements and customer requirements and may, for example, be based on the end product lot identification"
I don't really get it.
Most effective Listeria Practices
When working in Factory that deals with pork production, what is the most common place to find Listeria and how is it monitored. If high levels are found what is the most effective way of getting rid of it.
Internal audit checklist
Good afternoon, I would like to ask if someone have an auditing checklist to audit (the Human resource department, sales, marketing, etc...) within my organisation. I need it urgently to start my internal audit process to audit different departments.
Thanks in advance.
How to define and measure the quality parameters for salt?
Hai friends, Please help me to set up the quality parameters for table salt and how can we measure the saltiness??
Magnetic Trap Critical Limit
Hi guys, We installed magnetic trap at each line. I really need helps regarding on how to set the critical limit for metal dust. We did check on the weight of metal dust collected from the magnet rods, but just for record without any critical limit. I would like to set a limit for this. The problem is the frequency running is not fixed. We have options to fix in by week/ days, or by changeover product. If we were to fix on weeks/days, the batches running during that period of time is not fixed. If we were to fix on every changeover product, the total batches running before changeover is also not fixed. I also can try set limit based on the records we previously had. But previous record was done based on every changeover product.
Can any kind souls help me and give your opinion on this please
What is Verification and Validation of OPRP & CCP?
Dear all, What is verification and validation of OPRP & CCP.
Please Help me out.
Thanking you
kushal
Gluten Free Labeling - IT'S A TRAP!
We are a nut and snack company and our only processing step is dry roasting. A customer asked if we sold any gluten free products and it prompted us to look into labeling guidelines and what it would cost. Some of our mixes contain wheat but we also have a lot of product that are just plain nuts with salt, honey, or chocolate.
So after searching the web and reading the FDA's final rule Q&A I have concluded that Gluten Free labeling is a TRAP!! It is voluntary, no actual certifying body, no official stamp, minimal supervision, etc. I have ZERO knowledge of this so I'm curious to see what you guys think or if your company uses gluten free labeling.
Section 2.5.6 - Product Sampling, Inspecting and Analysis
Hoping someone can provide some guidance. We are a fresh produce distribution facility working towards obtaining our SQF. Section 2.5.6 Product Sampling, Inspecting and Analysis has us spinning just a bit.
Can anyone tell us what the best industry practice is for this?
Calculating least sterilization z value
I need help determining z values with a temperature change. I have a client who mfg a salad dressing with a ph of 3.0 and CCP is less than 3.5. He heats with the current process to 200F and holds for 5 minutes , cools and hot fills at 180F and inverts for 2 minutes. How would Z values compare if he reduces heat to 195F and holds for 1 minute , then hot fills at 180F. Is there software to compare heat treatments to thermal death rate to maintain 5 log reduction ?
Thx
Packaging purchasing and storage from a middle man
Hi, Please offer your advice please. We are a BRC factory who are currently purchasing food contact packaging from BRC packaging suppliers, however my issue is that the packaging is being bought by a middle man storage with no controls in place then we are purchasing from them. To me that is pointless as the middle man has no controls in place to keep our packaging safe. If I am reading this correctly BRC does not mention about middle man storage, although section 3.5.1.2 does state supplier approval brc etc so to me as this storage cannot offer this I should try and stop the site buying from the middle man.
Thanks
FSSC 22K required standards
Dear All, Our organisation is working as an Organic CO2 extractor in India and we are audited for GAP analysis for FSSC 22k certification. Can anyone tell me the required relevant standards for FSSC 22000:2011?
Any extra information will be Valuable for me.
Thanking you
Kushal
BRC audit regarding an off-site winery storage
Hi guys, We have a storage facility we lease to store wine and wonder if anyone has any experience with a BRC audit regarding an off-site storage area they can share with us?
How much we can do to the wine we store there before it becomes a 'production' area in the eyes of an auditor?
Any help gratefully received.
Cheers
Mike
Provide CofA- Does this require positive release procedure?
Hi quality team, I need your experience and guidance for probably a stupid question...Up to now, we were minimally processing dry food ingredients to other food manufacturers and there was no reason of providing other than CofCs to the customers. Now, we have launched a new process line in which the finished product is micro-tested per batch and a CofA is provided with each delivery to our customer. The fact that we supply a CofA, does this imply that there should be a positive release procedure described in our quality manual? and if yes, is there something that I should really pay attention? or could I avoid having a positive release by saying something like "there is no positive release since all the procedures, PSOP have been followed"?
Many thanks.
Best regards,
Petra
Sieving as CCP, how to monitor?
If the sieving is set as ccp the monitoring is the integrity of sieve??
How to get rid of high microbial load in seafood processing plant?
Hi, We are facing a challenge where we would like to ask you guys some opinion. Let me introduce the company and situation:
Background: Seafood company that process (cut, degutting, clean) fish, prawn, crab and etc. No cooking/heat treatment involve. Products: Fresh/ Chill/ Frozen Seafood
Challenge: High microbial load (Present of Listeria/Vibrio/Staphylococcus) in products and TPC more than 1x103 for all SWAB test on knife, hand.
Precaution steps that we had taken:
1) Proper hand washing method with sanitizer
2) Disposable apron was used
3) Utensils UV sanitizer was used to sanitize knife
4) Daily cleaning of production using food grade chemicals (twice a day)
5) Proper temperature monitoring for production area (<24 oC), chiller (0-4 oC) and freezer (<-18 oC, fast moving <-15 oC)
6) Water quality testing had passed the lab test
What are the other steps that we can take to reduce the microbial load? We had done all the steps that we could think of. Do you guys have any idea to improve the situation?
Looking for an English version of China's GB 28050-2011
Hi all, Does anyone know where I can get an English version of China's GB 28050-2011 Food Safety National Standards for General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods?
Thanks!
Small business cannot find correct supplier
Hi everyone, I have an issue with my current situation. I am a QA in a small family owned business. The owner wants to go further for SQF level 2, but we are cannot find correct supplier for our raw materials. We use finished commodity products to do our product. Before the company usually buy from costco or similar places. Now we are working on searching suppliers who can provide us product specifications. However, most of the big suppliers require bulk load order, which is not working with us. For example, one product we only need 10kg for maybe a whole year, but those suppliers require 500kg for minimum order. If we buy the same product from costco or other places we can get the quantity. At the same time, local small suppliers are not supplying the same product, and there is no point to buy from other country or province with such low quantity.
Is there any possible solution for that? Any ideas will help. Thanks a lot.
Michelle
PrimusGFS 1.05.03 documented product release procedure
Hello, Can anyone help me out on this! Primus GFS 1.05.03 Documented product release to be harvested SOP and Log. My inspector didn't like what I showed her so it’s one of my non-compliance. I checked Primus toolkit and there wasn't an SOP or log example.
Thank you so much!
Raw Material Suppliers Performance KPI's
Dear Food safety and quality professionals, Hope all are fine. To better control the raw materials quality and non conformance, please share me if you have any excel template where I am looking below points. To be honest, our supply chain team is not so bother about the suppliers non conformance as they are looking always to bring cheap materials. This is very big challenge to our quality team where we have to control the raw material defect in the line. More than that our process line is completely manual sorting, we are not able to ensure that finished product is 100 % free from defects. Or our standard. Hence I am looking for a single excel sheet or KPI graphs or charts template at least I can submit my management monthly or yearly to acknowledge them somewhat easy.
1) I need to show all the materials received quantity per month by supplier by supplier vs. Non conformance
2) but above cases one challenge. some time our non conformity will be qualitative or some time quantitative. So will be very helpful if I can present both issues in same chart. For e.g.: some time I receiving big quantity ( X) with (Y percentage ) defect in whole lot. whereas in other case Same big quantity (may be X) but the defect will be only some bags from whole lot.
Looking forward your kind comments.
Best regards,
Mohammed salim
No tape in production room
Hi all, every day we make different flavors of product. One day we may make 4 batches of flavor X, 2 batches of flavor Y, and 9 batches of flavor Z in the same mixer. Every morning, a mixers list is made, printed, and taped with one piece of tape to the back of this big mixer so that the mixer (person adding ingredients to the mixer) can keep track of what ingredients he should be preparing, what is coming next, how many batches are left, etc. The piece of paper and piece of tape are nowhere even relatively near where it could be introduced into the mixer or find its way into the product. Before I arrived here, the company had a gap audit and got told "absolutely no tape in the production room anywhere!" So I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to have that list readily available for the mixer? It is very very helpful for him to have it there and the one tricky thing is that it changes every day.
Actually as I was typing this I thought about maybe a clear plastic sleeve that I could attach on the back of the mixer (adhesive?), that way I could just slide the different piece of paper in each morning?
Any help appreciated. Thank you!
Basic food safety awareness for delivery drivers
Good day, I am working in a catering company delivers food in different location .Food include salads, cooked food, etc. But during recent interactive session I came to know that drivers having little knowledge about food safety. They are not keeping the temp monitoring system as they were not aware the importance of it. I am planning to provide one hour training session to all drivers. If anyone having a closer vision about the drivers food safety awareness program, please share it
Regards
Sawmya
Cleaning records reduction?
HI, Maybe it is a silly question :P
We are processing raw meat products. we have 2 buildings which contain 7 rooms used for production/storage/ packing/ dispatch. At the moment each room has separate cleaning sheet for daily cleaning recording ( simple list to tick out if cleaned). I was wondered if any way I could add that up and create one/ two singe sheets for each building? will that comply with BRC standards ?
Anyone know a good source to look up RM for food fraud
Anyone know a good source to look up Raw Material for food fraud?
Thank you,'
Marvis Brown
Halophilic Yeast Count
Hello everyone! I am Sheryl and this is my first time to post a question here but I've been a reader of your discussions. I'd like to ask regarding with our Microbiology Testing Parameters. By the way I am working in Condiments Manufacturing company. Is Halophilic yeast count needs to be tested in soy sauce and fish Sauces?
Hope you can help me with this.
Thank you so much!
Particle size distribution analysis
Electroresistance vs laser diffraction - which is better for PSD analysis of dairy cream fat cells in the 0.5 to 3 micron range? Or is there another method that you prefer?
Thanks for the information and insights!
Watanka
PCQI for Distribution Facility
Hello everyone, I keep reading through the new FSMA requirements and I'm a little confused. As a distribution facility that does not own any of the products we store, are we still required to have a PCQI? We do not alter the products we store in any way, just a simple pallet in / pallet out operation.
Thanks
Anyone have any updates on SFCA?
HI to all the meat folks out there, does anyone have any updates on inside information on proposed changes as they relate to the safe food for Canadians new regulations? Things have gotten suspiciously quiet from the front lines.......
Can pathogens develop on plastic products?
hi :) Is there concern to development of pathogens on packaged plastic products?
Suppose I buy razors
Does it reasonable that its plastic handle is infected with pathogens?
Thanks :)
Appropriate material safety for consumer care products
hi :) we are not food industry, but we are consumer products industry for care products. Which formal proof (Which is equivalent to food grade) I can ask from our suppliers to prove their materials are safety and appropriate for customer use :
Not create skin irritation etc.
Thanks
FSMS- 7.3.3.1, What is Product Contact Material?
Please suggest me that What is exact explanation of sub clause 7.3.3.1 Raw Material, Ingredients & products Contact Materials. What is product Contact Material?
Waste chemical disposal suggestions
Hi all, What are the industrially practiced methods that can be used to safely dispose the hazardous chemicals such as carcinogens, flammables, strong acid/base, heavy metals after reactions. All those are chemically reacted, so in a mixture with different compositions, so cannot be segregated clearly.
E.g.,
Chemical disposal pit design
If released into water treatment, application of a green bed at the final stage ( lassia like botanicals)
Are those industrially practiced?
Pls share your experience regarding this.
Thank you.
Please share experience of CDR Foodlab Touch analyzer
Hi all, Are there anybody having experience about this spectrophotometric device in use to analyze ffa and peroxide value of biscuits?
Pls post here the plusses and minuses of this equipment, along with its accuracy as well. I am thinking to purchase a set, so I’m very thankful if you share your experience with me.
Thanks
Seafood HACCP - Do I have to comply as a Vending Co.?
Hello, I work for a vending company. We have vending machines all over the state but do not have any out of state. We also have micro markets, which is essentially a convenience store inside a company. So we receive RTE seafood packaged sandwiches from a company who assembles them and then ships them to us. We store them in our warehouse for a day or two and then delivery them to our vending machines and stock them. The customer does not do anything with the vending machine.
My questions are:
Is a vending company considered a retail business because we ship to our own machines and do not ship to other warehouses or convenience stores?
Do we have to follow seafood HACCP guidelines because we carry seafood product?
Everything we carry is packaged in its final form and not reassembled in any way.
Low cost food safety tools & utensils
Hi, Just a quick question, do you know any supplier of food safety tools and utensils that can deliver, or ship internationally.
Thanks in advance,
Oscar Rodriguez-Gonzalez
BRC Certification Audit
What is the operation period after startup, the food manufacturing companies need to be audited by BRC certification body?
Shelf life of ready to eat food
Hi everyone my name is Clement Perera. I’m a consultant to a fast food company who is interested in getting the ISO 22000 certification. I’ve worked in Oman for the past 12 years as a hygiene officer for a catering company with ISO 22000. I have completed the intermediate course for food hygiene and the level 4 for supervisors from
THE CHARTED INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH LONDON
I would like to hear from interested parties regarding the above topic
thank you
Which of the UK Retail Stores accept SQF?
We are a ready to eat snack bar factory with SQF L2. We are looking to possibly distribute in the UK, but from what we can tell most stores only accept BRC. Does anyone know if any of the following retailers accept SQF instead?
• ASDA
• Aldi
• Co-op
• Lidl
• Morrison's Co-Op
• Sainsbury's
• Tesco
