Listed below are all the new discussion topics posted on the forums over the last week. Hundreds of knowledgeable and friendly food safety practitioners frequent the forums every day. If you have a question. Ask Here!
*FSSC22000 audit checklist including iso22000-4 (Packaging)*
I need FSSC 22000 Audit Checklist for Food Packaging i.e. including ISO/TS 22000-4. Does anyone have?
Product classification of quiche and meat pies?
Hi All, I'm not sure how to classify a pie products (quiche and meat pies) and flan will that be chilled RTE or bakery or egg and dairy products? I try to find relevant applicable regulations for that type of product. It is for my Uni work and I'm a bit confused, any advice really appreciated
How detailed is your warehouse cleaning schedule?
Hey just a curiosity, I am writing the cleaning schedule for our warehouse (we produce bottled water that is packaged and shipped worldwide) and I am wondering how detailed everybody's warehouse cleaning schedule is? our skids of product are all shrink wrapped so there may be dust on them if they sit for a little while but besides that and floors, what suggestions do you have to put on the schedule? I need to make sure that it will be good for our SQF audit in the future. So I'm thinking that I will need daily, weekly, monthly, and periodically scheduled cleaning lists.
Thanks
Ashley
Environmental swab positive in low-risk RTE food
Hi folks, I recently moved from RTE meat plant to a honey plant, and am confused about this "low aw, low pH, low risk" honey production.
In RTE meat, we used to test every batch of finished product, in addition to bi-weekly env swab. Here in honey plant, there's no finished product testing (since the characteristics of honey does not support pathogen growth).
When we try to build a EMP from scratch, questions come:
▪ Based on risk analysis, can we safely schedule only APC/TC/EC/EB swab on zone 1, and Salmonella & Listeria swab on zone 2&3?
▪ If monthly zone 2 or zone 3 swab found Salmonella positive, what shall we do with the finished product in the past whole month? They will likely be gone to the market already, with no finished product testing.
| ▪ | Based on risk analysis, can we safely schedule only APC/TC/EC/EB swab on zone 1, and Salmonella & Listeria swab on zone 2&3? |
| ▪ | If monthly zone 2 or zone 3 swab found Salmonella positive, what shall we do with the finished product in the past whole month? They will likely be gone to the market already, with no finished product testing. |
We tried to find some government regulation on this, however HONEY is an exempt from CFIA Listeria policy. So it all depends on what we want to do ourselves and how we validate it.
Any thought would be appreciated!
ISO22000:2018 manual and procedures sample for food catering?
Dear all, please help me I want ISO22000:2018 manual and procedures sample for food catering
Thank you
BRC issue 8 Audit report for bakery
If some has BRC 8 audit report please share it. it will be very good if it’s from bakery.
BRC 8 Manual for quality
Looking for this manual as a requirement just need to go through it if someone has share it
thanks
Waste Management Outdoor Cleaning
Hello, I looked to see if there was a previous thread but did not see one. We are having some issues with garage door areas where garbage is taken out and environmental swabs. We believe it is coming from the dumpster area where some dry powder and liquid are mixing to create an unwanted breeding ground in parking lot. Just wanting to get an idea if people have this on their cleaning schedules and/or how they clean it to ensure they are not cross contaminating the fork trucks/pallet jacks/shoes that are being used to take the garbage out. Thanks!
Any Canadian Water Bottling Plant SQFP's out there?
Hey everybody! I have recently (Sept 20th) started at the water bottling plant here in small town Alberta, Canada. I am starting to develop the SQF program ( we didn't have a quality control program for the past 40 years that the company has been in business, but we are moving to a new plant that is about 8x larger because the company has grown so much in recent years) looking to see if there are any other SQF Practitioners out there who may also be new to this program, we could bounce development ideas off of each other, and maybe help each other through this very overwhelming journey. My email is xxxxxx if you would like to email me, or we can chat on this feed. Thanks and i hope to hear from you guys :-) Ashley
No stones rings, but not a wedding ring...what's your rule?
Alright folks, this is a very common topic we have had but it still seem vague sometimes, so here is the scenario: As everyone working in Food Manufacturing, we all have the same rule, NO rings with STONES. Some companies say only a wedding band with no stones, some say no rings AT all regardless if it has no stones or it does. Our rule is no stones on the ring, unless its a plain wedding ring. So an employee today showed up with a ring with no stones, BUT it was not a wedding ring. She said well it has no stones,,, and the rule says no stones and a wedding band that is plain is allowed, so how can you tell if its a wedding band or no? So how do you guys deal with such issues? Her ring had no stones, very similar to a plain wedding band but it was not a wedding band which we allow... They are not going to understand that though.. Any thoughts? Edit: They all wear gloves.
Looking for advice about sanitation schedules
Hey all! I am developing a brand new program at the company I have recently started at. This is my first QC job ever, although I have been in different areas of the food industry for more then 15 years. everything from waiting tables to owning my own cafe for 5 years. My company produces bottled water in a small town in Alberta, Canada, and ships it world wide, but they have never had a true Quality system before. We have hired a consultant to help me work though and create a program to become SQF certified, this website has been amazing as I had never even heard of this program before I was hired here. I am working on our sanitation program including the master sanitation schedule and the daily, weekly, and monthly schedules. I have attached what I have come up with so far (on my own because my "consultant" has decided to ignore my emails for the past two weeks"), will you guys please look at them and tell me what I'm missing or if I should format them a different way? Thanks so much, I feel like its this website and me against the world because you guys have been my only source of help while starting our SQF system from scratch. Thanks so much
Ashley Daily Cleaning Schedule Production.docx 14.59KB 0 downloads Weekly Sanitation Schedule Production.docx 13.41KB 0 downloads Monthly Sanitation Schedule.docx 15.03KB 0 downloads
Can we use regular salt and market it as sea salt?
Hello everyone, I would like to know if our marketing team can say it contains sea salt since it sounds better than table salt, according to them. To me salt is salt. I know there are different processes to extracting salt. Can we use regular salt and market it as sea salt? I can't find anything in the CFR regarding this. Does it need to be a certain grade? Thanks!
Does a new product need a Management of Change form?
Hi guys! Small question. So me & my team are reviewing and updating our "Management of change" forms. They brought up that product development shall have a form on there. My question: Now a "new product" is literally a new product, meaning we are not "changing" anything... so it wont fall under this. What would fall is perhaps change in product formulation/ingredients and other items that we are changing. New product is something different, and should be handled different. Is that correct?
Pasteurisation Units and the relevance to 70°c for 2 minutes
Hello, would anyone be able to explain some details of pasteurisation units to me? We are currently cooking protein products through a steam oven with the objective of achieving a core temp of 70°C for 2 minutes (as per BRC and Campden guidelines). We validate the process using temperature data loggers that monitor the core temperature of the product throughout cooking and chilling. When we come to assess the data, we use a z value of 7.5°C, as this is what Campden says is necessary to achieve a 6 log reduction of Listeria Mono - someone please correct me if I am wrong here. The software we use then calculates the pasteurisation units based on the the below criteria:
• Tmin = 60°C
• Tref = 70°C
• Z = 7.5°C
• tref, seconds = 60
Please can someone with more thermal processing knowledge and experience than me explain what pasteurisation units results we should be looking to achieve and if any of the above criteria/logic is flawed? Apologies if i've not explained this very well, if you need more info then please do ask. Thanks in advance, Danny
Butter Storage Bags
We pre-cut our butter in 33lb blocks and store them in food safe, 20"x18"x26" 1.5mil plastic, 1 time use bags. Our issue is that they have been losing their integrity and have become a foreign matter hazard. I have been trying to find replacement bags that are stronger and maybe even coloured, but I cannot seem to find a supplier that carries them. Does anyone know where I might find something like this?
What type of in house trainings does your company do?
Hello, I am putting together a list of trainings I want to make and give via power points and hand outs and I am just wondering what type of trainings does your company do? I have Allergen control, HACCP, Trash and Recycle, GMPs, Knives, Chemicals, SQF, Crisis Management, Wood Control, Recall, and Importance for Sanitation so far. Anything special you guys do?
Compressed air testing in Canada
Hello folks, we are looking for a lab that can do compressed air microbial testing in Canada. We are currently working with TraceAnalytics on oil/particles/water dew point pressure etc., but they do not have a microbial testing kit. What we need is a kit to reduce air pressure, then a specific type of agar plates where air is blew onto. We contacted another lab who sells the microbial kit at somewhere $1500-2000, which seems too high for an annual testing. Does anyone know a lab in Canada that can do this on-site, or we can rent a microbial testing kit from? Your help is really appreciated!
Baseball caps for warehouse workers. Is this acceptable practice?
Hi! I am currently having a discussion with management if warehouse workers are allowed to wear baseball caps instead of hair nets? Baseball caps have always been worn by the warehouse workers, years before I started and we were just wondering if this practice is okay? As for our production workers, dealing with exposed product they ONLY wear hair nets and beard nets. But for warehouse workers, I personally feel wearing a cap is "okay"...but I do get the sanitation concerns even if integrated in our cleaning program... We only have 3 warehouse personnel, I know for a fact enforcing hairnets for them will be an uphill battle; however, if SQF states baseball caps are not allowed then we will have to climb. There have been previous discussions on this topic that I have read but I could not find one specific to warehouse workers. I cannot tell if the responses are more of a preference or if it is a definitive rule that baseball caps are not allowed? (Ps. we deal with raw products, not RTE, only various vegetables). Thx a ton, Mark
Proper PPE Storage? (reusable gloves)
Hello everyone, we use food grade reusable rubber gloves in our production area. (Our products are raw potatoes onions and carrots that are peeled, sliced, diced, bagged and boxed). I am wondering how you guys store your reusable gloves? I tried to implement storing them on a rack/shelf and most workers have followed but not all... I was wondering if there were any other ideas or better ways to store gloves at break and end of shift. I am curious to know what others are doing. (FYI, the workers prefer reusable gloves as the material helps with grip during peeling so switching to disposable is not an option). As a side note: we have our site audit coming up soon and I am trying to tie up loose ends (most are GMP violations of improper storage and PPE). I have been in this role for only 7 months. Created our entire SQF program from scratch . My bosses had no idea how much work, time and $$ it involved and wanted the SQF certificate by the end of the year, typical...... We had our desk audit and it went very well. Although I tried my very best in creating documentation/records and pushed for many many necessary changes in the plant, GMP violations still remain! We do not have many English speaking workers so it is very difficult to get the message across... Any advice for the first SQF Audit would be appreciated too! Thanks for your help! Jenna
Risk Assessment for Sugar & Flour Sifters
Hello everyone, this question relates to anyone in the snacks/baking (cookies/crackers) industry. In a recent customer audit that took place at one of our facilities, the auditor issued a MAJOR non-conformance for not having a risk assessment completed for using the following screen sizes: 20 and 30 mesh for sugar and flour sifters respectively. This is something that has been used at the facility for more than 30 years, way before my time with the organization. Following is the question: If filters and sieves are used for foreign body control, are they of specified mesh size or gauge and designed to provide the maximum practical protection for the product based on risk assessment?
I would be happy to hear from anyone who may have any comments or suggestions around this topic. Thank-you.
Internal Training Records
Do I require training on policies, programs and procedures that I wrote? For example, I wrote all of the GMP policies and procedures and the training coordinator is responsible for training all personnel to these policies and procedures. She has included me in the training list and I am not sure if this is necessary. I think that I would be covered if it is clearly documented that I wrote the policies and procedures. In addition to that, there is no training record showing that the training coordinator has been trained. (No Train-the-Trainer Record). Is a record like this required? Would the author of the policy/procedure be responsible for training-the-trainer?
Allergen & radiological declarations for food contact materials?
Hello, I am currently doing an internship in a red meat company and i am currently managing material technical data sheets and compliance declarations. Our company demands that Plastic suppliers send an "allergen declaration" and a " radiological hazards declaration". I would like to know what specific clause of BRC demands these two declarations. Further, our knives supplier states that for this specific material it is not required to send these two declarations but as it is a food contact material (clause 4.7.5), at least the "allergen declaration" should be needed, am i right? Thanks in advance,
Increasing speed of mock trace exercises
Long story short; we've got room to grow on our mock trace abilities. We performed well on our mock trace for SQF, but were 15 minutes too long. Right now almost everything is paper. We have a project for a new traceability system, but that will not in place until late next year or later. I'm not really sure what else to implement for correctives and preventatives in the meantime. I feel limited to adding members to our recall plan, and increasing frequencies of trace exercises. Are those sufficient CAs and PAs though? Would a breakdown of each individuals role during exercise be a better way to go? Does anyone have any suggestions for increasing speed and accuracy during a trace? Thanks!
Preventive Controls help
I am new to this business and am struggling - all of my years (30) have been in the meat business. I work with chocolate, bakery/pastry, and gelato now. Our company is "smallish" but growing leaps and bounds. I was hired to create preventive controls/CCP's and prepare us for GFSI-SQF. I want to make sure I assign the proper microbiological assets to the hazard analysis. Does anyone have information for web searches, web information, or an example preventive controls/haccp/ccp/hazard analysis program from a chocolate manufacturer (ganache filled chocolates, solid chocolates, enrobed chocolate process), bakery/pastry (bread, cakes, muffins, pies), and gelato? I currently have water activity and metal detection for chocolate, nothing for bakery/pastry because I have no idea what to assign in there, and time/temperature for gelato. Wow! this business is more complicated than I ever imagined! Thank you for any advice or help at all!
Do we need to mention E501 acidity regulator on back of pack?
We make all natural cocoa roll. our cocoa powder will contain 7% acidity regulator E501.Do we need to mention this on back of pack? Anyone help me. Regards
Labelling Declarations
Hi, I was wondering what other people on here through the word emphasized. In regards to labelling there is a requirement to state any ingredient % next to the name of the ingredient if emphasized. To me this means any ingredients stated on front of pack or within the product title that to a consumer is to draw attention to a particular ingredient for whatever that reason may be. Any ingredient statements on the back of the pack that are the same size as the ingredients declaration to me is not emphasising the particular ingredient. Also if ingredients are grouped on back of pack to me this is also not emphasising a particular ingredient. Murae
Metal particles in turmeric dye
We started a new process of production of turmeric dye. We have so many magnets in between of 10K Gauss strength. And one metal detector. But we can't able to achieve 100% particles free product. For every 1 g sample we are finding two to three very tiny metal particles. How to solve this? Is any acceptable limit/level present as per the food regulatory guidelines (USA, EU etc)? Please share your views on this.
Frequency environmental monitoring in flour production plant
Hello, I'm Quality mang. in a flour production plant and we have a environmental monitoring plan, regarding equipment, floors, workers (hands and clothes). However, I have an important question and it's when should be the samples taken? during production or after cleaning? I mean, to know if your cleaning is effective you should take samples at that point. What BRC says exactly about this?? Thanks!
How to write documents for every clause of BRC from scratch?
Namaste Hello, from India. I am Mutturaj, this is my first post in IFSQN, I am thankful to the elite all members over here.. Your answers are helping out there. I need a favour, I am framing documents for every clause of BRC issue8, I need to know how to write from scratch. Can anyone help me ? Thanks in advance,
Environmental monitoring in bakery
Hi Martyn, from the IG of section4.11.8: The design and structure of this programme will depend on the nature of the products being handled and the potential hazards
associated with them. Sites are not expected to ‘opt out’ of this requirement by determining that they have a low-risk product or
environment; completion of a risk assessment (clause 4.11.8.1) will identify relevant hazards, suitable monitoring techniques and
appropriate monitoring frequencies. That said, since it is very much a risk-based thing, you needn't be "doing the same" in terms of exact swabbing in your low risk area as it is exactly that. However you should include the area in your program and risk assess. My previous site is quite similar to yours by the sounds of it; we had a low risk area for uncooked meat products, and a high risk area handling the cooked product. Our EMP for low risk was much less comprehensive than high risk in terms of frequency and testing of swabs, and we hadn't done the specific zoning as with the HR plan, just FCS and non-FCS (mono). We had no micro related issues on the v8 audit. I am having the same type of issue , we have our audit due in a weeks time . We are low risk bakery and have a risk assessment in place and a sampling plan but I need to generate some sort of statement to ascertain what we are doing and why we are doing it. Has anyone generated at statement that I can view for reference? Thank you [emoji4]
Food Defence Training Video
Hello everyone, I'm trying to find a short video (<5 minutes) on Food Defence to use during our production workers orientation class. Does anyone have a good video suggestion? Thank you!
NC against 4.8.3 Segregation of personal items from work clothing
We received the following non conformance against clause 4.8.3: A cellar staff member was observed storing personal clothing inside the cleaning chemical store and not in the designated locker in the staff area as required. I'm having a hard time with the RCA. The staff member know the rules and new it was not the right thing to do, but he was late and didn't have time to go to his locker. How do I address this, since human error is not accepted as RCA.
Colour Coded PPE when handling Allergens
Hello all, I am reviewing our allergen PPE procedure as my predecessor has made it as confusing and complicated. We produce a range of cakes a vast majority have allergens except for around 5 items that do not contain any allergens. Currently staff wear red PPE when they handle an allergen, but as only red sleeves are available to staff they use these red sleeves regardless. My thought is to change the procedure so staff wear blue when handling allergen containing product and only wear red when they handle the non allergen product.( I know colour is irrelevant). So the focus would be on protecting the non allergen product from being contaminated, and when the non allergen product is being produced they can be identified as such and staff are aware to avoid the are they are producing the non allergen product. Thoughts please
BRC Issue 8, how to improve a food safety culture plan?
Hi everyone!!! Merry Christmas in advance.. We had just BRC Audit last Nov 25-27, 2019.. we got 7 minors findings and one of it was that my food safety culture plan needs to improve it something like that... actually I don’t know how to do it properly. Please, anyone here could give a template for my reference to start it right? Thank you so much for the help. Boging
Environmental Monitoring Program for Food Packaging
Hi would like to ask from the group for any template on Environmental monitoring Thank you, Diana
Supplier and raw material approval BRC edition-8: 3.5.1.1
Hi , can you please guide me what legislative control documents are needed for supplier risk analysis. Is it only FSMA or GFSI certificate can be considered to cover legislative control clause. Further, couldn’t understand meaning of variety of species cross contamination. Please advise. Thanks
Sub ingredients declaration on the label
Hello everyone, I would like to know for sub ingredient declaration on the label of the product that has dried fruit as an ingredient if we have 2 different suppliers
▪ supplier 1 : ingredient: raisin (no sub ingredient)
▪ supplier 2 : ingredient: raisin ( with a few sub-ingredients) depending on the supplier inventory we get the raisin from suppliers 1 or 2. To prevent changing our artwork all the time, could we declare on the label raisin with sub-ingredients but use some times raisin without sub ingredient? I would appreciate your help.
| ▪ | supplier 1 : ingredient: raisin (no sub ingredient) |
| ▪ | supplier 2 : ingredient: raisin ( with a few sub-ingredients) depending on the supplier inventory we get the raisin from suppliers 1 or 2. To prevent changing our artwork all the time, could we declare on the label raisin with sub-ingredients but use some times raisin without sub ingredient? I would appreciate your help. |
Just received our BRC Packaging certificate...thank you!
Our company just received its certificate for the BRC Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Components. A big thank you to the members of this forum for all of the questions & posts - it helped a lot! Taking time out of your busy days to post can really help those of us who are starting out on this Food Safety journey. As I like to say in Quality - never a dull moment!
Can you explain what the MPN (Most Probable Number) method is?
Hi, can you explain what the most probable number method is? What means in the table e.g. 0 1 0? Regards
Date Paste from Tunisia
Hi team, I am looking at a new supplier of date paste from Tunisia and as this is a new material for me though I have completed all usual risk assessment for micro, chemical, pesticide . Is there anything I shall be worried about when it comes to Date paste. any threat or vulnerability criteria will be useful too. Regards, Deb
Microbiological requirements for cheese
Hi all I am new to dairy specifically cheese where can I look for helpful documents on the microbiological criteria for cheese hard / soft? Our regulations in South Africa aren't very detailed?
Mandatory dates to state on the label of a defrosted product?
Hi, Which dates are mandatory for a label of a defrosted product? The product is frosted filet
1. Slaughterday date
2. Frosting date
3. Defrosting date
4. shelf life date Thanks in advance!
| 4. | shelf life date Thanks in advance! |
Shelf life microbiological questions
Hi IFSQN community, we are tinkering with a new product line at our company but I had some concerns about microbiological ramifications. I am hoping someone on here can help me understand a couple of things. I have been doing research but can't seem to find direct answers to my questions. My company is a frozen pasta manufacturer (FSIS, FDA) and we are trying to MAP (CO2, N2) package cooked noodles to have a 22 day shelf life. The noodles are cooked to lethality and then frozen on trays before packaging. Getting below 40 F takes about an hour. The idea is to sell to our customer frozen, slack out, and have 22 days thereafter under refrigerated conditions. Because of the cooking pathogens are not a real concern. My real concern is spore formers. My research has shown me that some species of botulinum can grow and germinate at less than 36 F, 3 C, degrees and that pre-cooked pasta can be of particular concern for spore formers. I am wondering if any of you have any data or experience to show how long these spores will stay at an acceptable level under normal refrigeration temperature. I am working with my lab to try and get some testing done but they needed to order special tests for spore formers. When I got to thinking about it, I can't recall ever seeing a spec sheet that includes spore formers. If these organisms can't be inactivated by normal cooking, can germinate above 36 degrees, and can produce fatal toxin why does nobody test for them? Lots of questions which are suddenly sending my microbiological brain through loops. If anyone has any information I would appreciate it.
Shelf life Validation Low aW - Ambient RTE Inclusions
Hello everyone, I was wondering if someone could please help me! The products manufactured historically at a site are a variety of inclusions used for further process. Some are used in an RTE function (such as toppings for desserts) and some are heat treated once received by the customer. The products and the site as a whole is low risk, down to the four main inclusion types being heat treated to very high temperatures (>120°c) and have very low aW <5%. Heat treatment also isn't highlighted as a CCP due to the materials used to manufacture the product being stable/low risk/long life and with receiving a COA for each batch. However I have a bit of a wall regarding finding historic information to justify shelf life (between 6-12 months) I know this is partly given due to raw material shelf life, but I think along the lines that we are changing the storage and configuration of the materials due to the heat treatment/general process as a whole. There are no issues with micro or any organoleptic attributes in relation to shelf life, so I do think the range is correct. Although conscious I need to write this up as a report/justification to support the HACCP. Is there any guidance out there to help with determining shelf life on ambient products with low aW/High sugar content? Many Thanks, A
Consequences of Additives in Food - What's Your Take?
Hey forum folks - I want to know how all of you feel about the consequences of newly developed additives in food. My question stems from a new article about a large company marketing an acrylamide-reducing yeast in foods. For those of you that don't know, acrylamide has been the subject of a lot of talks in the industry because of Prop 65 and EU Regulations. Acrylamide is naturally produced by heating starchy foods and is found in several categories; including roasted coffee, fried foods, and sugar refining. It has been suspected to be a carcinogen. This new yeast is considered to be a processing aid, and doesn't require labelling. If added to the label, it would be identified as "yeast". I can't speak to how this was properly vetted, but it took years before anyone identified acrylamide in foods and further to identify it as a possible hazard. Do you all ever wonder what the consequences of adding newly developed additives to products will be in the long-term? We don't know what hazards this new yeast will bring or how it will affect our bodies by consuming over time. Every action has a reaction, so I have to wonder if sometimes what we identify as "solutions" will end up as larger problems down the road. What's your take?
Document for Regulatory Department
Hi, my company has "Regulatory department/division" as a guide for regulatory activity (such how to comply to destination country or register a new product to government). The problem is, there is no SOP , Work Instructions yet in Regulatory Department/Division. Can you assist me or give a list what SOP and WI should we have? Can you give me example. Thanks
Rules for indicating the country of origin of ingredient of a food
Hi all. Please can I have some input on this. We have on the Back of Pack (BOP) "Produced in the UK by ..." statement that confirms that our product is produced in the UK. We source ingredients from the UK, EU and World in the form or raw materials, and turn them into a completely different product. Article 2(3) of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 states: "Goods the production of which involves more than one country or territory shall be deemed to originate in the country or territory where they underwent their last, substantial, economically-justified processing or working, in an undertaking equipped for that purpose, resulting in the manufacture of a new product or representing an important stage of manufacture." Under this, our product is most certainly Produced in the UK. However, I am getting conflicting information when it comes to Guidance on Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/775 of 28 May 2018 on the provision of food information to consumers, as regards the rules for indicating the country of origin or place of provenance of the primary ingredient of a food. The guidance notes from the BRC would indicate that adhering to the upper most statement would actually be in conflict with the regulations - putting my brain in a loop. The largest ingredient in our product is Fortified Wheat Flour, of which, wheat and statutory additives are sourced from the UK. EU and outside the EU and blended to make a specification of flour for us. This is milling is done in the UK. Where do we stand in regards to this regulation. Does the product meet Article 2(3) of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011, or does it not as per 2018/775??
Report an unintentional adulteration (fire extinguisher burst)
Good morning community, I need your help! We had an incident last night at our plant. We manufacture composite cans and one of the forklift operators hit a fire extinguisher. The extinguisher was punctured and the contents was released into the plant. We shut down production immediately, destroyed all exposed product and materials, and allowed the material to settle overnight. We contacted the local fire department to get instructions on clean-up. They said we did the right thing by getting people out of the environment and allowing the material to settle. Then we could sweep up the mess. We are in the process this morning of wiping down all machinery with warm soapy water, followed by a wipe down with alcohol. The floors have been gone over with a sweeper/vac several times and will be washed with our wet/vac sweeper. This was an unintentional act so I don't know who or if I need to report it to. It's being documented but is that all we have to do? Thanks, Shanna
Is outsourced packing considered contract manufacturing under SQF?
Hi everyone, we are looking to use an external company to pack our packaged bars into cartons. Would this external company fall under the contract manufacturer section of the SQF code? They are not producing our product, they are only putting the packaged bars into cartons and sealing the cartons shut. Thank you for your help!
FSMA to Designate High Risk Foods
This is a momentous event after a 7-year wait. The catch ? - within 2022.
https://www.cacitrusmutual.com/lawsuit-requires-fda-to-designate-high-risk-foods/
Could I have your thoughts on this statement Pre-BRC first time audit
Hello all, Long time lurker, first time posting. We're heading toward our inaugural BRC Food audit. We are currently polishing things up, yet are stuck at a fundamental point. Do we need to sieve or not? Please have a look at the reasoning we are considering for NOT sieving. We repack a range of dry powdered ingredients at our warehouse, we repack 25kg drum down to smaller amounts (not blending just simple repack).
This repack process is carried out in a clean room where we are careful about contamination risks (no pen tops, jewellery) These are checked and audited (no jewellery, no glass, no loose metal).
The materials come in sealed drums from a range of GFSI / Non-GFSI suppliers, most of which would metal detect or sieve product before packing into sealed drums that arrive with us.
We deal with up to 50 items a day and manufacturing report that sieving can take up to 20 mins per product to sieve, so this is proving to be impractical. We are not currently metal detecting.
All of our customers are B to B customers so all materials sold are for further processing and in most cases will undergo further sieving/metal detection before going to end user.
If we were not repacking, most of our other products come in sealed drums from factory through our warehouses to customer - There is no expectation that we would be sieving these so we feel as long as we take enough care in repacking process we do not need to sieve.
During the repacking process we visually inspect products for foreign bodies.
We feel if we that sieving products increases the risk of product cross - contamination and foreign body contamination from the sieves themselves. All input gratefully received. Many thanks, Dan
Effect of the allergens of the seasoning mix on the final product
Hi! Our central kitchen is only for marinating the chicken. This semi-processed chicken is then packed and delivered to our restaurants. there is an allergen such as milk, wheat, and soy in a seasoning powder mixture used for only one product.
In such a case, can we say that there are no allergies in the allergy policy?
If there is an allergen such as milk, wheat and soy in seasoning
Our central kitchen is only for marinating the chicken. This semi-processed chicken is then packed and delivered to our restaurants. there is an allergen such as milk, wheat, and soy in a seasoning powder mixture used for only one product. In such a case, can we say that there are no allergies in the allergen policy?
Shelf life monitoring of cooked-chilled food items
Hello, I worked in a restaurant and we had implement a shelf life of cooked-chilled food items to be store in the chiller for not more than 3 days in the chiller. This is a days of the week, colour code system. Even with the implementation of colour code day labeling, it's a nightmare to find that the cook change the stickers everyday to a new shelf life colour code. Is this normal culture in other F&B? If so, how do we overcome it? We definitely knows that the root cause is due to:
1. Kitchen production efficiencies hence,
2. Over-production
3. non-inventorize chiller i.e. no FIFO etc
4. Kitchen does not want to comply
However, the above cannot be resolve with immediate and cooks do not budge. Running out of ideas to ensure top notch quality at all times. Please help.
Looking for advice on good layout for receiving area
Hello! We are a small scale food and drug processing company. Most of our products deal with plants and herbs as they are our primary ingredients. We have recently been certified for HACCP and one of minor non-conformance is to improve our receiving area. I would like to ask for advice and/or tips on how to properly design an efficient receiving area? Or what are the primary considerations of a good receiving area? Any professional input would be highly appreciated. Thanks!
Preventive Maintenance Schedule
As a new member of my company (I started working here on sept 20/2019) I am now starting to create our SQF program. it can be very overwhelming at times trying to figure out exactly how to write procedures and schedules for everything. the project I am currently trying to start, is coming up with a preventive maintenance schedule/plan for our company. (we are are bottled water manufacturing company that goes straight from preforms to finished product to be shipped world wide). I have a fairly uncooperative maintenance manager that doesn't want to help me because he says that the manuals for each piece of equipment should already have these schedules included in them. but this is an older company who has unfortunately not hung on to its (very old) equipment manuals. any suggestions on a format or template to use as a starting point? I have googled preventive maintenance schedules/plans and all I have really succeeded in finding is software to download. I would really appreciate any help on where to get started on this. Thanks everybody! Ashley, SQFP, Nanton Water & Soda Ltd.
BRC v8 Quality Culture Plan Section 1.1.2
Hello everyone, we have recently received a non-conformance for lack of quality culture plan - section 1.1.2 BRC v8. I could use the expertise in this forum to help me with a quality culture plan, or at least the topics I should cover in my plan. I have already come up with a quality culture survey (has not been administered at the time of this writing) to get a baseline, but I am struggling with coming up with specifics and frequencies for the actual plan. Any and all guidance is greatly appreciated!! -CMia
FDA - RM Sampling - Dietary Supplements
Hello all, FDA Title 21 CFR Parts; 11,110,117, 210 & 211 Can non food items (chemicals) for processing cosmetics with good integrity packaging be stored in the same area with "food items" Dietary supplement components for blends? These RM's are sampled separately but brought in on the same pallet into the sampling area. No allergens or declarations. Thank you in advance for your advice.
Validation studies - potatoes and pasta
I'm looking for validation studies for cooking pasta and potatoes. We use Lyco cookers to cook/chill our pastas and potatoes. Thanks in advance.
Food Supplements FSMA exemption?
Hi all, I've been asked by a European dietary supplements manufacturer who is going to export to Canada if they have to meet FSMA without the exemption to subparts C (hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls) and G (suply chain program); in the USA, dietary supplements manufacturers have an exemption to those subparts (they have to comply with 21 CFR part 111 instead). I've checked this link:
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2018-108/page-7.html#docCont
...where it says:
46 (1) Unless otherwise specified, the requirements of this Part apply in respect of
• (a) any foods that are to be exported or sent or conveyed from one province to another; Not the case
• (b) any edible meat products (not the case) that are imported, during their storing and handling in their imported condition, for the purpose of the exercise of an inspector’s powers under the Act; and
• © any food animals from which meat products that are to be exported or sent or conveyed from one province to another may be derived (not the case)
I'm not an expert on Canadian regulations, so I'm not sure at all if I'm properly understanding this; I'm not even sure about how FSMA is applied in Canada. The summary of my question would be:"Does a food supplement manufacturer who is going to export to Canada have to comply with HARPC and supply chain program of 21 CFR 117?". Thank you in advance for your help! Kind regards.
Who should fill in corrective action forms?
Good Morning, who is supposed to be filling out a corrective actions form for an issue with one of our products. It's always been my understanding that this is supposed to be done by our SQF practitioner, in this case that would be our Quality Control manager. However, I am being asked to do this. I work in QC but I hold no certification whatsoever. I simply send our products to a third party lab for micro testing. i appreciate any insight on this.
HR based advise needed - Who has got the right to keep original training
Hello, would a specialist be able to tell me who has got the right to keep the certificates of any kind of training if company paid for it and nothing is mentioned in policies or contract and no agreements were done? Is there any legislation regarding it? Thanks
Do following pics conform to BRC? (chicken slaughterhouse)
Hi fellow colleagues, are following pics conform for BRC?:
- Picture 1: chicken fillet in consumer packaging ready for sealing (this is conform I think)
- Picture 2+3: Placing crates ON the cutting board (not conform I think)
- Picture 4: placing crates with plastic in on each other (I think not conform because there is a risk of contamination from the bottom of the crate placed upon. However, these crates are all clean.)
