2 replies to this topic

[garyandrews]

Enclosed is the changes from BRC Global Food Standard Issue Three to Four

1. There are no longer Higher and Lower levels plus Recommendations, just one status to gain accreditation.

2. All references to “should” have been replaced with “shall”. Therefore no choice but to comply.

3. Certain sections have been made “Fundamental” i.e. Forming or serving as an essential component of a system and it must then be assumed these sections have to be exact and meticulous.

4. There is also formalisation of the 28 day rule for closing out of non-conformities.

5. The grading system is based on the status and number of non-conformities.

6. The HACCP system shall be developed reviewed and managed by a multi disciplinary team. In the event that the company does not have the appropriate team in-house, external expertise shall be sought and used to develop and review the HACCP system, but the day to day management shall remain the responsibility of the company. 1.2

7. The company shall have in place prerequisite programmes, e.g. Quality Assurance and Good Manufacturing Practice to support the HACCP system. 1.5

8. The Company shall have a system in place, to ensure that it is kept informed of all relevant legislation, food safety issues, legislative, scientific and technical developments, and Industry Codes of Practice applicable in the country of production and, where known, the country where the product will be sold. 2.4.4

9. Support and monitoring of the quality management system shall be available to relevant personnel at all times. 2.4.3

10. A description of general duties or work instructions are in place and communicated to all staff involved with activities relating to product safety, legality and quality. 2.4.4

11. Actions relating to the identification of any safety or legal issues shall be documented. 2.5.2

12. Internal audits - auditors, shall not audit their own work or have direct operation within the department or section being audited. 2.9.2

13. Monitoring of a company’s suppliers shall not only have an approval procedure but continual assessment. 2.10.1.1

14. Retention of documents and records shall relate to the shelf life of the product and where there is a possibility that the shelf life may be extended by the customer, e.g. freezing. 2.11.1.5

15. Specifications are now required for any product or service which could affect the integrity of the finished products. Specifications should have a formal agreement between all relevant parties, but where there has not been one gained, the company must show that they have attempted to gain this. 2.11.2.2

16. An authorised person will be responsible for documentation and justify any changes. 2.11.4.3

17. Traceability: The Company shall have a system with the ability to trace and follow all raw materials (including primary packaging materials) from source through all stages of processing and distribution of the finished product to the customer.

Where there is a requirement to ensure identity preservation within the supply chain, e.g. to use a logo or make a claim to a product characteristic or attribute, appropriate control and testing procedures shall be in place. 2.13.2

18. With regard to Quality Manual the standard now differentiates between product withdrawal and product recall and documentation should be brought up to date accordingly. Testing of procedures documentation need to be retained. 2.3.2

19. External areas have to be maintained in good order and a where product or storage is along side the edge of an external wall a gap that is both clean and unobstructed is necessary. 3.1.2.2


20. There is a much more defined category on design and construction of what are high and low risk areas and incorporates legislation in relation to hygiene, heath and safety allergens. 3.2.1

21. A shatterproof protective coating can now be used on bulbs and strip lights as protection. 3.2.2.6.2

22. As well as adequate ventilation, extraction is required in product storage and processing environment to prevent condensation or excessive dust. 3.2.2.7.1

23. Where appropriate, positive air pressure systems shall be in place. 3.2.2.7.3

24. Where water is used for a primary washing of raw materials prior to manufacture of processed food and where potable water is not used, procedures shall be in place to minimise the risk of contamination of semi-processed or processed product 3.3.1

25. Compressed air or gas that comes in contact with food or packaging, shall be regularly monitored. 3.3.2

26. Prior to use, equipment should not only be commissioned but specified before purchase, and tested. 3.4.1

27. Where temporary repairs are made to equipment, these shall be controlled to ensure the safety or legality of product is not jeopardised. These temporary repairs shall be repaired as soon as is practicable. 3.5.3

28. Smoking, eating and drinking shall only be permitted in designated areas segregated from food handling or storage areas 3.6.4 / 3.6.5

29. The checks on glass and brittle materials shall be determined by risk assessment. 3.7.3

30. Detailed written procedures for handling glass and brittle material breakages are required. 3.7.4

31. All breakages that pose a risk of product contamination must be recorded in an incident report. 3.7.5

32. Incompatible materials e.g. volatile flavourings and high fat foods, shall be stored in an appropriate manner to prevent contamination. 3.7.6

33. Documented cleaning schedules shall be in place and maintained for the building services plant and equipment. 3.8.1

34. Cleaning chemicals shall be fit for purpose and sanitation procedures and effectiveness shall be verified and recorded. 3.8.5

35. Disinfection processes if used again recording and verification is based on risk assessment. 3.8.6

36. If substandard trademarked materials are transferred to a third party for destruction or disposal, that third party shall be in the business of secure product or waste disposal and shall provide records of material destruction and disposal. 3.9.4

37. COSHH details of insecticide sprays or fumigants as well as bait are required. 3.10.10

38. Transport: Where the company employs third party contractors, all the requirements specified within Section 3.11 shall be defined within a contract and effectively managed.

39. Product must be secure during transportation. 3.11.2

40. During transportation product that could be susceptible to product cross contamination, must have procedures shall be in place to minimise the risk of contamination. 3.11.3

41. If no data logging devices are available during transportation a system shall be in place to validate the correct operation of refrigerated equipment regularly. 3.11.6

42. Where the material transported is susceptible to taint uptake from other foods or previously transported materials, procedures shall be in place to minimise the risk of contamination. 3.11.7

43. All incidence of vehicle or refrigeration equipment breakdown shall be recorded and corrective action documented. 3.11.9

44. It must be ensured that the labelling of the product is legal and in accordance with the appropriate product specifications. 4.1.2

45. The company shall carry out risk assessment of raw materials to establish the likelihood of contamination by specific allergens, e.g. peanut and other known allergens, or the likelihood of loss of identity preserved-preserved status, e.g. organic, and shall put in place control measures to ensure product safety and legality are maintained. 4.2.1

46. During storage and processing, particular consideration shall be given to the avoidance of cross contamination by ingredients which would constitute a safety issue, e.g. peanuts, or which could cause significant dissatisfaction, e.g. meat in vegetarian product. 4.2.2

47. Where rework is used, or reworking operations carried out, procedures shall be implemented to ensure the safety, legality and quality of the finished product. 4.2.3

48. When siting the metal detector, thought must be given to minimising the risk of foreign body contamination within the finished product. 4.3.1

49. The metal or foreign body detector shall be calibrated. 4.3.4

50. Where packaging materials pose a product safety risk, special handling procedures shall be in place to prevent product contamination or spoilage. Records shall be maintained of failures and corrective actions taken. 4.4.4

51. Monitoring of all incoming materials for compliance to specification shall be specified and based on risk assessment. Inspection method, frequency of inspection and procedures shall be specified and documented. Suppliers of all incoming materials, as appropriate, shall provide evidence of guarantees, certifications/declarations of analysis or certificates of conformity. 4.5.1

52. For non-conforming product adequate documentation shall be kept of the action taken. 4.8.3

53. Any product that has become contaminated shall be effectively controlled. A relevant quarantine procedure shall apply after any incident. 4.8.2

54. Where processing is undertaken to ensure product safety, legality, and quality, a full validation of the process shall be made prior to initial production ensuring worst case scenario conditions are considered. 5.1.1

55. Ongoing process validation shall be undertaken on a routine basis based on risk assessment and the receipt of data indicating inconsistent or insufficient compliance with the process requirements. 5.1.2

56. Where the quantity of the product is not governed by legislative requirements (i.e. bulk quantity), the product must conform to customer specification requirements. 5.2.3

57. All employees are demonstrably competent to carry out their activity. 6.1.1

58. Where personnel are engaged in activities relating to the critical control points, relevant training and documented supervision monitoring procedures shall be in place. 6.1.3

59. Procedures shall be in place to control the use of personal medicines to minimise the risk of contamination. 6.2.4

60. Fingernails shall be kept short, clean and unvarnished. False fingernails shall not be permitted. 6.2.7

61. The company shall have a policy which clearly specifies the type of jewellery allowed to be worn for ethnic, medical or religious reasons and the controls in place to minimise the risk of contamination. These shall be one piece. 6.2.8

62. Other than a plain wedding ring, a wedding wristband and sleeper earnings (continuous loop) are the only specified items of jewellery that can be worn. 6.2.9

63. Rings and studs in exposed parts of the body, such as noses and eyebrows shall not be worn. 6.2.9

64. No perfume or aftershave changes to excessive perfume or after-shave shall be not permitted. 6.2.10

65. Where the company is aware of a person who has entered the premises that is suffering from a relevant infectious disease, steps shall be taken to minimise any risk to product safety. 6.3.2

66. Hairnets or mob hats shall be single use. 6.4.4

67. Laundry: For high-risk/high-care operations all protective clothing shall be removed before visiting the toilets and controls shall be in place to ensure product safety is not compromised before returning to food handling areas. Protective clothing shall be removed in designated changing area. Laundering of protective clothing shall take place in-house or by an approved contracted and audited laundry and the effectiveness of cleaning shall be monitored.

For low risk operations controlled laundering of all Protective clothing shall be carried out and a system shall be in place to ensure the effectiveness of the laundering process. 6.4.2

If anyone has any thoughts on the setting up of a prerequisite program I would be interested in hearing them.

Regards,

Gary

[yorkshire]

Thanks for the info Gary

I have printed out to read at my leisure

[Simon]

Thank you very much Gary.

Regards,
Simon