Hi All,
I'm relatively new to this site but have been in the food manufacturing industry (QA) for eight years, and recently obtained B.S. in Food Science. I hope I can contribute as well as gain valuable insight in our industry from seasoned professionals
I recently started work for a small bakery which deals with multiple allergens. We are currently modifying our system to meet SQF code and attempting LV 2 certification. I have a question regarding what is typical for allergen and sanitation verification in regards to swabbing (ATP, cleanliness spot checking- hygiena, and allergen elisa tests).
The company's current design of swabbing is a random cleanliness check and random allergen check once per week on food contact surfaces (5 points total per check)
I want to transition this program into part of our pre-op equipment check, effectively making it a better verification of sanitation cleanliness (meeting SQF 11.2.13.1.vi, 11.2.13.4, and 2.8.2.1.vii)This would be an large increase in operational cost vs. what they have been doing and I want to see what other bakeries meeting SQF lv 2 have implemented. Is the random verification enough for SQF?
I am thinking about doing the verification swabbing heavily for 6 months to verify our SSOPs are effective and then possibly extending check to 2-3 times per week. What are your thoughts? Also, what is the industries standard for bakeries that SQF auditors would most likely recommend or cite as the best practice in regard to sanitation swabbing.
Any help/opinions are greatly appreciated,
Cory