Food Safety & Quality Discussion

Ella's Kitchen withdraws some baby food

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:25:01 +0000

Ella?s Kitchen has withdrawn certain batches and date codes of its baby food because of possible microbial spoilage inside the straw of the packets. The microorganisms that have been identified are harmless.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/ellaskitchen

Imported food and feed sampling activity published

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:25:01 +0000

The Agency has published the results of sampling and surveillance, during 2009/10 of food and feed imported into the UK. The Agency provides support for local authorities and port health authorities to carry out this sampling.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/impfoodsurvey

Happy Eid-ul-Fit'r to all!

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:19:59 +0000

Dear All!

Hope this beautiful event bring extreme happiness to your life and your family. Please do remember my homeland Pakistan in your Eid Prayers as it is suffering from the biggest disaster of its history.

Regards:

M.Zeeshan

Looking for a Generic HACCP Plan for Fresh Orange Juice

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:02:35 +0000

Hi Dear Friends,

Any body having a template of a generic plan for fresh orange juice.

Many thanks and best regards,

faizal

Food Safety Tips in Aftermath of Tropical Storm Hermine From USDA

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:03:35 +0000

Due to flooding from Tropical Storm Hermine, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is reissuing its’ recommendations for residents in Texas and Oklahoma to minimize the potential for foodborne illnesses due to power outages and other problems often associated with severe weather.

View the full article

Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:45:12 +0000

I just thought I'd upload this handbook from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). It has MAV information as well as sampling plans and documents. It covers gravimetric testing, packages labeled by volume, and packages labeled by count. Proved useful for me when showing the auditor the validation for Net Contents.

Regards,

EmmE

All-H133-05-Z-2.pdf (1.96MB)
: 2

FSA Board meeting 15 September 2010

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:55:32 +0000

The agenda for next Wednesday's FSA open Board meeting has been published. The meeting is being held in Aberdeen on 15 September 2010. It will begin at 9am and will be chaired by Agency Chair Jeff Rooker. You can attend in person or watch it live online.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/board

Job description in accordance with ISO 22000

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:02:35 +0000

Hi Everybody,

Have you an idea how to write job description in a food company for a ISO 22000 certification?

Thanks for your help.

Help Interpreting Microbiological Test Results

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:15:31 +0000

Hi:

How we read this 35 x 10²or 7 x 10³as a result of staph or coliform colonies count (for example ), I mean what is the meaning of 10³or 10² ?

Thanks

Imported heifer aged over 30 months not tested for BSE

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:31:16 +0000

The Agency has been notified that meat from an over thirty month (OTM) heifer imported from Switzerland has entered the food supply without being tested for BSE.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/otmbsesep10

Looking for Hot Fill Guidelines for Stocks or Sauces

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:53:18 +0000

Can anyone tell me where I can find guidelines or similar on hot fill temperatures for products like stocks or sauces, please?

Many thanks in advance

Pops

BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distribution: Issue 2

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:50:31 +0000

The new, updated Global Standard for Storage and Distribution: Issue 2 will replace Storage and Distribution: Issue 1 for all audits from March 2011.

Aimed at companies involved in the storage and distribution of goods, the new Standard represents a substantial upgrade to Issue 1 and includes the audit requirements, scheme rules and background to the Standard. The publication provides the basis for an accredited certification of sites storing and/or distributing food, packaging and consumer products. It also enables certification of sites that wholesale products or carry out a range of contracted services.

It is a requirement that all suppliers undergoing a BRC Storage and Distribution audit have an official, authorised copy of this Standard.

Local authority audit published

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:20:37 +0000

The Agency's local authority audit report for Rotherham is now available online.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/auditrotherham

Food Safety Awareness Cards

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:19:45 +0000

Hi Guys

I work in a large petfood manufacturing plant. I am implementing a programme to raise awareness of food safety in the maintenance/reliability sections of the business. Maintenance staff can slip through the net as far as the normal food safety controls because they are more likely to be working during down time when HACCP controls are at their most lax, lack of awareness of food safety can introduce risks.

I would like to give out some information cards (credit card size) that the workers can carry on their keyrings, much like the OH & S cards for Risk assessment. Does anyone have a template or has seen such things before?

I would imagine that I could incorporate questions such as ' are you likely to change the environmental factors and introduce necessities of microbial growth, moisture, food source, change of temperature etc?' ' Has the equipment you are using and/or installing been clean and sanitised?' ' Is there any chance of cross contamination, have you or your tools moved from a hot zone to a cold zone?'.

The worker's have been exposed to quite a few educational presentations so the cards would be just used as prompts to remember Food Safety issues and aid in risk assessing tasks in relation to food safety.

Any thoughts or examples would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

USDA Offers Food Safety Tips as Tropical Storm Hermine Approaches Coas

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:00:32 +0000

Due to the potential threat from Tropical Storm Hermine, the FSIS is issuing recommendations for residents in coastal southern Texas and northeastern Mexico.

View the full article

Bite gets its teeth into some meaty topics

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:22:10 +0000

The third issue of Bite, the quarterly magazine produced by the Agency to tackle challenging food safety-related topics, is available online and should provide mouth-watering reading for anyone with an interest in meat safety.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/bite3

Looking for a Generic HACCP Model for Flavors

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:22:17 +0000

Hi all,

is there any generic HACCP chart for food flavors??

Thanks for your help!!

Regards

Veterinary Residues Committee open meeting

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:45:58 +0000

The Veterinary Residues Committee is holding an open meeting at 10.30am on Wednesday 13 October at the National Railway Museum in York.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/vmcmtg

Issue 4 of the BRC/IOP Global Standard for Packaging

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:46:30 +0000

Version 4 of the BRC/IOP Global Standard for Packaging is due early next year. There are a number of proposed changes detailed below. Please note these are not finalised and the list may be incomplete, but they should give users and idea of what to expect and perhaps to make some preparations.

2.2 Hazard and Risk Analysis

2.2.4. The hazard and risk analysis shall include microbiological, foreign objects and chemical (e.g. taint, odour, allergen, component transfer from inks, varnishes & glues) contamination, any problems arising from the use of recycled materials, legality and defects critical to consumer safety as well as those hazards that may have an impact on the functional integrity and performance of the final product taking into account the customer requirements.

2.3 Hazard and Risk Management Prerequisites

Hazard and Risk Management Systems - New sub-section

2.4 Prevention of Malicious Interventions

A formal system with senior management support shall be in place to minimise the risk of malicious intervention to premises, materials or processes

2.4.1 A team, with senior management support, shall be tasked with responsibility for this area

2.4.2 A regular review shall be undertaken at appropriate planned intervals, as a minimum annually, to minimise the risk of malicious interventions. Records etc of reviews shall be documented and retained as per item 1.9 above. Areas to be reviewed include:

• Site security (including IT systems to ensure they are adequately controlled and backed up)
• Personal records (for example addresses, background checks, criminal record checks) as appropriate for employees, contractors, customers, visitors and others entering the site
• Materials, deliveries and supplies – see item 3.5 below
• Storage and shipment of finished goods – see 4.10

2.4.3 An action plan action plan shall be produced to address issues arising from 2.4.2 above. Such a plan shall include timescales and those responsible for each action.

2.4.4 A team shall exist to manage any incident of malicious intervention. Such a team shall be headed by a senior manager and have both human and other resources necessary to carry out its responsibilities

3.5 Supplier Monitoring

Clause Requirements Category 1
3.5.1 The company shall have a documented supplier approval procedure and continual assessment programme in place, based upon hazard and risk analysis. “This shall include the risk of malicious intervention”

5.1 Product Design and Development

Print Control

Requirement

1. A clear documented procedure for the control of printing must be in place. Print controls must:

• Eusure that any print containing allergen/safety/legal information is correctly printed
• importance of preventing mixing of any print containing allergen/safety/legal information
• action to be taken in the event of non-conformaties

2. All printing plates must be clearly identified and traceable to the customers (approved) origination material.

• Generic plates shall be clearly identified.

• Traceability for printing plates must include a signed record on the production documentation to ensure the correct printing plates are issued for a job

3. Verification of the design shall be carried out and documented before the approval to run the product is given.

4. A line clearance procedures must be in place to ensure that at start up, the line is clear of all previous work and that previous production documents have been removed.

5. Samples of print must be kept from the start and end of each print run and quality checks made at appropriate intervals during the run.
A system must be in place to detect and flag any print errors.

6. All unused printed packaging must be accounted for and disposed of.

7. Records of printing must be maintained with printed samples retained

8. All personnel carrying out printing checks must be appropriatly trained and adequately supervised

Agency commissioning evaluation of assurance schemes

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:01:15 +0000

The Agency is commissioning an evaluation and comparison of third party assurance schemes that focus on food and feed hygiene and standards.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/assurancescheme

Free Food Safety Course

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:33:09 +0000

Hi All :

Have you see this website? Includes a free food safety course , realy its useful course , posted by EHA (Enviromental Health Australia ).

This is the linke :

http://www.imalert.com.au

Regards

Hygienic

Ideas for a Food Safety Project

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:08:56 +0000

hi everybody
iam doing my food safety course, for that i ve to do some projects.
One is compulsory - FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE another is optional.
In optional i choose PHYSICAL CONTAMINATION.
here iam looking for some resources to complete my work
pls help me out...................

Sainsbury's recalls some Freefrom brand cake

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:32:18 +0000

Sainsbury?s is recalling its Freefrom brand Rich Fruit Cake Slices with a ?best before? date of 4 November 2010, because the product contains low levels of wheat gluten, which isn?t mentioned on the product label. This makes the product a possible health risk to anyone with a gluten intolerance or an allergy to or intolerance of wheat. The Agency has issued an Allergy Alert.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/wheatgluten

FSA Board meeting 15 September 2010

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:32:18 +0000

The next FSA open Board meeting is being held at the Aberdeen Douglas Hotel, 43-45 Market Street, Aberdeen, AB11 5EL. It will begin at 9am on Wednesday 15 September and will be chaired by Agency Chair Jeff Rooker. You can attend in person or watch it live online.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/board

California Firm Recalls Cooked Shredded Pork Skin Products Produced Wi

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:03:28 +0000

Trinh Company, a San Jose, Calif., establishment, is recalling approximately 2,070 pounds of cooked shredded pork skin products because the products were produced without the benefit of federal inspection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

View the full article

Direct Food Contact with Wood

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:40:38 +0000

Some time ago our facility produced caramel apples which had a wooden stick inserted into the apple. While creating specifications, this became a debate. Neither myself nor the stick supplier was able to locate any regulatory information which states why the stick was acceptable for use. I also reached out to a few major ice cream manufacturers with no direct answer other than to say the stick was lightly coated with wax. Some other caramel apple manufacturers I contact didn't have solid answers for me either.

Considering the fact that CFR 21 is rather lengthy It is highly likely that I just wasn't looking in the right place. Does anyone know if there is some sort of regulation or guidance on this? Would the wax be sufficient?

Regards,

EmmE

Resource (KRAFT) for HACCP-GMP Documents

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:34:43 +0000

Dear All,

Came across this collection of various HACCP / GMP resources while browsing. The model manuals are rather well done IMO, as would be expected from such an eminent origin.

http://brands.kraftfoods.com/kraftsupplier/

Rgds / Charles.C

Food Safety Model System Packages – Catering Situation

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:18:25 +0000

Dear All,

Below are two quite comprehensive FS systems relevant to catering type scenarios, one developed for a UK University food handling / bar set-up and a second, more generic, model food handling package produced by Hertfordshire CC in UK. Both HACCP based with associated PRPs / SOPs, worked out examples and various word-pdf templates / template links.
(First one also contains an interesting section on “handling” Environment health Inspectors (EHOs))

durham FS-HACCP manual - .pdf (369.5K)
: 3
HERTS fs-haccp MANUAL.pdf (763.98K)
: 5

Rgds / Charles.C

FSIS Reaches Out To Spanish-Speaking Consumers with the Launch of New

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:02:27 +0000

In a continuing effort to reach more consumers and educators with food safety information, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today launched Pregúntele a Karen (Ask Karen), and the FSIS Spanish language Twitter feed.

View the full article

Government food labelling changes

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:29:14 +0000

From today, there are changes being made to which Government departments have responsibility for food labelling policy.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/labelgov

Views wanted on dihydrocapsiate

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:24:18 +0000

A Japanese company has applied to the Food Standards Agency for approval to market dihydrocapsiate as a novel food ingredient. A novel food is a food or food ingredient that does not have a significant history of consumption within the European Union before 15 May 1997.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/dihydrocapsiate

Ideas for a 5S Food Safety Slogan

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:49:17 +0000

We have started to implement 5S in our organisation. In this connection, Iam looking for some 5S slogans for food safety. Please help

Food Grade Caustic Lye

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:13:22 +0000

Dear All
Can anybody help me out by providing the contact details of supplier of food grade caustic lye. For your information this will be intended to be used for CIP purpose.

Waiting for ur replies

Ambient sausage rolls

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:03:09 +0000

Ok, my local Co-op shop sells unrefrigerated sausage rolls (they used to call them "ambient", however, as people didn't know what that meant they humorously had to remove that description!) For non UK residents, a sausage roll is sausage meat (ie finely minced pork and pork fat with herbs, seasoning and rusk) cooked in puff pastry.

Now to me, these are a high risk food; high in protein and sufficiently high Aw to support microbial growth. I once contacted Co-op asking why these were unrefrigerated but they told me they have "satisfied their EHO that the micro results are ok" and that the sausage rolls "are only for sale for 1 day to be eaten on that day".

Now this bothers me. For one, surely this is not safe, you wouldn't sell cooked pieces of pork unrefrigerated or cooked sausages so why sausage rolls? Also this is not taking account of likely abuse by the consumer. I very much doubt all consumers eat within the day especially as these are quite large packs.

I thought UK legislation stated a maximum unrefrigerated time of 4 hours on one occasion for high risk foods? My local shop is open for 15 hours a day so that's presumably the maximum time they are on display (assuming they are refrigerated before that who knows?)

So, what's your opinion on this practice? Was it a case of an EHO not really understanding HACCP? Should the letter of the law be adhered to? Has abuse really been taken into consideration? Am I an interferring busybody?

Views wanted on taxifolin

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:24:48 +0000

A Russian company has applied to the Food Standards Agency for approval to market taxifolin as a novel food ingredient. A novel food is a food or food ingredient that does not have a significant history of consumption within the European Union before 15 May 1997.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/taxifolin

Update on products free of colours associated with hyperactivity

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:24:48 +0000

The Agency has updated its list of product ranges that do not contain the six food colours associated with possible hyperactivity in young children.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/sep/colours

USDA Offers Food Safety Tips as Hurricane Earl Approaches Eastern Seab

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:03:50 +0000

Due to the potential threat from Hurricane Earl, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing recommendations for residents in the American Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and on the mainland from North Carolina to Maine. FSIS urges those in the projected storm path to watch the storm closely in order to minimize possible foodborne illnesses as a result of power outages and other problems often associated with severe storms.

View the full article

Local authority audits published

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:08:21 +0000

The Agency's local authority audit report for Ashfield is now available online.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/aug/auditashfield

What is BIPHENYL?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:15:19 +0000

Someone has got any idea about BIPHENYL? Is it a fungicide. Is there any legislation for MRLs ?

Will FSSC22000 and PAS220-2008 spell the end for ISO 22000?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:15:24 +0000

Hi Simon,
I have to admit while I was at one time extremely exuberant about ISO22000, I do feel that with the emergence of FSSC22000 and PAS220-2008 including the continually strong influence of BRC-Food as a global standard, I get this feeling that ISO22000 is set to become a fundamental baseline for future standards just like Codex-Haccp (which I believe is inadequate and to some degree, marginally reduced in relevance)

I also like the standard set-up of Synergy 22000 which in my opinion is going to be very much in the forefront. While I have already implemented projects base on most standards, I would love to do one under the guidelines of Synergy 220000. Evolution of food safety standards will continue to happen. I do find it hard to see a harmonized global standard but IMO, I like the approach that GFSI has taken.

Cheers
Charles Chew

USDA to Host Mobile Slaughter Unit Information Session in Nevada

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:01:55 +0000

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced it is hosting a red meat mobile slaughter unit information session on September 9 to educate farmers, ranchers and processors on how to operate mobile slaughter units and meet USDA food safety requirements.

View the full article

Raw Material Hazard Analysis

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:09:51 +0000

HELLO

I NEED TO DO HAZARD ANALYSIS FOR OUR RAW MATERIALS.
DOES ANYONE HAVE AN IDEA HOW TO DO IT?
HOW CAN WE FIND THE HAZARDS FOR THE RAW MATERIALS?

Question on Different Types of Mock Recall

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:16:51 +0000

Dear all;

For the last three weeks I have been updating books and records for my company upcoming audit. This food safety network It's been very helpful. Now, we are a small company in which many of us (employees) are responsible for many tasks. When I encountered the Recall section in our Safety Manual I noticed we are requiered two recalls per year. (we do have them). What I am looking for is a clear difference between:
Recall from ingredient forward
Recall from back trace forward
Recall from Customer back to ingredient
Recall from packed lot back
Recall from packed lot to customer
Recall from pack lot to distributor

Please pardon my ignorancy in some of these topics and any help is truly appreciated.

Thanks,

amb

How to maintain the grade for fresh tuna loins?

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:14:27 +0000

Hi All,

Grade of tuna loins depends on many factors such as method of catching and onboard handling of tuna (yellow fin and big eye) but let say these factors are not counted and we only assess the factors at cutting and moving forwards. To my knowledge, the folowing factors should be considred

- Storage temperature of the loins (the closer to 32 oF or 0oC, the longer the shelf-life)

- Packaging (regular packing with plastic bag, regular packing with moisture asorbent diaper and plastic bag, vacuum packing with breathable bag etc)

My question is

- Is vacumm packaging with asborbent diaper and breathable bag better than regular packaging with (loose) plastic bag and diaper?

- Is there any different way or combined method of packaging to extend the grade (or shelf-life) of tuna loins?

- If gel ice is used, what kind of gel ice (shape, dimension, quality of gel powder) is most suited for the loins because big gel ice could cause damage to the loins during the delivery

Any reply or recommendation is appreciated.

Thanks

Flavored Drink HACCP

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:16:53 +0000

The company that I work for will soon start producing tea and lemonade. These products will be made using concentrated syrups, water, sweetener, and preservative (sodium benzoate). Then they will be processed using HTST pasteurization. I know these types of products are very common, so I'm curious to know what most manufacturers list as the critical control point(s). Would it be the addition of sodium benzoate, pasteurization, or both? If pasteurization, what would be the target organism? Does anyone know of any lethality studies that have been done on these types of products?

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

Pennsylvania Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 06:00:43 +0000

Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., a Wyalusing, Pa. establishment, is recalling approximately 8,500 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O26, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

View the full article

Allergens - Packaging (folding carton)

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:09:59 +0000

Hello,

We are working on BRC IOP in our plant (folding carton for food - no direct contact).

How should i consider allergens in the riscanalysis - R.A.?
The only allergens i can imagine are those from foodstuff from personel.
So if the personel does not eat in production, should i consider allergens in every R.A.step anyway ?

Kind regards
Have a nice Weekend !

Apollo

About the residual chlorine on fresh cut or ready to eat vegetables

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:30:05 +0000

Hello everyone,I need the standards and Detection methods about the limited value of residual chlorine on fresh -cut or ready to eat vegetables which be disinfected with sodium hypochlorite or chlorine dioxide.Could someone help me?Thank you very much.

Another new addition to the forum

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:02:39 +0000

Hello everybody,

We have started an export company here in italy specialising in good quality italian foods. I have a background in quality systems even though in “slightly” a different area….. aircraft manufacture and other aircraft related affairs. We as a company, don’t need any certification because we don’t handle, label or even stock the food. We do however want to look into quality aspects of our suppliers as an additional guarantee to our clients. In doing that I’ve doing my homework on the various legal and quality requirements and at last have found this very interesting site which I hope will be very useful. I only hope that my questions or comments will also be of interest, and use, to whoever reads them.

Ok that me.

Put Food Safety on the Back-to-School Agenda

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:00:34 +0000

As the new school year begins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) encourages parents and educators to teach kids the importance of food safety and how to protect themselves from foodborne illness.

View the full article