14 replies to this topic

[Zeeshan]

Found a good generalized food safety inspection checklist from DuPage County Health Department website.

I have converted it to word document for easy editing.

 Food_Safety_Inspection_Checklist.doc   83.5KB   580 downloads

Happy sharing!
Zeeshan.

[Charles.C]

Dear Zeeshan,

Thks for this interesting document.

Are wiping cloths soaking in sanitizer water?

Hmm. I wonder what they are used for wiping ?

Do you have the required number of certified personnel?

I wonder how this is calculated ?

I didn't notice any specific requirement to separate the handling of raw and cooked materials.

The Americans do love their 41degF. I hv never seen an example of an actual chart yet. It must be nearer 46-47degF in UK.

Rgds / Charles.C

[Zeeshan]

Dear Charles!

Thanks for valuable comments!

Do you have the required number of certified personnel?

IMO, this question should be like this "Do you have the trained personnel?"

I didn't notice any specific requirement to separate the handling of raw and cooked materials.

IMO, following question somehow specify this requirement.

"Is the raw meat, poultry, and seafood stored under prepared food and produce?"

IMO, the style of this question is confusing. A simple version may be like this " Is the raw meat, poultry, and seafood stored separately from prepared food and produce?"

Also this question partially specify the requirement of handling of raw and prepared material - Is cross-contamination avoided during preparation (hands and equipment washed between uses)?

But in this question there should be some extension like "raw and cooked materials kept separated".

Regards:
Zeeshan.

[Mohamed NEGM]

Thanks for this Doc but I want to know its reference (belong to HACCP, ISO, BRC, or it is general)
other thing what is its criteria to be calculated)

[Zeeshan]

Thanks for this Doc but I want to know its reference (belong to HACCP, ISO, BRC, or it is general)

Dear NEGM,

I have picked the information from ( http://www.dupagehea...qa/inspect1.asp ).

IMO, it is a general checklist and may be used with any type of system whether it is based on HACCP, ISO or BRC standard or a combination thereof.

( : To me, HACCP, ISO 22000, BRC GSFS and other standards provide only the general requirements to develop an ideal "Food Safety and Quality Management System". The requirements or checkpoints which are mentioned in the attached check sheets belongs to the good quality and good food safety practices which are generally recommended irrespective of any management standard.
Let's understand it with an example: One of the checkpoint is "Are food items received from approved sources, in good condition, and at proper temperatures?". This checkpoint belongs to a good practice. Although it is not stated as it is in all management standards but intention of all management standard is that the raw material should be received from a source which should follow GMP and GHP; the material should be received in good condition and at proper temperature so that received food items so that there is no or minimum chance to not have any physical, chemical or microbial food safety hazard in the received food item.
Think for a moment that if you receive a food item from a source about which you know nothing or the item is not received in good condition or not at proper temperature? With any of such situation, could you assure quality and food safety? - Obviously NO)

other thing what is its criteria to be calculated)

:dunno:Sorry, I could not understand your question. Do you explain what do you want to do?

Regards:
Zeeshan

[Rizwan Ahmed]

the document can be used for inspection purposes for HACCP in catering or foodservice.


regards.

[Tony-C]

Found a good generalized food safety inspection checklist from DuPage County Health Department website.

I have converted it to word document for easy editing.

 Food_Safety_Inspection_Checklist.doc   83.5KB   580 downloads

Happy sharing!
Zeeshan.

Here is one from the IFSQN Food Service FSMS that you may find useful

 Food Service Audit Checklist.pdf   1.43MB   305 downloads

Regards,

Tony

[Jean]

Here is one from the IFSQN Food Service FSMS that you may find useful

Food Service Audit Checklist.pdf (1.43MB)
Number of downloads: 2

Regards,

Tony

Dear Tony,



Excellent checklist and well covered and thanks for posting it up here.

This will help me to check on my systems.

Few points below, which I hope you, can clarify for me.







"Are there effective systems in place to prevent contamination of organic products with non-organic products?"

-Interesting point! Does this point have any relevance to food safety? We do not use any organic products though, but would be interested to know if there is any regulation with regards to this point. (Kindly excuse me for my lack of knowlegde in organic products. )



"Are frozen foods safely defrosted in a refrigerator?"

- In case of any urgent orders, can other safe thawing methods be used?





Is there a vegetarian policy in place (if applicable)?



-This point under Physical Contamination Controls is meant to ensure no bones are in the food or have I got it wrong?

[Tony-C]

Dear Tony,
Excellent checklist and well covered and thanks for posting it up here.

This will help me to check on my systems.

Few points below, which I hope you, can clarify for me.

"Are there effective systems in place to prevent contamination of organic products with non-organic products?"

-Interesting point! Does this point have any relevance to food safety? We do not use any organic products though, but would be interested to know if there is any regulation with regards to this point. (Kindly excuse me for my lack of knowlegde in organic products. )

"Are frozen foods safely defrosted in a refrigerator?"

- In case of any urgent orders, can other safe thawing methods be used?

Is there a vegetarian policy in place (if applicable)?

-This point under Physical Contamination Controls is meant to ensure no bones are in the food or have I got it wrong?

Hi Jean

If you make organic meals then you need to ensure segregation and normally make first or after a clean

You can defrost by other methods as long as it is controlled

This is applicable when you produce vegetarian meals, again segregation from products/ingredients containing meat is required rather than worrying about bones.

Hope this makes it clearer.

Kind regards,

Tony

[Zeeshan]

Dear Tony, thanks for posting that nice checklist.

"Are there effective systems in place to prevent contamination of organic products with non-organic products?"

-Interesting point! Does this point have any relevance to food safety? We do not use any organic products though, but would be interested to know if there is any regulation with regards to this point. (Kindly excuse me for my lack of knowlegde in organic products. )


"Are frozen foods safely defrosted in a refrigerator?"

- In case of any urgent orders, can other safe thawing methods be used?


Is there a vegetarian policy in place (if applicable)?
-This point under Physical Contamination Controls is meant to ensure no bones are in the food or have I got it wrong?

Dear Jean,

I am not a food technologist or microbiologist but on the basis of my little knowledge I'm daring to answer your queries. Hopefully some food safety expert will endorse or correct it!

Preventing contamination of organic products with inorganic products simply means keeping organic and inorganic food separate. IMO, this is a major concern of food safety as type and/or extent of microbiological hazards associated with both type of foods are different and should be controlled with different type and/or extent of control measure(s). The same concept resides behind the development of vegetarian policy. Keeping and handling vegetable and non-vegetable products separately is necessary to prevent transfer of microbial load from one to another group.


We are currently using fresh meat but our procedure specify that for handling frozen meat, we will defrost the frozen meat up to max 3^oC in the refrigerator and then wash it with potable normal water so that temperature do not cross the limit (4~5^oC). The temperature and time control during and after defrosting are the controlling parameter. In other words keeping the frozen item out of danger zone (4 to 60^oC.) before further processing is the key point. For authentic guidance related to thawing of frozen item you may refer to http://www.fsis.usda...Thaw/index.asp.

Regards:
Zeeshan

Edited by Zeeshan, 06 April 2010 - 05:58 AM.

[Jean]

Dear Tony,

I have got it clear now. We produce vegetarian foods as well and was a bit confused when I happened to see it under Physical contamination controls, I didn’t realize about the possible contamination with the ingredients. Thanks for clarifying

[Jean]

Dear Jean,

I am not a food technologist or microbiologist but on the basis of my little knowledge I'm daring to answer your queries. Hopefully some food safety expert will endorse or correct it!

Dear Zeeshan,

Thanks for a daring reply. I believe you have not correctly understood my queries.

The same concept resides behind the development of vegetarian policy. Keeping and handling vegetable and non-vegetable products separately is necessary to prevent transfer of microbial load from one to another group.

My query to Tony was why there was a vegetarian policy question under Physical Contamination Control. To that Tony has clarified well. I very well understand that veg and non-veg items are to be seggregated to avoid any chances of cross contamination due to the microbial load i.e., microbial contamination.

Preventing contamination of organic products with inorganic products simply means keeping organic and inorganic food separate. IMO, this is a major concern of food safety as type and/or extent of microbiological hazards associated with both type of foods are different and should be controlled with different type and/or extent of control measure(s).

As I mentioned in my previous post , I do not have much understanding on Organics, this query was to get some insight in the subject from the experts here. I was a bit confused if only microbiological hazards are a main concern with organic and inorganic foods, how about the chemical hazards, if I am not wrong that outweigh more than microbial hazards. For e.g I have seen organic meat providers saying "no antibiotics and no hormones in our product".

For authentic guidance related to thawing of frozen item you may refer to http://www.fsis.usda...Thaw/index.asp.

Thanks for the link, but the page is no longer available. My query to Tony,why there was a question if frozen foods are thawed in a refrigerator and no mention of other acceptable thawing practices in his checklist.

[Zeeshan]

Dear Jean,

Agreed. I didn't grab the intentions of you queries.

Wondered why the link is not working. BTW it is here!

http://origin-www.fs..._Thaw/index.asp

Regards:
Zeeshan.

[Tony-C]

My query to Tony was why there was a vegetarian policy question under Physical Contamination Control. To that Tony has clarified well. I very well understand that veg and non-veg items are to be seggregated to avoid any chances of cross contamination due to the microbial load i.e., microbial contamination.

Thanks for the link, but the page is no longer available. My query to Tony,why there was a question if frozen foods are thawed in a refrigerator and no mention of other acceptable thawing practices in his checklist.

Hi Jean

The vegetarian policy is mainly to prevent contamination with animal products.

Defrosting in a refrigerator is my preferred method:

After thawing in the refrigerator, ground meat and poultry should remain useable for an additional day or two before cooking; red meat, 3 to 5 days. Foods defrosted in the refrigerator can be refrozen without cooking, although there may be some loss of quality.

Kind regards,

Tony

[AS NUR]

IMO

For the organic terms.. its mean no "synthetic chemical " that use to produce food, especially in farm areas.. and as i Know organic food must have certificate from authorities body..