11 replies to this topic

[mind over matter]

OR...

Is inspection of physical condition of incoming materials to ensure if it’s free from contamination will do?

Note: When I say all incoming materials, it could be raw materials or packaging materials.

[Charles.C]

Dear MOM,

Nice to hear from you.

Yr title was a bit too long, some of it lost.

What kind of material are you asking about ? Any purchasing specification ?

Rgds / Charles.C

[mind over matter]

Dear MOM,

Nice to hear from you.

Yr title was a bit too long, some of it lost.

What kind of material are you asking about ? Any purchasing specification ?

Rgds / Charles.C

Hi favorite Charles C,

Long time no speak.

I am referring to verification of certificate of analysis of all incoming materials in general. Meaning, it could be a compliance with company’s purchasing specification or a compliance with a certain regulation. I just want to know if inspection of physical condition of materials is a valid substitute for verification of certificate of analysis?

[Charles.C]

Dear MOM,

The general answer is no although it sometimes might be (partially/fully) possible, eg specification - product is a green liquid.

Actually certificates of analysis are often provided for items which the receiver is quite likely unable to check themselves, eg chemical, microbiological, radiological so that, coupled with an "approved supplier" status, they provide a "guarantee" of "something", ie no further verification required. Of course random cross-checking is also done where possible, eg productivity of bacteriological media, gold blocks.

Rgds / Charles.C

[HPG]

Dear all,
for example, you conduct hazard analysis and found that raw material has 3 microbobiological hazards (TPC, koliform, S. aureus).
but in the flow proses, it didn't have any killing step. Do you think that only check the COA can be the control measure? (PRPs are already applied)

Regards,
hadi

[Charles.C]

Dear HPG,

It rather depends on what COAs you are talking about, eg pigs, fish may hv different (conceptual) probabilities of trust.?

(Actually, TPC, coliforms are frequently not classified as microbiological hazards in HACCP).

Rgds / Charles.C

[HPG]

Dear HPG,

It rather depends on what COAs you are talking about, eg pigs, fish may hv different (conceptual) probabilities of trust.?

(Actually, TPC, coliforms are frequently not classified as microbiological hazards in HACCP).

Rgds / Charles.C

Dear Charles,

Thanks for your reply.

How about chemical hazards for example As or Pb? (of course in COA, always below the limit).
Specification of raw materials mention about heavy metals and we include them in hazard assessment.
And control measure is check the COA, do you think it's allowed?

Regards,
Hadi

[Charles.C]

Dear Hadi,

And control measure is check the COA, do you think it's allowed?

(I presume you mean visually check the COA)
In principle yes although it may be necessary to justify yr trust in the COA in some cases/standards, eg data from ISO certified laboratory, audit of material supplier ( eg approved HACCP system [if relevant]), own random sampling analysis, etc). Sometimes official approval is necessary, eg source area for clams.

Of course, depending on actual raw material the specific metals mentioned may / may not be a genuine hazard. Product specifications are occasionally over optimistic. Knowledge of raw material(s)/ their typical hazards is a high priority.

Rgds / Charles.C

[Yuri]

In my opinion, there are several possibilities for verification of incoming raw materials / packaging:

- check on delivery which in my opinion:should always be done on aspects as visual, damaging, temperature, tampering (e.g. bulk transport), etc ...
- specifications for relevant parameters
- CoA or CoC for relevant parameters
- in-house checks for relevant parameters, used for trending purposes or raw material release purpose. These should always be done, but only as a monitoring and to verify the reliability of CoC or CoA

I think that the most important aspect is to have a risk based approach: what raw materials are sensible, and for what parameters.

[ScottN_AMQA]

A physical inspection will only show you the condition of the shipment upon arrival, it will not show you that the product meets an agreed specification.
Yes require a COA, also based on risk perform some testing (temperature, brix,PH) before the load is accepted.

[fstRicky]

Hi
For the food items - that are subject to variation a CofA or CofC is very important - it is the supplier confirming the product they have supplied you meets the agreed specification you and them signed on. SO if the Spec gives a pH range, Micro level - the Cof A basically is the supplier saying yes it meets that criteria. You also need to develop your own internal verification of these results where you take random samples depending on risk, like 1 in every 5 deliveries, or 1 in 20 etc to just check that the CofAs are correct. There are some parameters that need to be measured on receipt no matter what the Cof A says - eg Temp.

For other items like packaging, glue, carton tape - you may need to verify that the product delivered is the agreed one. Your supplier needs to have unique codes for all your products, if there is a change in the product, make sure they give it a different code and not use the one before, because most packaging suppliers use templates that match the codes, so if the code does not change they might use the same old template and send you the wrong packaging – that can be catastrophic.
I have found it had to get Cof C from packaging suppliers.

Ricky

[foodsafetyboy]

OR...

Is inspection of physical condition of incoming materials to ensure if it’s free from contamination will do?

Note: When I say all incoming materials, it could be raw materials or packaging materials.

Hi MOM,

IMEX as a food safety officer of a fresh food production unit, incoming raw materials should have certificate of analysis / health certificates stating they are free of microbiological hazards (which you can also verify through random sampling and analysis carried out by a third party laboratory approved by local authorities) and migration test reports/ certificate of conformity / food grade certificates for packaging materials, that will make them fit and safe for use with food. Physical checks alone cannot guarantee you a 100% accuracy that all materials are free of contaminants, but it depends of course with the batch size you're receiving.

Regards,
Food safety boy

Edited by foodsafetyboy, 07 September 2011 - 11:19 AM.