Prevention of Cross Contamination- Documentation

Dear All,

We are a propriety foods manufacturing company. We generally deal with oil and grains. While we are determined to implement "Prevention of cross contamination" as a PRP in our facility, we are having a tough time structuring the documentation. Should there be a SOP for man and material movement? If there are any shortcomings due to the building design etc. which are affecting unidirectional movement, should that be considered as a risk? Risk analysis needs to be put as a different document? Sorry for a truckload of questions!! Please help !!

Regards

Pavika

Pavika,
This is one that I've been struggling with also. In addition to the points you've mentioned I'm trying to incorporate into PRP(s):

- dedicated utensils (cleaning and storage)
- SSOP's that are validated showing that cleaning of processing and packaging equipment are adeguate after allergen-containing products are run prior to non-allergen product
- storage (separation, isolation, etc.)
- contractor awareness of the allergen program
- adequate training of the company's production staff in the program

.... and on and on. Trying to cover all of the bases in cross contamination PRP's is daunting.

Regards,
esquef

Dear All,

We are a propriety foods manufacturing company. We generally deal with oil and grains. While we are determined to implement "Prevention of cross contamination" as a PRP in our facility, we are having a tough time structuring the documentation. Should there be a SOP for man and material movement? If there are any shortcomings due to the building design etc. which are affecting unidirectional movement, should that be considered as a risk? Risk analysis needs to be put as a different document? Sorry for a truckload of questions!! Please help !!

Regards

Pavika

Not sure it can be done in one PRP but maybe most can be covered by 'Segregation'

I agree with Tony-C. It might be easier to address the risk of cross contamination at every step in the operation, rather than to try and get it out of the way with only one PRP. The implementation of strict segregation protocols is the best way to avoid cross-contamination. This may impact on every aspect of the operation, from goods inwards to storage, transport, processing up until packaging and/or shipping, depending on the nature of products.

Allergen cross-contamination is difficult to achieve, because extremely small quanitites of allergen can trigger a reaction. Simple cleaning between products might not be sufficient to control the risk.

Greetings from Ireland,

Matt

Dear esquef,

.... and on and on. Trying to cover all of the bases in cross contamination PRP's is daunting

I believe this is in fact one of the primary reasons for (grouping/listing) into a PRP.

Rgds / Charles.C

Thanks everyone for your valuable insights. So basically what I understood from the conversation was that cross contamination risk assessment needs to be done stepwise for the whole process and control measures should be validated, practiced and verified continuously. This feature makes it more essential to make it one of the PRPs.
Can anyone share any documentation/ reference material on documentation of prevention of cross contamination.
Regards,
Pavika