Dear Charles C,
Sorry, for not turning up here for a long time!
Dear Sveta / GMO,
I am unclear as to the details of the marinade-addition step. I noticed you selected this as High Care, any particular reason ?
In the meantime, I shall assume that the marinade has no effect on the safety characteristics of the product and will continue as if considering a pure pickled cucumber item. If reality is otherwise, can always start again.
To be honest, there is no any particular reason, just because it takes place in the same room where cucumbers are sliced.
No, marinade has effect on the safety characteristics of the product - pH and acidity characteristics in finished product are regulated by marinade.
I noted in a few net comments over “similar” finished products to yr own, some pro/con opinions as to the safety when stored unchilled for unspecified times. However I did not (yet) see any scientific analyses concluding one way or the other or even stating any specific limitations. So I have assumed you can validate yr ambient distribution/shelf life safety-wise.
yes, we have test results confirming shelf life in ambient conditions.
Based on yr input and the text within the BRC decision tree, it appears to me that a “NO” occurs at tree-step2.
yes, i also think so.
Accordingly the associated zones are presumably low risk if “Open”. I am guessing stages 2/3 could be "BRC" “Enclosed” (added - see my comments in 3PPS below) but this seems unlikely to be validatable for a 2 year residence time ! .
Assuming yr product is classifiable as “pickles” it (or rather the production facilities) is also specifically mentioned in the standards text section 2.1 as low risk (again presumably assuming the surrounding text requirements are also fulfilled).
sorry, what do you mean under "standards text section 2.1 "?
In any case (whatever zone we identify) we think this is important to have special care for processing line))))))
Regards,
Sveta