1 reply to this topic

[Retail_Safety]

Hi all,

We've had an approval inspection from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) who have queried our ABP procedure at our Scottish Regional Distribution Centre (RDC). Was hoping for some interpretation on this, as we believed we were exempt from parts of the requirements.

The officer is stating that some of general waste returned from store to the RDC (i.e. damaged goods, out of date written off stock etc.) is in fact ABP, examples given were the toppings of pizzas (e.g. cheese, meat toppings), any dairy products, cooked sausage rolls etc. We were under the impression it was only the high risk raw food (meats, eggs, fish etc.) that were covered by the regulations (to which we have a procedure that the officer is happy with).

Looking at the various EC Directives and Regulations it gets a little cloudy as to exactly what is considered ABP, is the officer correct in that these processed foods (that don't really provide a risk as they have already been cooked etc) that are returned in the general waste actually have to be managed as ABP with the appropriate documentation? Is this something specific to Scotland or the whole of the UK?

Finally, if this is the case, should our retail stores not become approved as well as our RDCs? (the officer has stated only our RDC, which we find confusing).

Hopefully I've provided enough information, and I'd welcome any replies / comments.

[QSDA]

Hi

Please to inform you that you are not alone, I have had exactly the same problem.

I understand that these regulations are not just Scottish but are base on EU wide regulations, this however is not the same as implemented universally.

The reason for only the RDC requiring is that the retail stores are returning to the manufacturer and so are exempt.

Unfortunately I have not had any more information than you on what constitutes animal by products, local TSO seems to know less than we do, they want all waste from shops with eating facilities to be classified as ABPs, the regs clearly state that this only refers to waste from the catering part of the business.

Please keep us informed of progress and I will let you know how we progress.