Are food grade certificates required for all food contact materials?

Hi everyone,

I was wondering that does a hotel (having FSMS) require food grade certificate for all the food contact material?

Chopping boards, Cling films, Packing boxes, cake bases, Bakery molds, plastic food containers, Pizza boxes etc etc etc.

And what about cutlery and crokery, pots and pans? 

Also what does this "food grade" actually mean? Toxicity? 

Regards,

Sneha

Dear Sneha,

http://www.ecfr.gov/....1.1.10&idno=21

Hope the above reference can answer your question. I think  another regulation about food contact surfaces from other countries are similar

rgds,

Avila

Dear Sneha,

http://www.ecfr.gov/....1.1.10&idno=21

Hope the above reference can answer your question. I think  another regulation about food contact surfaces from other countries are similar

rgds,

Avila

Dear Avila..

Thanks for the information.

So does that mean we, as a FBO, may asked to produce a NOC regardiong these materials durin an audit? Should we ask for NOC from our food contact material vendors at the time of purchase then??

Sneha. 

When i bought empty can from suppliers i asked food grade certificate of food contact materials and migration test result as well. I think you should do the same

Avila

Dear BhardwajSneha,

Maybe put yourself in a customer's position.

What kind of control do you think they would opt for in the context of yr OP ?. Validation is just the technical evidence.

Negligence > Department of Public Health.

Rgds / Charles.C

Meaning of food grade: Food grade refers to the certified standards that qualify as fit for consumption or allowed to come in contact with food.

It is very important for hotels - Guests dining at the hotel must be protected - Any incident may result in negative public image of the hotel as well as law suits

Dear BhardwajSneha,

 

Maybe put yourself in a customer's position.

 

What kind of control do you think they would opt for in the context of yr OP ?. Validation is just the technical evidence.

 

Negligence > Department of Public Health.

 

Rgds / Charles.C

Dear Charles,

OP? I am afraid ia m fairly new here.. will take some time to get used to the terminology.. 

Sneha

Meaning of food grade: Food grade refers to the certified standards that qualify as fit for consumption or allowed to come in contact with food.

 

It is very important for hotels - Guests dining at the hotel must be protected - Any incident may result in negative public image of the hotel as well as law suits

Agreed!

But the problem that i am facing is that all these materials were bulk purchased 2-3 years ago at the time of opening. Nobody bothered then to look up standards.

I have recently joined and asked for these certificates. Now its difficult to get these certificates from the supplier.

Is their any alternate solution to this?

Sneha

dear sneha,

may be you can check the COA (Certficate of Analysis) or Product description of you rmaterial and find what is the basic material that compose to your material , then you go to link that avila gave you. 

rgds

AS Nur

Dear Sneha

I conduct fsms audits on food service outlets (hotels) and have never required any evidence of food grade certificate for food contact materials.

Providing that the items purchased are designed to be used in a kitchen. For example if you are storing flour in a container it must be sold as a food grade container. If you went to kmart and bought a plastic container for used for storing say clothing at home then it would not be suitable.

As long as all your items that you have in stock have been purchased as suitable for cooking then there should be no problem.

Mark

Dear Markcra,

Your requirement for a satisfactory validation as to material suitability seems to include solely hearsay information, ie totally undocumented with respect to quality.  I think this is rather unusual for an iso22000 audit. Or perhaps i have misunderstood yr post ? Or perhaps Hotels have some particular iso dispensation ? :dunno:

Rgds / Charles.C

PS - @ BhardwajSneha - here is one possible definition of food grade -

http://www.ehow.com/...de-quality.html

(a precise answer is likely to be based on local legislation)

Dear Markcra,

 

Your requirement for a satisfactory validation as to material suitability seems to include solely hearsay information, ie totally undocumented with respect to quality.  I think this is rather unusual for an iso22000 audit. Or perhaps i have misunderstood yr post ? Or perhaps Hotels have some particular iso dispensation ? :dunno:

 

Rgds / Charles.C

 

PS - @ BhardwajSneha - here is one possible definition of food grade -

http://www.ehow.com/...de-quality.html

(a precise answer is likely to be based on local legislation)

Hi Charles

The audits for hotels that I do are not ISO-22000, but are HACCP audits not accredited to ISO standards. The HACCP requirements are in line with regulatory food standards for food retail outlets and do not require the level of details for ISO 22000. When I conduct audits for ISO 22000 for manufactures or food contact materials then I look for evidence of food grade raw materials.

Hope this clarifies my point.

Mark 

When i bought empty can from suppliers i asked food grade certificate of food contact materials and migration test result as well. I think you should do the same

 

Avila

 

Hi everyone,

 

I was wondering that does a hotel (having FSMS) require food grade certificate for all the food contact material?

Chopping boards, Cling films, Packing boxes, cake bases, Bakery molds, plastic food containers, Pizza boxes etc etc etc.

And what about cutlery and crokery, pots and pans? 

Also what does this "food grade" actually mean? Toxicity? 

 

 

Regards,

 

Sneha

Hi Sneha - I have just come back from the pub after enjoying a nice steak and a few wines, so please don't take my reply too seriously. 

 

I think you make a good point as to where do you draw the line for how many certificates you will need. There are hundreds of food contact surfaces in a food service operation. How about the salt and pepper shaker on the table, the drinking straw, the ice scoop, the glasses, the chefs knives, one for each ingredient container (sugar, flour, all canned products, all dry good packs - one certificate for each different supplier, sauce bottles, soft drink containers, beer bottles, dispensers, beer lines, kegs, on and on and on....

 

The point is I suppose that if you think that any contact material could present a problem then get a certificate.

 

As an auditor I always need to be careful of being able to justify any non-conformance against a requirement of the standard, and I often play the role of the devil's advocate, when requirements are stated that are not required by the standard.. So if you are certified to ISO 22000, the requirements for the safety of raw materials are in 7.3.3.1 and there is a list. It allows you the option to establish acceptance criteria based on "the extent needed to conduct a hazard analysis"

 

If I was to conduct the hazard analysis on food contact material I would conclude that any risk of contamination is low if you are buying materials designed for food from reputable suppliers to the hotel industry and that the severity of any ill affects would be low. And I feel that this would satisfy section 7.3.3.1 h), "the food safety related acceptance criteria or specification of purchased materials and ingredients appropriate to their indented use" eg containers sold by reputable hotel supplier suitable for food storage.

 

Hope this helps

 

Mark

So many good and useful information are here. I'm very glad that I've found this forum. So now I'm ready to write and essay. I've got a professional interview essay help Thanks a lot for  support. 

Hi Markcra. I appreciate your shared insights regarding the audit evidence vis-a-vis the audit criteria standard requirements and making the right judgment call after careful examination of the circumstances. Thank you.

Dear all,

I have replaced plastic forks with CPLA ones. Initially the plastic forks were wrapped in a transparent plastic and placed on dry noodle cake prior to packing. The CPLA ones are not wrapped. My question is it safe to place this type of fork directly on the dry noodle cake without being wrapped? I have reports of migration tests and microbiological data as well.

Thanks & rgds,

Rudra