BRC 5.5.1.3 Shelf Life Testing
Hey All,
Query around BRC 5.5.1.3. We manufacture frozen beef patties, there are no food safety concerns at end of shelf life *4months) as the product is frozen, there would be some quality degradation. All this being said the customer for which we need to get BRC certified for is a large global fast food burger chain which specifies all of the conditions of the product including, input conditions, shelf life of product etc. Given we follow all the processes as required by the customer, would this still be required? I'm guessing the answer would be yes, but thought it's worth an ask.
Hey All,
Query around BRC 5.5.1.3. We manufacture frozen beef patties, there are no food safety concerns at end of shelf life *4months) as the product is frozen, there would be some quality degradation. All this being said the customer for which we need to get BRC certified for is a large global fast food burger chain which specifies all of the conditions of the product including, input conditions, shelf life of product etc. Given we follow all the processes as required by the customer, would this still be required? I'm guessing the answer would be yes, but thought it's worth an ask.
as the product is frozen
Dear Ragga,
with all due respect , this is not an adequate justification for safety, eg if product has salmonella before freeze, will probably have salmonella after freeze.
Didn't check the exact current text in BRC but usually means that they require to see a documented shelf-life validation for your product. (Unrelated to customer per se but their requirements may give you a start).
IMEX the shelf-life procedure requires a validated choice of (a) based on safety or non-safety, (b) a procedure, © data
Rgds / Charles.C
Dear Ragga,
with all due respect , this is not an adequate justification for safety, eg if product has salmonella before freeze, will probably have salmonella after freeze.
Didn't check the exact current text in BRC but usually means that they require to see a documented shelf-life validation for your product. (Unrelated to customer per se but their requirements may give you a start).
IMEX the shelf-life procedure requires a validated choice of (a) based on safety or non-safety, (b) a procedure, © data
Rgds / Charles.C
Hi Charles,
Sorry, I did not mean it in that way, perhaps I skimped a big on the details. I do understand that freezing is not a kill step. All of our product is positive release based on micro (inc. Salmonella testing), So that if it did not have at commencement of storage in freezer, it shouldn't have it after 4 months in freezer (given of course the freezer does not break down - note alarmed CATR in place).
We do not sell anything retail we only supply bulk for customers based on specifications with customer dictated shelf-life. In this case would we still need to do shelf-life validation?
We do not sell anything retail we only supply bulk for customers based on specifications with customer dictated shelf-life. In this case would we still need to do shelf-life validation?
Dear Ragga,
My own BRC experience (not beef) was for semi-finished frozen blocks + frozen retail IQF coated products - customer agreed labelling, ie shelf-life etc.
Own shelf life validation data was required for selected items from both categories.
Rgds / Charles.C