7 replies to this topic

[ZD1]

Hi All

 

I'm new to this network and wondering if anyone can assist with examples of best practice food safety management plans for dairy processing (cheese and/or ice cream), including recall plans. I am particularly interested in mock recall exercises and lessons learnt. 

 

Thanks :)

 

[FoodSafety_101]

Items that should be included:

 

Which element that it applies to:

 

Finished Product

Raw Materials

Ingredients

 

Recall Team Office #

Recall Team After hour #

Regulatory Contact #

 

Material to be traced

Lot Number(s)

% material located.

 

These are a few examples. There is a lot more that is involved in a detailed Recall procedure. I suggest you allot sometime to fully understand what is required so you can prevent being affected from a third-party audit.

[ZD1]

Thanks for your reply, we are not producing at this stage, just trying to get a greater understanding of compliance & skills/training required to execute ice cream and cheese production in house. Might have to call in the food safety consultants...

[shea quay]

Welcome to the forum, ZD1. In case you have not read the intro, the only rules are "we play hard, we stay hard". Ooh rah!

 

Mock recalls are a trip into your darkest mind. The better the Quality Manager you are, the more risks you will uncover. Eventually this will drive you mad and cloud your judgement. To be completely straight, should a real recall come into effect, you will have little or no input into proceedings, as government bodies will take over and over rule you, leaving you frustrated and unhappy. Your best traceability plans will count for naught, and members of your HACCP team will pat you on the back and reassure you that there was nothing else you could have done. These will be the same members of your team that repeatedly did not show up for management / HACCP meetings in the first place. Then, one day, you will suffer from a cardiac arrest, and a cheap bouquet of flowers will be delivered to your hospital bed, and you will wonder why you ever bothered in the first place.

This is who we are, and this, perversely, is why we do it.

To answer your question, pick the easiest possible recall you can (dairy processing to milk would be ideal if you can). Bringing in suppliers out of your control will only make it more complicated, (especially if you are a small to medium organisation). The only thing I've ever learned from mock recalls is everyone is out to get me, and will use their finest stupidity to drive me to an early grave. Auditors, in general, have become auditors to escape this reality. They lie to themselves, it helps them sleep at night. They see a paper based recall system, and they are happy; at least as happy as living dead rats can be. They will validate you, in a sad attempt to validate themselves, but they will be the first to dance on your grave. Unless you get them first. 

I have said too much. 

[xylough]

Hi,

 

This free on-demand webinar from SAI Global was worth while for me. http://www.saiglobal...all-webinar.htm

The last recall and market withdrawal plan I wrote was for a USDA-FSIS plant in California, USA. I will share it with you, but I have not yet figured out how to attach a PDF for sharing. It is many pages long, so I hesitate to copy and paste it. Maybe you know how to share a document here?

[xylough]

AS to the remainder of your question about food safety plans for dairy, I only know the USA regulations. Here Dairy is mandatory HACCP, so a food safety plan for any dairy operation is a HACCP plan. The Critical Control Points in Dairy operation are usually these:

 

1) Receiving of RAW milk. If RAW milk arrives at your facility at a temperature > 45 F. it may have had opportunity for Staph to produce its toxin. The toxin is heat stable and NOT destroyed by pasteurization. Therefore the milk is reported, rejected and destroyed

2) Holding of raw milk. Same as above. Silos of raw milk must have 24/7 recording thermometers. The temperature records are under strict document and data control. If at any juncture the milk's temperature exceeds 45 F., it is rejected.

3) For fluid milk ( in the USA milk has vitamins A & D added by statute) vitamin addition is usually a CCP because excessive addition can cause harm or death.

4) Animal drug residue as an aldulteration is often a CCP because in individuals who are allergic to  particular antibiotics may be harmed or killed at extremely low levels. The raw milk is screened for antibiotics before it is pumped off the tanker truck.

5) Pasteurization temperature. For whatever method of pasteurization is being used, the legal pasteurization temperature has to be proved out with recording thermometers calibrated to NIST traceable lab-grade reference thermometers. Furthermore, a phosphatase test has to be run for every batch to prove out that no milk by-pased the pasteurization. A positive test for phosphatase means either the proper temperature was not achieved or that somehow RAW milk contaminated the flow.

 

Otherwise dairy GMP, PRP, SOP, SSOP resembles any great food safety plan like you might expect from a GFSI benchmarked scheme.

I will note with respect to Quality (not food safety) that cheeses, more than any other dairy product require the most perfect milk. A titratable Acidity > .12 or possibly .13 will ruin quality and yeild. Milk adulterated with water will not perform well for cheese. Milk with off-flavors or odors will not perform well for cheese 

[Charles.C]

Hi All

 

I'm new to this network and wondering if anyone can assist with examples of best practice food safety management plans for dairy processing (cheese and/or ice cream), including recall plans. I am particularly interested in mock recall exercises and lessons learnt. 

 

Thanks :)

 

Dear ZD1,

 

You are talking about a topic with a very wide scope. Near book-size.

 

Various organizations offer generic, established, solutions to the first part of yr post, eg BRC, SQF, IFS, ISO, by way of their FSMS Standards. Some standards are totally free. Some Standards include Guidance as to the detailed fulfilment of their requirements, at varying degrees of cost from zero upwards.  GFSI offer a template to be used for setting benchmarks for the above organisations and others. Many of the more frequently implemented Standards and their requirements are discussed/linked on this forum at some depth.

 

Specific, official, Australia-oriented FS Plans exist, official and private, some are generic, some are tailored to individual Industries within, for example, the Dairy category, eg yoghurt. Many of these are freely downloadable, some are linked at various places on this forum. Others require membership of the Australian trade organisations for the particular product for access.

 

Numerous procedures/examples relating to mock recall exercises, recall plans including some for dairy products, exist on this forum. The latter is typically regulatory dependent on local location. From memory Australia offers extremely detailed, free, recall guidance/plans within one particular website.

 

The benefit you can extract/implement from the considerable information resource on this site likely depends on yr current technical backup/expertise and yr specific objectives. If TE is low, appropriate training courses will probably be obligatory. A consultancy may be a viable option if time is a critical parameter and funding is available. Numerous organisations such as the one mentioned in post #5 will be only too happy to hear from you.

 

Rgds / Charles.C

[SUSHIL]

Hello ZD1,

               Attached here are some files for your reference,

 

Attached Files

•  7.9 Traceability System Procedure .doc   69KB   265 downloads
•  7.10.4 Withdrawals .docx   22.67KB   210 downloads
•  HACCP project on toffee ice cream production.pdf   181.48KB   132 downloads
•  HACCP-UF White Cheese Production.pdf   242.22KB   126 downloads
•  Ice cream Process flow Diagram.doc   1.28MB   139 downloads
•  Mock recall Report.doc   37KB   233 downloads
•  MOCK RECALL.doc   42.5KB   255 downloads
•  HACCP_CASE_STUDY_Feta_Cheese.pdf   244.38KB   115 downloads
•  HACCP-UF White Cheese Production.pdf   242.22KB   110 downloads
•  HACCP Dairy Foods (USA FDA).pdf   412.03KB   133 downloads
•  ISO_22000_DANBO CHEESE.pdf   145.53KB   132 downloads

Edited by SUSHIL, 07 March 2015 - 07:06 AM.