Blue Bell 483s
Just got done reading the FDA's 483's on Blue Bell Creameries and just got a little bit unnerved by it, what the FDA wants, and the quick reaction of industry with out thought what are your thoughts on the following.
1. Zone 1 testing - what are major implications, hold time, cost ?
2. We must determine subspecies of all micro presumptive hits.
3. No wood pallets at all or strict management of their use
4. Micro testing must be used to verify sanitation.
Hi SPL,
Here's a link to an analysis by a former FDA insider: http://achesongroup....-food-industry/
The same fellow also made some commentary on the situation in the intro to a free webinar:
Regards
xlough
You beat me to it! This was a really interesting read that I forwarded to my QC team and Food Safety committee here. It's a bit frightening!
Ok ok, I'm living in another country and I have to say WOW!!!! I cannot believe the language in the "insider report"......must have been paid for by the industry itself. The vast majority of what I read ARE legislated requirements in Canada. IE no, you cannot use wooden pallets.....we can ship ONLY finished product on them and even then they must be in good repair. We CANNOT use a wooden handled broom in production. And a boot dip, pardon me, but that just makes good sense. I don't allow the footwear to leave the building until you quit! The individual boot dip trays cost 25 bucks each, I use a quat for them and it costs about 2 cents to dose them and it only needs done twice per shift.
Please don't mis understand me, I know all about dollars and sense, but I have lived through a listeria recall, and never ever want to do it again. These are reasonable steps to take in the name of food safety. The price of rental plastic pallets for production is peanuts compared to the legal costs in the event of a recall involving death(s) or serious illness.
I would still like to know what brand of fillers that were contaminated. I have heard that the equipment was old.
This could all just be design issues on older equipment or cleaning effectiveness.
Snookie - No Lie! My daughter's college roommate (from Austin) has been going through some serious withdrawal!
Snookie - No Lie! My daughter's college roommate (from Austin) has been going through some serious withdrawal!
Perfectly understandable.....this is seriously good ice cream. My family is in withdrawal and its not pretty.