Cleaning/Sanitation Schedule for Ceiling?
Good morning all!
I recently started a position with a company that makes gluten-free protein bars and bites :rock: . In our production area is storage of raw ingredients, production (mixing of ingredients and putting into extrusion machine to form bars and bites) and packaging (of individual bars, of bars into sleeves and sleeves into master cases and of bites into bags and bags into master cases).
I have a background in operations and internal auditing for ISO/API/A2LA but no food safety experience so I'm hoping you all can help me out here. We are finishing up our written HACCP program and also plan to pursue SQF Level 2 certification and we are stuck on the frequency we should be cleaning/sanitizing our ceilings. :helpplease:
I know that if we document a specific time frame, we open ourselves up to an auditor/inspector asking for the proof we've done it on the specified schedule. I found an FDA guideline for RF RTE foods that the ceilings should be cleaned once a month but neither our food nor our ingredients are refrigerated or frozen; our final product is simply RTE.
Does anyone know if we are required to specify a time frame for said cleaning/sanitation? I've been told that our internal preference would be to put it as "on an as-needed basis" but I can see an auditor/inspector then asking who decides when it's needed and by what parameters.
I appreciate any suggestions/guidance from the users out here!
Thank you!!
~Emily~
When I ran a cheese importing/packaging company we did a general cleaning at the start of 1st shift every Monday. Our ceilings were done the 1st Monday of every Month. We were an SQF Level 3 facility and never got questioned on it. It was listed on the cleaning schedule and documented by the individual/s that participated in the cleaning. While having no reliable source to back me up, I would think that be it refrigerated or not it would still need done once a month considering it is a RTE product. As for putting "on an as-needed basis" Documentation would be the key. Your Quality Manager should be in charge of determining the when. It should be on your cleaning/sanitation schedule and documented when complete.
Again, this is just my opinion and not referenced from anywhere.
When I ran a cheese importing/packaging company we did a general cleaning at the start of 1st shift every Monday. Our ceilings were done the 1st Monday of every Month. We were an SQF Level 3 facility and never got questioned on it. It was listed on the cleaning schedule and documented by the individual/s that participated in the cleaning. While having no reliable source to back me up, I would think that be it refrigerated or not it would still need done once a month considering it is a RTE product. As for putting "on an as-needed basis" Documentation would be the key. Your Quality Manager should be in charge of determining the when. It should be on your cleaning/sanitation schedule and documented when complete.
Again, this is just my opinion and not referenced from anywhere.
Thanks for the input, Brian. I think the role of Quality mgr is going to fall to me by default. I was hired in as Project Mgr/Quality Assurance for the HACCP program/SQF certification. We found something that said it would be inspected at X intervals and cleaned if dust/dirt/food particles/etc. are found so I think we're going to default to that if we don't get any hard evidence/requirements that we need to clean @ specified intervals. I'm still doing searches on the web to see if I can find a requirement for specified intervals. For most quality standards, they leave defining the specific time frames for tasks to each individual company; it's just that if it's documented, we must be able to document it! :spoton: