Jump to content

  • Quick Navigation
Photo

Justification for Best Before Date Extension?

Share this

  • You cannot start a new topic
  • Please log in to reply
11 replies to this topic
- - - - -

Tech - QF

    Grade - AIFSQN

  • IFSQN Associate
  • 28 posts
  • 5 thanks
0
Neutral

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

Posted 19 June 2015 - 10:40 AM

Hello

 

I'd like to ask how others handle situations when raw materials with BBE dates reach their expiry date.

 

No doubt everyone has slow moving lines which reach their "expiry" date.  In the past, I have attempted to get clearance from the manufacturer/supplier before I authorised an extention in the shelf life so that the ingredient can be used rather than throwing it away.

 

But this is time consuming and sometimes like trying to get blood out of a stone.  Suppliers have better things to do than worry about a few kg of spices that their customers would like to use and choose to ignore the requests.

 

How do others in similar situation manage such challenges so that any questions raised by auditors/customers can be justified and answered with confidence.

 

In my opinion, BBE dates are for quality and use past the BBE date does not pose a safety issue.  While there may be a deterioration in quality, this can be checked and signed off if necessary.

 

We make cooked products so even less of an issue.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Best regards



Tony-C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 4,223 posts
  • 1288 thanks
608
Excellent

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:World
  • Interests:My main interests are sports particularly football, pool, scuba diving, skiing and ten pin bowling.

Posted 19 June 2015 - 02:48 PM

Hi Tech-QF,

 

Fortunately you are in the UK where a logical approach is accepted  - as well as asking suppliers for an extension I would assess the material internally (sensory, chemical, physical, micro) vs. the specification and even get the NPD department to make a trial batch. If it was acceptable then I'd use it but keep records of the assessment for audit purposes.

 

I have had experience in other countries where any expired ingredients have been seized by the authorities even if they were for development purposes.

 

Regards,

 

Tony



Tech - QF

    Grade - AIFSQN

  • IFSQN Associate
  • 28 posts
  • 5 thanks
0
Neutral

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

Posted 22 June 2015 - 02:22 PM

Thanks Tony

 

I agree that on the whole, a logical approach is taken by most people but sometimes, we spend too much time and effort trying to make sure that our "T"s are double-crossed and our "I"s double dotted and get buried in paperwork and audit trails!

 

Feedback appreciated.



Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 23 June 2015 - 04:13 AM

Hi Tech-QF,

 

In my opinion, BBE dates are for quality and use past the BBE date does not pose a safety issue.  While there may be a deterioration in quality, this can be checked and signed off if necessary.

 

In the context of yr OP and your Product, IMO you need to have a documented Validation for the above conclusion.

 

Otherwise IMO the situation could be analogous to Russian Roulette.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Harminnie

    Grade - AIFSQN

  • IFSQN Associate
  • 37 posts
  • 27 thanks
5
Neutral

  • United States
    United States

Posted 24 June 2015 - 02:27 PM

We are a small BRC certified company. We had a situation with titanium dioxide being outdated and when I called  the manufacturer about the expiration date he said "what expiration date, that stuff never expires" Turns out the distributor put an expiration date on the bag. After that, we included  the use of expired products in our BRC 5.2.5 SOP, along with Rework, stating that it has to pass organoleptic tests, risk assessment,....  Auditors have accepted it.  We as a nation and industry have created HUGE amounts of unnecessary waste.  Nowhere does it say it's not allowed-evaluate the risk and how to deal with it. Take salt-are you going to throw away outdated salt?? I understand it's easiest to have a blanket 'throw out' practice.  Bottom line, produce safe product.   



Tony-C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 4,223 posts
  • 1288 thanks
608
Excellent

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:World
  • Interests:My main interests are sports particularly football, pool, scuba diving, skiing and ten pin bowling.

Posted 24 June 2015 - 06:47 PM

 

How do others in similar situation manage such challenges so that any questions raised by auditors/customers can be justified and answered with confidence.

In my opinion, BBE dates are for quality and use past the BBE date does not pose a safety issue.  While there may be a deterioration in quality, this can be checked and signed off if necessary.

 

We make cooked products so even less of an issue.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Best regards

 

 

Hi Tech-QF,

 

 

In the context of yr OP and your Product, IMO you need to have a documented Validation for the above conclusion.

 

Otherwise IMO the situation could be analogous to Russian Roulette.

 

Please explain Charles how this 'could be analogous to Russian Roulette' given that the products are 'cooked'?

 

Regards,

 

Tony



Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 24 June 2015 - 10:23 PM

Hi Tony,

 

Sorry, I didn't realise cooked products were intrinsically Low Risk. My bad.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Tony-C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 4,223 posts
  • 1288 thanks
608
Excellent

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:World
  • Interests:My main interests are sports particularly football, pool, scuba diving, skiing and ten pin bowling.

Posted 25 June 2015 - 03:48 AM

Hi Charles,

 

Maybe some confusion, my understanding is that the ingredients that are out of date are cooked during the process.

 

Regards,

 

Tony



Ahmad.raza

    Grade - Active

  • IFSQN Active
  • 8 posts
  • 1 thanks
0
Neutral

  • Pakistan
    Pakistan

Posted 25 June 2015 - 05:41 AM

Can someone please help me out to fulfil the BRC requirement no. 1.1.6 please


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 25 June 2015 - 09:45 AM

Hi Tony,

 

You’re right, I misread the OP.

 

But, although I appreciate the economic issues, I am equally opposed to the implications in the statement  “We make cooked products so even less of an issue.”

 

It’s true that operational practices such as cooking/canning are frequently praised for their capability to “repair” microbial difficulties arising from compromises such as storage conditions, hygiene limitations, etc. IIRC the UK Food Regs do indeed reinforce this belief. And the safety risk ? – Processes designed for a certain matrix and level of  bioburden may be overwhelmed. Toxins may remain.

 

Cooked products IMO are entitled to pristine raw materials, not the opposite.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Tony-C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Fellow
  • 4,223 posts
  • 1288 thanks
608
Excellent

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:World
  • Interests:My main interests are sports particularly football, pool, scuba diving, skiing and ten pin bowling.

Posted 25 June 2015 - 12:30 PM

Hi Tony,

 

You’re right, I misread the OP.

 

But, although I appreciate the economic issues, I am equally opposed to the implications in the statement  “We make cooked products so even less of an issue.”

 

It’s true that operational practices such as cooking/canning are frequently praised for their capability to “repair” microbial difficulties arising from compromises such as storage conditions, hygiene limitations, etc. IIRC the UK Food Regs do indeed reinforce this belief. And the safety risk ? – Processes designed for a certain matrix and level of  bioburden may be overwhelmed. Toxins may remain.

 

Cooked products IMO are entitled to pristine raw materials, not the opposite.

 

Hi Charles,

 

I agree with the points you have made in general and I believe they apply to perishable ingredients with a use by date not a ambient stable raw material where the advice was to confirm it was within specification before use and to conduct NPD trials to establish no deterioration in quality.

 

In support of your argument I would not be offering this advice for something such as liquid skimmed milk because as well as the possibility of micro growth, toxins and spore formers there is also enzyme activity which could make the product unstable and unsatisfactory when processed.

 

Regards,

 

Tony



Thanked by 1 Member:

Charles.C

    Grade - FIFSQN

  • IFSQN Moderator
  • 20,542 posts
  • 5662 thanks
1,544
Excellent

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male
  • Interests:SF
    TV
    Movies

Posted 26 June 2015 - 02:03 AM

Hi Tech-QF,

 

2 comments –

 

(1) I can expand on Tony’s comment regarding the value of making a trial batch.

I'm slightly unclear whether yr purchased spice was already "cooked" or not ?. Either way, although the spice is  (presumably) shelf-stable, the reliance on such “cooking”  has limitations. A  “L.mono”  type heat treatment if applied should “eliminate” the most likely pathogenic vegetative  microbial species such as Salmonella, L.mono, B.cereus  but will not destroy spores of the last-named entity which are commonly found in spice.

Depending on the further usage of the spice which is unknown, surviving spores could regenerate the vegetative species to a level which would initiate toxin production.

Such a scenario is also conceivable within the stated "Best before" date but would (presumably) have increased impact after "expiry" due to comment (2) below.

 

(2) As per UK Food Regs (Defra 2011) –

 

It is not an offence to sell food after the ‘best before’ date relating to it, provided it still complies with the Food Safety Act 1990 and the General Food Regulations 2004. These make it an offence for a person to sell or supply food which does not meet food safety requirements, or which is not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the consumer. This means that a retailer may commit an offence if the food deteriorates to the point where it may become unfit for human consumption. Even, if not unfit, an offence may be committed if the food is not of the quality expected by the consumer.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C




Share this

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users