Food safety hazards for process steps and raw materials, 2.4.3.8 Ed. 8
Our facility has recently changed processing direction with the elimination of most of the product line except for three products and the installation of a ton of new equipment. The process flow changed quite dramatically.
Based on the requirements for the process flow in SQF Ed. 8, 2.4.3.7, we have 66 process steps. The subsequent point, 2.4.3.8, states that all food safety hazards that can reasonably be expected to occur at each step in the process, including raw materials and other inputs.
Does this seriously mean we need to evaluate and document 66 process steps? This is going to be a 50 page document at this rate.
We have an audit soon however we just made all of these changes so surely we can't be expected to have an up to date FSP which meets all requirements because of this right?
YES that is exactly what it means
HACCP = Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
You can't possibly perform a hazard analysis unless you know all your steps at look at them one at a time. This is a fundamental step in ANY food safety plan regardless of your certifying body. This is A Codex HACCP basic requirement,, the very foundation of the process
I want to add that it is particularly important for new production lines/products
I make bottled water and coffee. My HACCP plan includes 27 different process steps with very little treatment or other equipment controls.
It's a big file, welcome to the club! If you can, look for areas where you can group processes. For example, I have "warehouse and ship" isolated as a single step that's repeated on each product.
Hi ideal dreams,
i am equally intrigued to know how you achieve 66 steps ?
I wonder if some "steps" can be combined ?
Can you illustrate a portion of 20--30 steps perhaps ?
Our previous process flow for the same process was only about 20 some steps, however that flow was made before we implemented SQF Ed. 7.2. After our process changed a bit with new equipment and a few new steps, I re-wrote the process flow based off of SQF Ed. 8 and the HACCP guidelines it set forth. The code stated to be descriptive and include all process steps and ingredients. I did group where I could and I'm sure I could group a little more, but even still, we're still sitting at at least 50 some process steps.
Time for the food safety team to meet I suppose!