12 replies to this topic

[Rali]

Can anyone help how frequently should we verify net weight quantity of packaged beef product to comply with BRC requirements? NIST handbook 133 has detailed information but there is no frequency for small beef packers.

[jdpaul]

You should probably conduct a challenge study on your weight checkers yearly. What kind of weighing equipment are you using for your weighing?

[Scampi]

I'm not familiar with BRC, however, to meet CFIA you need to ensure that you are calibrating your scales in a frequency that makes sense. If you scales are correct, then you net weights should be too. CFIA has legal limits on what your variance can be.

 

ww.inspection.gc.ca/DAM/DAM-food-aliments/STAGING/text-texte/processed_manual_chapter6_1386787455510_eng.pdf

 

http://www.competiti.../eng/01232.html

[jdpaul]

If you use weight checkers these should be calibrated externally yearly and have routine verification calibration by trained maintenance on some more frequent basis

 

Small balance scales should be calibrated using NIST traceable weights every week I would say. 

[Rali]

Thank you all for your time and comments. I am not looking for weight checkers verification or scale calibration. My question is "How frequently should we verify the declared net weight of a packaged beef box"?

[mgourley]

Are there regulatory or customer requirements involved?

Can you be fined or subject to recall if your weights are under MAV?

 

I don't do beef, but we do hourly checks on our cookie lines and bun line of finished product net weight. We do 10 packages each hour and the average must meet label weight.

 

Marshall

[jdpaul]

Like mgourley said I would look at what your customers require. If you set your own limits then set your MAV at a level that will always allow some wiggle room around the critical limit which would be the declared label weight; that way you can be sure you are always in compliance with FDA weight regulations. 

[jdpaul]

I would first do a capability study and see how your cpk is with your net content. If you process is stable you could probably limit your frequency of checks. 

[Charles.C]

Can anyone help how frequently should we verify net weight quantity of packaged beef product to comply with BRC requirements? NIST handbook 133 has detailed information but there is no frequency for small beef packers.

 

Hi Rali,

 

 Simple question, not so simple answer.

 

Yr specific process is unstated but ideally one would like to achieve some form of SPC if feasible. The latter will depend on the type of process and factors such as below.

 

Just as an example -

 

2.18  If production is checked using random checks, how many samples must there be in the random check and how often must the random check be carried out?

 

The packer chooses the size and frequency of the random sample so long as he can demonstrate that the filling process is able to ensure effectively that the batches comply with the tolerances.

 

A number of factors, which may be taken into consideration in this, are:

 

    the stability of the production and/or filling process

    the type of product

    the filling rate

    the number of filler heads

    control of the filling process

    destructive or non-destructive sampling

    mechanical limitations

    degree of over-filling

    reporting time

 

4.5.2    The measuring and sample methods

An employee of the packer must draw a sample of enough items of the running production on a regular basis. The content of each item in the sample is determined. Parts of this may be automated (for instance by using a checkweigher). The measuring instrument used is specified under the chapter "measuring instruments".

 

Sampling Frequency

The sampling frequency depends on the deviation of the filling process and the number of adjustments, but it should be at least once an hour and after adjustment. In certain situations (for instance bottle filling carousels that cannot be adjusted) a lower frequency might be possible.

 

 

A lot more detail/caveats in the source file attached.

 

The basic requirement is as above but you clearly need tolerances / some data to finalise the sampling. Logically one would oversample at the beginning of production if unknown level of control.

 

 Welmec Guide - legal metrology.pdf   538.72KB   129 downloads

 

PS - I anticipate that BRC will expect you to achieve compliance with minimally the legal requirements and additionally the customer's requirements if more strict. IMEX (not Canada) the latter requirements are usually agreed contractual.

 

PPS - JFInterest  I noticed this Canadian comment -

2. The control over production should be such that the individual packages are within allowable tolerances. No more than 2.5% of the lot may have a negative error larger than the tolerance.

http://www.competiti.../eng/01232.html

[Scampi]

Rali

I would see if the scale company you use has a system that can dump the scale date for a days production into excel ( i daresay they should be able to do this in this day and age) and then have a look at the data for the day.

 

If you don't see any variance outside of an expected range, then you could easily verify twice per shift 5 random packages (or what makes sense to you)

 

If there are variances outside of your normal and expected range...then first figure out where they are coming from to eliminate them and/or verify weights once / hour or 1/2 hour. You really can't figure out your frequency for verification without knowing what your current variance is

 

@ Charles...yes that is correct, but the range given by the feds is generous enough that you should be holding the lot if you have 2.5% with a larger error than allowed. In Canada, this is checked at the retail level and fines have been issued to operators for fraud in the past.

[redfox]

Hello,

 

We do weight verification every 30 minutes with certain number of samples per SKU. It is based on the volume of product that we produce in a 4-hour window. 

 

regards,

redfox

[Joseah njuguna]

Hello,

 

We do weight verification per batch this tranlates to every 2 hours.

The Idea should be verification is meant for troubleshooting.This way you meet requirements of all standards so long as records are involved.

So pre srtartup checkup and verifying part of product....lets say 10/100 and you good to go.

 

Regards,

 

Joseah

[012117]

Hi, Rali.

 

Do you have regulatrion? Is your regulation recommending AQS or minimum quantity system? In the AQS there are three rules that you need to comply for the net weight. In terms of the sampling, it depends on the size of the batch.. In example you produced 10000 ea per batch then you need to sample 125 ea for the duration of the run. If you have less than 3000 ea per batch then you sample lower.  On the frequency, it depends how confident you are with your system. But the keyword is the sampling must be across the batch and preferebly taken during operation.