Good Morning Everyone
Please may i have some clarification or better understanding in terms of temperature being a CCP in a non cooking facility.
We currently supply retail with ready to eat salads and prepared vegetable packs that require further cooking.
On our last audit, the auditor recommended that we list temperature of our high risk area and dispatch as a CCP, currently we have them as OPRP's.
Should we do so?
Thank you
An interesting situation. Firstly it is your HACCP plan, not the auditors. That said, I have suggested changes to HACCP plans before on an audit, not because I presume to know better but because, having seen multiple plans, there are sometimes things which stick out as unusual.
As for whether their suggestion has merit, you need to go back to your risk assessment. What is the cooking process at the customer? Will it be effective at killing pathogens? What kind of log reduction will they get? If pathogens grow to high levels, is there a chance their cooking process will be ineffective in reducing the contamination to a safe level? Are you clear in your labelling and specifications that the ingredients must be cooked?
I think you could end up looking at it in either way. From a quality point of view (obviously not HACCP) you will need chilling to extend life. From a safety point of view you might need chilling to prevent the consumer becoming ill based on the intended use of your product.
I suppose you also need to consider customer and consumer misuse. That is where, perhaps, chilling may become a CCP for you.
But ultimately it's your plan, your decision and if I'm honest, whether it's an oPRP or CCP you're pretty likely to manage it the same way I'm guessing?