HACCP Record Retention

Hi guys, I wanted to know what your policy is for HACCP record retention. I work for a small bakery that carries cakes, pastries, and sandwiches. My manager has told me that we can keep the record for 12 months, but I've done some research and found that record retention ranges anywhere from 12 months to a few years. What's your policy and is 12 months an acceptable time frame to keep all records? 

Definitely not 12 months: as per CFIA, it's 2 years, as per GFSI (we have FSSC) - 3 years. Your could establish your own policy stating, for instance, 5 years, if you want, but 3+ for sure.

12 months is not acceptable.

3-5 is the norm.

We keep for 4 years.

We keep for 5 years. I have seen 3-5 years.

Hi guys, I wanted to know what your policy is for HACCP record retention. I work for a small bakery that carries cakes, pastries, and sandwiches. My manager has told me that we can keep the record for 12 months, but I've done some research and found that record retention ranges anywhere from 12 months to a few years. What's your policy and is 12 months an acceptable time frame to keep all records? 

Is there a specific, haccp related, Standard involved ??? (ie an audit is anticipated ?)

One occasional guideline is that the retention must minimally equal the shelf life but this usually has a caveat that anyway cannot be less than (w/wo the word "additional")  X months/years.As you comment,  X varies due various causes, eg Regulatory Bodies, audited Standard, experiences, etc.

Is there a specific, haccp related, Standard involved ??? (ie an audit is anticipated ?)

 

One occasional guideline is that the retention must minimally equal the shelf life but this usually has a caveat that anyway cannot be less than (w/wo the word "additional")  X months/years.As you comment,  X varies due various causes, eg Regulatory Bodies, audited Standard, experiences, etc.

Thanks for the feedback, Charles. We will start our annual HACCP audit this year. I have the policies and procedures in place but was stuck on record keeping/retention. I was leaning towards 12 months because the shelf life for our products is only 1-2 days. 

Devils Advocate here, what happens if I throw your finished product for a period of time then eat it?

I know that there are requirements for FSMA that have a minimum of 2 years record retention requirements, do you export to US?