9 replies to this topic

[jenw91]

Hi all, I work in a poultry slaughter/cutting plant and in serious need of some cleaning solutions. I've started to introduce and retrain proper cleaning practices but there are some areas I just can't quite come to a perfect solution for. The main one being the cleaning of the floor in the chill that holds the birds prior to cutting. There are very limited times when the chill is empty, maybe once a week if that. The floor gets very greasy and the current method of cleaning is jet hosing. Now that and open product is a huge no no. Does anyone work in a similar environment with a similar challenge and willing to give a little advise?

[Scampi]

Can you post a pic or elaborate on the chill room??  Is this a walk in freezer where the carcasses are hung?  Assuming you are talking about air chill birds and not a water chiller?

 

I've got a decade of poultry slaughter experience to support suggestions/solutions

[jenw91]

Can you post a pic or elaborate on the chill room??  Is this a walk in freezer where the carcasses are hung?  Assuming you are talking about air chill birds and not a water chiller?

 

I've got a decade of poultry slaughter experience to support suggestions/solutions

Hi,

Yes it's a walk in blast chill where the birds are hung on 'trees' which are hung on rails. They're air chilled to <4degC.

The trees themselves are a bugger to clean efficiently!

We've talked about a screen being put up but I'm not sure if this would really prevent 100% contamination.

[Scampi]

Got it

 

You absolutely cannot clean in there AT ALL with carcasses hanging

 

I think you've got a couple of solutions

 

The ideal----adjust the schedules so that cutting works an 18 hour day if slaughter works an 8 so that the chiller gets emptied every night. The cutting floor should start at least 3 hours later to ensure FRESH carcasses are ready for cutting when they start

 

2--adjust MONDAY only (friday would be better but they will want carcasses to process monday morning) so that Monday night EVERY WEEK the chiller is empty so it can be cleaned

 

and lastly-----you can get powdered quat the you could sprinkle and sweep---but it can only do so much

 

That blast chiller is just begging to reinoculated your birds if it's not fully cleaned on a regular schedule---then you're entire plant needs shut down and cleaned---less than ideal situation for sure

 

What do your enviro swabs say about the chiller?

[jenw91]

Got it

 

You absolutely cannot clean in there AT ALL with carcasses hanging

 

I think you've got a couple of solutions

 

The ideal----adjust the schedules so that cutting works an 18 hour day if slaughter works an 8 so that the chiller gets emptied every night. The cutting floor should start at least 3 hours later to ensure FRESH carcasses are ready for cutting when they start

 

2--adjust MONDAY only (friday would be better but they will want carcasses to process monday morning) so that Monday night EVERY WEEK the chiller is empty so it can be cleaned

 

and lastly-----you can get powdered quat the you could sprinkle and sweep---but it can only do so much

 

That blast chiller is just begging to reinoculated your birds if it's not fully cleaned on a regular schedule---then you're entire plant needs shut down and cleaned---less than ideal situation for sure

 

What do your enviro swabs say about the chiller?

Our problem is that we are between being a small and medium size company. We only have one chill for this purpose and run a day shift only. We have one team, 3 set days for kill, and two days for just cutting. 

There's very limited time in which the chill is completely empty. 

We have discussed creating a small section to segregate the chill when there are only a small number of birds remaining, but this could be costly. 

[Scampi]

You need to readjust so that the cuttting hours can accomodate all the birds that are coming in.

 

Add a 3rd cutting day so that on day 7 the chiller is empty

 

I can promise you that the company won't be able to grow if they don't figure this out.

 

You need to calculate how many slaughter hours = how many cutting hours and then staff from that.   Perhaps the 2 cuttings days need to be 10 hours in stead of 8

 

Cutting usually takes longer than evis per bird....so you've got the staffing backwards

 

Plus, you don't want carcasses sitting ever, you're losing shelf life with every hour they are not packed and sold

 

 

Segregating the chiller isn't the issue-----it really sounds like the staffing hours are not set to deal with the actual # of birds your slaughtering

 

Are you in USA ??

[jenw91]

You need to readjust so that the cuttting hours can accomodate all the birds that are coming in.

 

Add a 3rd cutting day so that on day 7 the chiller is empty

 

I can promise you that the company won't be able to grow if they don't figure this out.

 

You need to calculate how many slaughter hours = how many cutting hours and then staff from that.   Perhaps the 2 cuttings days need to be 10 hours in stead of 8

 

Cutting usually takes longer than evis per bird....so you've got the staffing backwards

 

Plus, you don't want carcasses sitting ever, you're losing shelf life with every hour they are not packed and sold

 

 

Segregating the chiller isn't the issue-----it really sounds like the staffing hours are not set to deal with the actual # of birds your slaughtering

 

Are you in USA ??

No I'm in the UK.

I'm trying to find a solution with the staffing and hours in place as these won't be changing for a while unfortunately. Maybe that isn't possible but I am not too influencing on that factor.

[Scampi]

Can you move all the carcasses into the regular walk in cooler while you clean?

[jenw91]

Can you move all the carcasses into the regular walk in cooler while you clean?

That is something that we have discussed - we would have to extend the railings for the trees but it may well be the best option. 

[Scampi]

A5. Compliance regarding frequency of cleaning and disinfection Make sure that: • cleaning and disinfecting are at a frequency sufficient to avoid any risk of contamination • food preparation, treatment and processing room floors, walls, doors, surfaces (including equipment surfaces) especially those in contact with food, as well as food waste, inedible byproducts and other refuse containers, are easy to disinfect • all articles, fittings and equipment with which food comes into contact are disinfected where necessary and frequently enough to avoid any risk of contamination

 

So since the above is the law----I think that's your best bet in your current situation. Cleaning in there at all while there are still carcasses is not an option