6 replies to this topic

[Richaney Impraseuth]

Hi everyone, I'm a little confused about label reconciliation. I work at a bakery, the only allergens we have in our product is WHEAT and its in everything. Do we need to have a label reconciliation procedure in our process step? if wheat is the only allergen we carry & its in every single product we produce? Could you also explain reconciling labels as well? Thank you in advance FRIENDS!

[FSQA MKE]

I would suggest some sort of documented inspection of labels in the finished product to ensure not only allergens, but the contents of the package are correct.

[olenazh]

Label reconciliation should be done for quality purposes (e.g. to avoid mislabeling) and food safety (e.g. to prevent unintended use of your labels by third parties)

[Gelato Quality Lead]

From my understanding, label reconciliation is part of the new code to reduce the amount of recalls related to products labelled incorrectly. This applies to allergens, of course, but also applies to every other required aspect of a label such as product name, ingredient list, lot or date code, etc. 

 

I have seen the reconciliation percentage calculated as (used + wasted + returned)/(issued). This would be for packaging that already has label information on it, as well as labels. I have yet to implement this in our facility, but it seems like an organized way to ensure that all packaging and labels are accounted for and are being used for their intended purpose/product.

[AJL]

Ok experts...
Label reconciliation. Does this count for say packaging which is pre printed?
Or?

[AJL]

And if anyone could provide a form that would be awesome. Or advice on practical implementation.

[Gelato Quality Lead]

Ok experts...
Label reconciliation. Does this count for say packaging which is pre printed?
Or?

Yes it does!

 

You have to make sure that pre-printed packaging is reconciled so that it is not used for the incorrect product. Since your label is pre-printed onto your packaging, your label reconciliation will be based on the packaging reconciliation.

 

We are still working on implementing this, but this is how we would do it in our facility:

1. Production Manager decides batch size which will determine the amount of pre-printed packaging and in-house printed labels required.
2. Warehouse Manager will give the amount of packaging to the production team based on batch size (e.g., regular batch size requires 2 boxes of pre-printed cups and 1 box of pre-printed lids).
3. Production Manager prints number of case labels to be used.
4. During production, any packaging that is to be disposed of (generally only packaging that fell on the ground), will be kicked to a corner of the room and counted at the end. (we try not to interact with the ground during production, unless absolutely necessary)
5. If the same product will be made the next day, the unused packaging is moved to the packaging prep area to allow for production room cleaning.
6. If a different product will be made the next day, the unused packaging will be counted and sealed, then moved back into the warehouse.
7. The total amount of packaging used will be computed based on the final count of cases produced.
8. The reconciliation percentage can be computed using the formula I had previously posted on this thread: (used + wasted + returned)/(issued).
9. Pre-op form asks if packaging from previous run was removed from production room.