Undeclared Allergens Onsite
Good Evening All!
I was wondering if I could get an opinion or two on an issue that I was discussing with a friend earlier this week. She manages a fish processing plant, the business is run by a father/son dynamic - the son being the managing director and the father being a more old-school fisherman type of person.
She said that they had an audit last week, and when the auditor went into the cold store, there were boxes of prawns being stored in there that technically shouldn't have been in there. The facility was registered for fish processing only, and therefore no risk assessment was completed for crustacean storage. She said the auditor picked up on this straight away, and left her spluttering when asked what they were doing in there .. as she was unaware of their presence.
It turns out that the father (owner) was storing them for a friend who was having his restaurant refurbished with new freezers etc. The son (owner) and my friend were totally unaware of this.
We talked about how she could rectify this situation, so that the auditor has evidence that this will never happen again. I suggested that a corrective action report should be issued to the father (owner) for bringing the materials onsite. It seems a little pointless to write it into the HACCP because of an act of stupidity. She said the son (owner) was so angry that his father wont be pulling another stunt like this again in a hurry.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. :ejut:
Hi Dee70,
I would tend to agree with your planned corrective action. As well as taking the matter up with the owner, all personnel should be briefed on this incident and that materials other than those currently approved for use on site are not permitted.
Kind regards,
Tony
Did the audit fail?
I didn't like to ask .. I presume so .. she seemed distressed enough about this incident .. it sounds like a carry-on indeed!
Hi Dee70,
I would tend to agree with your planned corrective action. As well as taking the matter up with the owner, all personnel should be briefed on this incident and that materials other than those currently approved for use on site are not permitted.
Kind regards,
Tony
Thank you kindly Tony ... I told her as much .. it's definitely one of those situations where I'm glad it's not me :spoton:
Hello,
Just to add that here in Spain this is a “common” scenario, were family running facilities (mainly spices ones), store “just to sell to some friends” o nearby restaurants some products that one gets noticed the same audit day while walking the warehouses. Everyone with the surprise face on; and start asking who/what/how this is there…
Of course everyone knows, otherwise there would be a serious internal communication problem.
So, on my opinion, CAP shall also be based on internal communication, food safety culture, and risk assessment to understand which new risks could arise from those out of scope products stored
best regrds,
Leila
I hope you also cautioned her that the fathers' behaviour will not change (no matter how much training he receives) and that the QC department will need to continue to be vigilant in this regard