7 replies to this topic

[dvalero]

Good Day Everyone,

 

The facility I work for is planning to expand our baking manufacturing which would require us to construct a new addition. We are currently SQF certified. My question, Is it required to build walls to separate functions (e.g. assembly, baking, packing) or can it be essentially one big room and just have risk assessments and address hazards with Preventive controls and other SOPs? This will determine the cost and time of construction and therefore I just want insight on the right path to take. Especially when it comes time for a site audit due to the changing of the FSC.  Our current set up: We currently have walls separating every process/function, but these current departments will take on the current food sector categories we have. The new addition is targeted to only cover baking.

 

Thank you to anyone who helps in advance.

[Tony-C]

Hi dvalero,

 

 

Welcome to the IFSQN forums!

 

The extent of the level of segregation required would depend on whether your products are regarded as high-risk (not ambient stable and require chilling or freezing).

 

The SQF Food Safety Code defines High Risk Food as:

Food or food product with known attributes for microbiological growth, physical or chemical contamination, or which may allow for the survival of pathogenic microbial flora or other contaminants which, if not controlled, may contribute to illness of the consumer. It may also apply to a food that is deemed high risk by a customer, declared high risk by the relevant food regulation or has caused a major foodborne illness outbreak.

 

If your products are high risk then you certainly need to segregate raw from baked product areas, the SQF Food Safety Code requirements are outlined in 11.7 Separation of Functions - 11.7.1 (High-Risk Processes:

 

11.7.1.1 The processing of high-risk food shall be conducted under controlled conditions, such that sensitive areas, in which the high-risk food has undergone a “kill” step, a “food safety intervention” or is subject to post-process handling, are protected/segregated from other processes, raw materials, or staff who handle raw materials, to ensure cross-contamination is minimized.

 

11.7.1.3 Areas in which high-risk processes are conducted shall only be serviced by staff

dedicated to that function.

 

11.7.1.4 Staff engaged in high-risk areas shall change into clean clothing and footwear or temporary protective outerwear when entering high-risk areas. Staff access points shall be located, designed, and equipped to enable staff to change into the distinctive protective clothing and practice a high standard of personal hygiene to prevent product contamination.

 

11.7.1.5 Product transfer points shall be located and designed, so they do not compromise high-risk segregation and minimize the risk of cross-contamination.

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

Edited by Tony-C, 15 October 2022 - 06:03 AM.

[SQFconsultant]

It would depend if high or low risk.

Considering that most bakeries are low risk the answer would be yes, what you propose would be fine.

You did not mention if you will have storage in same area, if you do you will need to separate that section out.

[dvalero]

Thank you both for your assistance. It was decided that it would be best to go with constructing walls and separate our processes.  Again thank you both for your time and advice.

[Scampi]

The other bonus of walls is that you could run overtime in one area, and not have to worry about sanitation for all areas

[dvalero]

I want to keep everyone that help updated.  More details have been coming forward and we only plan to process Kolaches. So we will be rolling dough (not made on site) onto cooked sausages. These then will go to the ovens and straight out to a chiller tunnel. The team is still leaning towards no walls though. The room will be large with ample spacing and ideally at >70°F ambient temperature.  I am currently doing a RA for each step of the flow chart. 

[jfrey123]

From your description, I think you're going to have a hard time justifying no physical separation between your raw dough handling area and your cooking/cooling/finished product area.  There might be no risk found from an airborne exposure standpoint, considering you're working with wet dough and no dry ingredients that can dust over to the cooking/finished area, but it'll be all on you to demonstrate how employees working with raw dough are kept out of the finished areas.

 

It would seem like your highest risk area would be the cooking and cooling area, but that's based on my guess that your finished product is RTE.  If you're going to get pushback on building walls, you might suggest a compromise that the cooking and finished areas be the walled off portions of your production area, to help ensure production of your finished product through your packaging steps.

[dvalero]

From your description, I think you're going to have a hard time justifying no physical separation between your raw dough handling area and your cooking/cooling/finished product area.  There might be no risk found from an airborne exposure standpoint, considering you're working with wet dough and no dry ingredients that can dust over to the cooking/finished area, but it'll be all on you to demonstrate how employees working with raw dough are kept out of the finished areas.

 

It would seem like your highest risk area would be the cooking and cooling area, but that's based on my guess that your finished product is RTE.  If you're going to get pushback on building walls, you might suggest a compromise that the cooking and finished areas be the walled off portions of your production area, to help ensure production of your finished product through your packaging steps.

Thank you for your input.  I have shared this concern when I presented my risk assessment and the type of controls that would need to be put in place (e.g. different color smocks, nitrile gloves) with the recommendation of actually building a wall or having some type of physical barrier dividing the room.  Luckily, this triggered other teams to perform their own risk assessment so that is a plus.  Thanks again!