Fresh Sushi - Separate HACCP Plan for vegetables used?
Hi,
I work for a company that makes fresh sushi which we sell to a warehouse store who in turn sells it to their customers.
There was already a HACCP plan in place when I started this job and since we passed our SQF audit with it I didn't really question it other than when we made process changes. It includes a plan for our rice and a plan for our fish/shellfish.
My question is, do we need a separate plan for our vegetables? They are included in our fish/shellfish plan but only as part of the process. I can't help but feel like they should have their own plan. Do they fall under the "turned into something else" category? Since they are left raw I feel as they require their own plan. Not everyone on my team agrees so I thought I would bring it here.
We use avocado, cucumber, and green onions which are rinsed in vegecide and processed daily. We cut what we need so no storage after processing.
Thanks for the input!
Rhonda
Hi,
I work for a company that makes fresh sushi which we sell to a warehouse store who in turn sells it to their customers.
There was already a HACCP plan in place when I started this job and since we passed our SQF audit with it I didn't really question it other than when we made process changes. It includes a plan for our rice and a plan for our fish/shellfish.
My question is, do we need a separate plan for our vegetables? They are included in our fish/shellfish plan but only as part of the process. I can't help but feel like they should have their own plan. Do they fall under the "turned into something else" category? Since they are left raw I feel as they require their own plan. Not everyone on my team agrees so I thought I would bring it here.
We use avocado, cucumber, and green onions which are rinsed in vegecide and processed daily. We cut what we need so no storage after processing.
Thanks for the input!
Rhonda
Hi Rhonda,
Probably only one haccp plan needed.
I anticipate that yr process flow chart is basically a straight line with the material inputs, eg rice, vegetables as simple, "sidearms" into the main line, just lke packaging materials for example. The hazard analysis for the "side-arms" is probably straightfroward (eg no significant safety risks),
This "simple" haccp type scenario is typically handled within one haccp plan/hazard analysis although where the "sidearm" itself involves various complex (eg high risk) process steps, ie the hazard analysis is non-simple, some haccp plans do divide the overall analysis into separate haccp chunks which are eventually, pictorially and textually, recombined.
Can see some examples of possible handling of more complex haccp situations in post linked below although the surrounding discussion demonstrates that haccp plan opinions may differ -
https://www.ifsqn.co...an/#entry189458
(also see Post 17)
From what I gather in your description, sounds like you should have a HACCP plan for your sushi and the vegetables should be included in the ingredients for the sushi. This means they'll be specifically addressed in your hazard analysis as an ingredient. If you're doing any processing of the vegetables prior to creating the sushi rolls, those steps will be shown on your HACCP flow chart and those steps would then too be addressed in your hazard analysis.