9 replies to this topic

[Mária]

Hello, I would like to ask for help:

must  be positove pressure and microbiological air filtration also be ensured in the areas marked in blue in the picture? they are areas where meat products are showered after heat treatment and cold storage areas .

[Mária]

I'm still trying to attach an attachment, but I can't ...

 

The question was where there must be positive overpressure and microbiological air filtration everywhere after heat treatment, that is, whether only in the packaging areas or also in the areas where the product is showered and cooled in the cold store before its packaging.

[Mária]

one more time - try ...

[jfrey123]

Hi Maria, sorry to see you're struggling to upload the pic.  To your question, I'd say it comes down to a risk analysis.  But if your current process/analysis required filtered positive air pressure to control contamination during the heat treatment, I think it's hard to justify why it doesn't need the same protection continued up until the packaging phase.  It's not impossible though, and someone else might think it's perfectly acceptable depending on your facility's other factors.

[GMO]

I think the key comment is "before packaging".  The air filtration / positive air pressure is to reduce loading in the environment.  It would be fascinating to go back to original studies on this and challenge if positive air pressure is so critical.  I have heard of airborne contaminants but it has tended to be where there has been an issue in, for example a drain which has led to aerosols. And I have known PLENTY of factories where the positive air pressure only works if certain doors are shut and everyone crosses their fingers when the auditor checks...  I've also known more where the filters have no chance of working as the air pressure is insufficient.  Yet in these places it's more mundane things which lead to micro issues.  Leaks, physical barrier control, poor fabrication etc etc etc.

 

But that all said, with the knowledge we have now, I don't see a way round it.

[Mária]

Thanks for all the replies..

for me it means the following:

If the packaged product is heat-treated in an inedible casing / packaging, e.g. ham, then it goes through showering and cold storage in the given package, and then it is unpacked and cut at the packing room, and then it is packed here in this room, e.g. into consumer packaging, and in the shower room and in the cold store, there does not need to be positive pressure or microbiological air filtration. Otherwise - it must be .

 

Ensuring a positive overpressure of air will probably be a big problem, because it fails due to several factors, one of them is certainly the size of the openings through which products and materials are moved to and from the room with HRA - I understand

[GMO]

Ah I think we've been misunderstanding. So what you're saying is there isn't open product?

[Mária]

no, both product types are there: open  products  and  no open products  ...

that's why I wrote -  the above sentences , so that I have to distinguish when it is necessary and when it is not.

[GMO]

Ok sorry. I think if there are open products then positive air pressure and filtration is required. As I wrote, I'm unsure how much of a risk it genuinely is for, say, Listeria but possibly more so for spoilage organisms. But either way,I would interpret it as a standard requirement.

[Mária]

OK, Thanks