3 replies to this topic

[MMS04]

Hi Everyone,

We are currently looking into what our potential risks could be for sharing equipment between different production areas of our  business.  The scenario we are investigating is sharing equipment between our ready to eat production room and our bakery production.  Both of these are in different parts of our facility.  I have some concerns with the sharing of equipment but was looking for some guidance and feedback on industry best practices and etc.

 

Thanks!

 

[nwilson]

Going from non-RTE to RTE would require a cleaning step.  Things should be hygienically zoned just for their intended purpose.  How would you control the movement and sharing with the sanitation needed when passed off to another area?  Also are there allergen issues to address? 

 

If more information can be provided on the actual equipment being shared this would be helpful to give a you better response.    

[G M]

... I have some concerns with the sharing of equipment but was looking for some guidance and feedback on industry best practices and etc.

 

Thanks!

 

Best practice would probably be to not do it.  Moving equipment from one sanitary zone to another and back again is a significant risk.

 

When it can't be avoided, there needs to be a sanitation process that can control and eliminate the hazards to prevent cross contamination and cross contact.  This maintains the segregation between areas by forcing the transitioning equipment into a sanitary condition every time it is transferred.  A piece of equipment like this should probably be a high priority sample site for your environmental testing programs too.

[GMO]

Even if the bakery is ready to eat or reheat, or part of it is, it doesn't mean there is no presence of pathogenic bacteria there (look at the latest recall on doughnuts for an example.)  If you have a ready to eat chilled area which is segregated into a high care or high risk area, that segregation is for a reason.

 

Perhaps you can explain what the two areas are and we could look at it in more detail?