Is it acceptable to return reusable baskets to production area

Hi all, 

Our products are delivered to customers using baskets. Upon arrival , the products are offloaded and the baskets are collected back for reuse. Currently, the only access point to return these used baskets into the production area is through the changing room (which serves as both entry and exit for production staff)

Is it acceptable from a food safety perspective reintroduce the basket into production area to refill up the product for next delivery . ? 

It really depends on what kind of production area you're talking about but I'm going to assume a low risk area in which all product is wrapped.

The answer I give depends a lot on how the baskets have been stored but if it's the kind of baskets they use for bread in the UK, they are notorious for becoming harbourage for pests.  

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about:

Even if you don't store them outside, your customer almost certainly does.  And these are perfect little houses (when stacked) for mice to nest in.  Yay!  

So whatever you do, when you take them back into a production area, you need to destack them and (very much) ideally clean them (and do all this in an area which is enclosed BEFORE taking them into your production area.)  Apart from mice, I've had mouldy (formerly) chilled products turn up in these, often including allergens.  

Whether or not they can go through a changing room?  It probably isn't ideal but I can't think of a sensible food safety reason not to as long as they're not going on the floor.  Strangely enough doing it that way may then reduce the risk (at least) of them being taken in without destacking.

If we're talking high care / high risk then you need to be putting them through an automated tray washer to get them back in which you've validated as effective against pathogens and significantly reducing micro loading and even then it wouldn't be ideal if you could avoid it.

But let me know if I've got the wrong end of the stick!

Hi GMo, 

Thanks fir ur input. Yes, there is the tray i was mentioned, we stack our product which is ice cup (ice filled and sealed the cup) and sore it in our cold room prior to delivery to customer site, and we wont be leave it there. Once product was off loaded, we will collect back fr customer straight.

It really depends on what kind of production area you're talking about but I'm going to assume a low risk area in which all product is wrapped.

 

The answer I give depends a lot on how the baskets have been stored but if it's the kind of baskets they use for bread in the UK, they are notorious for becoming harbourage for pests.  

 

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about:

Even if you don't store them outside, your customer almost certainly does.  And these are perfect little houses (when stacked) for mice to nest in.  Yay!  

 

So whatever you do, when you take them back into a production area, you need to destack them and (very much) ideally clean them (and do all this in an area which is enclosed BEFORE taking them into your production area.)  Apart from mice, I've had mouldy (formerly) chilled products turn up in these, often including allergens.  

 

Whether or not they can go through a changing room?  It probably isn't ideal but I can't think of a sensible food safety reason not to as long as they're not going on the floor.  Strangely enough doing it that way may then reduce the risk (at least) of them being taken in without destacking.

 

If we're talking high care / high risk then you need to be putting them through an automated tray washer to get them back in which you've validated as effective against pathogens and significantly reducing micro loading and even then it wouldn't be ideal if you could avoid it.

 

But let me know if I've got the wrong end of the stick!

Ah ok, so they get offloaded and immediately returned to you?  That helps matters if you know they were never stored outside.

You can probably get away with a lower level of inspection and cleaning then but it really will depend on how clean your vehicles are, that they were never stored on the floor etc and they will need cleaning on a frequency which you will need to define and work out how you track.  I could imagine that could be challenging.  You might need to arbitrarily choose a frequency.  E.g. we clean all the baskets once a week on a Saturday.  Or we have two different basket colours, red get cleaned on a Monday, Green on a Wednesday etc.  While not stored outside, old product and debris from split packs notoriously don't get cleaned off these.

Best place to start is perhaps you or one of your team following the trays and what happens to them with a driver if you can.  Genuinely look at the risks end to end, look at tray cleanliness and record what the risks are and how you mitigate them.

If the product leaves the building not through the employee changing room, why can't the trays be returned through the same door they left in? 

If the product leaves the building not through the employee changing room, why can't the trays be returned through the same door they left in? 

Kind of wondering this myself.  I'm assuming they get loaded onto a truck somewhere, sounds like immediately off loaded and put back on the truck, then returned to the manufacturing site, so why can't they come in the same door they were originally loaded?  I don't like blurring the lines of using the same door for staff and food handling "packaging", but I could be flexible if it's a small operation and done out of necessity.  I would definitely want them washed and sanitized prior to re-entering the production area since they were out in the world at large.

Good point all.  Howler of a miss from me.  If they're coming back on a vehicle, why not offload them the same way?