Template for conducting a food safety assessment of equipment

Hi All

How many people have a form they use to assess equipment prior to purchase for a food manufacturing facility (food safety assessment, harbour areas etc.) , does any one have any templates or forms they use to conduct the assessment that they are willing to share?

Cheers

Ange

Hi Ange,

I would base your checklist on guidance from TESCO CHILLED FOODS BEST PRACTICES SELECTION OF NEW EQUIPMENT

It is quite comprehensive and has a range of questions from the perspective of different departments.

Kind regards,

Tony

This may be of some use:

Marshall

Excellent Tony and Marshall.

Regards,
Simon

Hi All

 

How many people have a form they use to assess equipment prior to purchase for a food manufacturing facility (food safety assessment, harbour areas etc.) , does any one have any templates or forms they use to conduct the assessment that they are willing to share?

 

Cheers

Ange

Hi angegenet,

IMO it would have been prefereable to indicate the type of product / equipment involved.

I have no form  but can offer some additional thoughts to the previous comprehensive lists.  

I am assuming you do not have any direct access to the intended purchase. And possibly no local representative to pester. If otherwise the procedure is theoretically  more amenable, as already spelled out.

Some first priorities to avoid possibly bitter experiences are IMO -

(1)

(a) Attempt to buy from "reputable" Companies. They are less likely to abandon you in the event of problems. And to sensibly advise you in the first place.

(b) Attempt to locate other similar units in locality to visit, eg ask the potential supplier. A vision/chat speaks a thousand words of text.

(2) Examine the equipment documentation to verify that -

(a)  it is stated (hopefully checkably) to be food (RTE?) compatible (IMEX sometimes there is zero such info. > Beware !).

(b)  it is material/grade-suitable for yr intended product/environment eg iron / Al in a wet, aggressive, working place; non-low temperature SS in a freezer belt.

(c)   it is not visually of significantly different shape to similarly used equipment in the literature. Innovations need validation.

(d)   it does not require services which simply do not exist in the locality, eg voluminous quantities of water, sometimes at high pressure.

(e)   it is physically of manageable size to the location, eg there is width to walk round it, and length to accommodate it without knocking down a wall.

(3) Attempt to cross-check any sensitive Engineering specs, eg a freezing Compressor can handle Production Output. Optimism is universal, and often cost-based.

(4) If you're really in a strange environment, and particularly if 2nd hand items, 3rd party inspection companies will love to hear from you.

(5) Try to avoid purchasing equipment for which there is no local rep./service engineers. if unavoidable seek a reputable supplier with close neighborhood facilities or guaranteed equivalent alternatives.

Above just a starter, unfortunately the opportunities for trouble are somewhat endless.

PS - some of the above are not exactly FS-based but IMEX, such deficiencies have a habit of expanding into the FS domain.