1. Food Safety Programs

2. What is a Food Safety Plan
A , food safety plan is concerned with proper food handling systems, which include cleaning and sanitation as an integral part of the system.
It is a system based on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, HACCP. (Pronounced hassup) It is a 'paddock to plate' approach designed to identify and control food safety hazards in advance.
The Pillsbury Company developed the HACCP system for the US space program in the 1960’s and proved to be so successful, food manufacturing adopted the principles and now most production plants around the world follow these principles today.
It is, in principle, Quality management in food production and processing.
Every step of the process is broken down into a "product flow" that is then used to identify the hazards and preventative measures at each of the steps.

3. Food Safety Program
A Food Safety Program is a written plan, which shows how food safety and hygiene is managed in the food production plant. There is no one Food Safety Program that suits one plant.
Simply put, a Food Safety Plan is designed so that all staff in a production plant not only Know what they are doing but also can Show to council and auditors what they are doing — "KNOW and SHOW"
Food Safety is EVERYBODY’S responsibility, but before you do anything, always check with your Supervisor or Manager. If you are in doubt of what to do, isolate the product (put it aside) and get your supervisor/ manager.

5. Hazards and how they can be controlled
A hazard is anything that may be in the product (that’s not supposed to be) that can cause harm to the consumer either through injury or illness. Hazards may be biological, chemical or physical and are the basis of every Food Safety System.
When looking at hazards, look at each step and ask yourself, what can go wrong here? Look at all products and steps in the process- Raw material, packaging, water, etc. Process - Equipment used, Premises - Building, environment, People - Operators, Procedures — Methods. When you look at a FSP, you will find that the steps have been broken down into a Process Flow Chart.
The process flow chart identifies each step in the process and the hazards that are associated with each step and what needs to be done to control them.

7. Types of Hazards Biological
Most quality food processing operations will be exposed to one or more biological hazard! These come either from the raw materials or during the process.
Biological hazards, such as the presence of flies or insects, while unpleasant if found, rarely pose a risk themselves to product safety in its true sense. There are a few exceptions to this, such as poisonous insects, but on the whole the appearance of biological hazards such as a fly, simply causes revulsion, many times this type of hazard is linked to Physical Hazards.
Pathogenic Microorganisms make people sick when they eat them. These organisms are usually spread through poor practices, dirty equipment, sick handlers and the presence of insects and vermin. These types of organisms are invisible to the eye and the food still looks good and smells good and even tastes good, but it isn’t.

8. Some microbes in food: Micro-Biological Hazard Source/ found
Possible Preventative measures
Staphylococcus aureus
Hands/ wounds
Hand washing, cover wounds, gloves
L. monocytogenes
Green leafy Vegetables
Wash in clean sanitised area
Rinse with chlorinated water
Bacillus cereus
Starch (Rice/ Pasta)
Proper cleaning and sanitation
Cool product quickly
Salmonella
Protein (Poultry/ meat)
Evidence of control during supplier process.
Clostridium. Perfringens
Wet product (sauce/ stocks)
Control of time that ingredients, Freezing (—18ºC), heating (>76ºC)
Clostridium Botulinum
Canned products
Lethal heat treatment during process
Giardia intestinalis
Water
Appropriate water supply, testing, Water filtration
E Coli
Meat
Raw meats held at 5° C, good personal hygiene
Hepatitis

9. Things that help microbiological growth;
Moisture (water): Bacteria don’t grow where it is dry.
pH: If the product is kept in a strong acid such as vinegar, bacteria don’t grow.
Temperature: If the temperature is too cold (less than 5° C) or too hot (above 60° C) bacteria won’t grow.
Oxygen: Most bacteria need air to survive, but some bacteria can live happily in a non-oxygen environment, like Clostridium Botulinum can grow in an unopened can.
Time: When bacteria are in their preferred temperatures (above 5° C and below 60° C) they will DOUBLE in number every 20 minutes or so.

10. Chemical Hazards
These are often looked on as the most important by the consumer but in they often pose a lower health risk. Proper cleaning and maintenance, together with proper training in the use of chemicals and food additives should ensure minimal risk to end products. However, you must be careful of things such as allergens, (nuts, MSG) that may cause people to have an allergic reaction. Some chemicals that can affect products includes:

11. Chemical Hazards Food additives: Such as preservatives, MSG etc
Pesticides: Used in baiting pests in the plant
Detergents: Used to clean equipment and not washed off correctly
Plastic Wrap: Used to package product and has been contaminated by pests
Agricultural Sprays: Used in farm production of raw products

12. Physical Hazards
Physical hazards may not make the consumer sick, however it may cause injury to the mouth, intestines or just make the customer ‘feel ill’ if , for example, they found a hair in the product. The main source of complaints from customers and end users, about physical food contamination, include. Hair, Glass, Metal, Stone, Wood, Plastic, Insects, Sabotage and Personal effects.

13. Physical Hazards Hazard Possible Preventative measure Chemical spills
Separate storage area for chemicals
Contaminated Equipment
Proper cleaning and maintenance
Stones, stalks, pips, nutshells,
In/ end process Inspection
Pins, staples, hair clips, Metal shards
In/ end process Inspection/ Metal detection/ Jewellery/ personnel policy
Pests
Pests pellets, Pest control program
Allergens
Eliminate/ Clearly list on product specs
Chemical additives
Maximum legal usage levels
Glass
Elimination of all glass except Glass lighting, which must be covered

14. Preventative measures
As part of a quality approach, once hazards have been identified, they can then be eliminated or controlled to ensure that the product is safe for the customer to consume.
Preventative measures are things that we can do to stop or minimise the hazard from occurring. These are all usually in the Food Safety Plan and can be found in there as Standard Operating Procedures, (SOP), Good Manufacturing Procedures (GMP) or perhaps Work Procedures. These procedures usually cover areas such as Storage, Housekeeping, Waste Control, Pest Control, Cleaning and Sanitising and Personal Hygiene.

15. Preventative measures
The preventative measures rely on the fact that work practices are followed and monitored. The food safety plan offers little protection to the end product if staff are lax in their work practices or do not properly clean and sanitise equipment and surfaces, don’t report problems to their supervisors or check the process steps as they are required to do.
In most plants, team meetings and reviews are held regularly (once a week/ fortnight) to ensure that any new problems or issues or any others that have arisen previously are reviewed and preventative measures put into place to stop the problems or hazards happening again.

16. Team meetings
In most plants, team meetings and reviews are held regularly (once a week/ fortnight) to ensure that any new problems or issues or any others that have arisen previously are reviewed and preventative measures put into place to stop the problems or hazards happening again.

17. Housekeeping
Good storage, housekeeping and pest control procedures ensures that hazards are stopped before they occur.
By following all procedures such as checking machinery at regular intervals for proper operation helps to minimise physical hazards such as metal shavings or lubricating grease entering the product.
Making sure all areas of the production area are kept clean and tidy and free from hazards such as unnecessary product, or personal belongings, or cleaning equipment etc.
Finally by ensuring that all storage areas are well kept, product is protected, covered and cleaned, the risk of pests is greatly minimised. Finally don’t forget, if you see any signs of pest activity, report it to your supervisor.

18. Cleaning and sanitising
Cleaning and sanitising also play an important role in preventing hazards in the processing and food production area.
If all areas of the plant are not properly cleaned and sanitised, then there will be a greatly increased chance of contaminating product, leading to food recalls and even the chance of food poisoning and the very big risk of very bad publicity that could ruin a business.
Always make sure that you follow your companies cleaning and sanitising procedures and complete the schedule or cleaning roster when you are finished.

19. Other factors that can be addressed in the Food Safety Plan
- pH and acidity ; The more acid, the less risk of bacterial growth
- water (water activity/ moisture) - salt, sugar, drying;
- The less moisture a product has the less risk of bacterial growth
- Chemical preservatives: Food industry approved and used to extend product life
- Storage conditions: Stored products are at risk, such as, if a product that is made to be kept at 4° C is kept at 10° C, then the product will be at risk
Packaging: Packaging can contaminate products if they are contaminated by pests or the fact that recycled paper is not to be used to wrap food as it contains many metals absorbed when it is being pulped. So the right and clean packaging must be used

20. Critical Control Points (CCPs)
A critical control point (Food Safety Point) is a step, process or procedure at which control can be applied to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard, or reduce it to an acceptable level.
For example: Some food operations such as in the dairy industry thermally process food to 74° C. This is identified as a critical control point because if not done correctly, pathogens may grow.

21. CCPs
Other businesses may regard storage of food in covered containers as a critical control point. If product is not covered it may become contaminated with foreign objects, or cross contaminate with microorganisms by poor handling or using dirty equipment. Cross Contamination is the commonly used term for the way in which harmful bacteria or other hazards are passed onto food that is ready for consumption, or clean preparation equipment or surfaces.
Contamination can occur by poor storage, handling, cleaning, storing raw and prepared ingredients together, and not cleaning preparation areas, sneezing on product/ surfaces, using dirty utensils. Each business will identify different critical control points, dependant upon their production process or product range.

22. Monitoring CCP’s
CCPs are an essential part of a quality production system for end product safety. A CCP must be followed to prevent/reduce/eliminate hazards. They must be adhered to for consumer safety. If the step is not a CCP, it will be a Control Point, (CP).
A CP ensures that control is maintained, for example, cleaning may not be a CCP but it definitely is a CP, if control is not maintained then the product may be compromised.
The simplest way to determine if the step is a CCP, you must ask, If control measure is not applied, is it highly likely that a health risk will occur?
- Yes = CCP - No = CP
In your workplace your CCP’s will be identified and they will vary, however, it’s usually easy to identify what CCP’s apply. These areas are usually checked and monitored by someone, things like the Cool room temperatures, Pasteurization temps, Delivery temps etc, they are easily measurable.
If something goes wrong at any of these steps, the products will be checked, product moved or used quickly or in the worst case, disposal of the product in question, by the right person

23. Monitoring CCP’s
CCP’s can be monitored in a number of ways. It will depend on the process and products that you produce, however, a CCP can be checked by:
using a temperature probe to check a cool room or process line, using a clean and sanitised probe, as described by the procedures in your plant.
swabbing benches/ lines to check if they are cleaned and sanitised. The swabbing is usually done at the end/ start of the production process and helps to ensure that all surfaces in the plant not only look clean and sanitised, but also are!
Or by visually checking the equipment and the gauges to ensure that they are meeting the required temperatures. This usually is done during the production process and ensures that all product coming through / out of the equipment is meeting minimum temperature requirements

24. Critical Limits:
These are the points that must be met for every preventative measure that is linked with a Critical Control Point. A Critical Limit is the minimum standard / temperature/ limit that you will need to meet and then record this as part of your system.
These limits are usually given to you in the form of monitoring temperatures or cleaning and sanitising procedures. These limits are usually developed by government bodies such as ANZFA, published scientific research or state and federal hygiene standards. Its part of your job to ensure that hazards are kept to an acceptable level.

25. The example below refers to cooking a seafood patty;
Process Step
CCP
Critical Limit
Cook
Yes
Patty Thickness 1.5 cm
Patty Composition: 80% seafood mix, 20% Food Grade Binder
Cooking Temp: Internal 75° C
Cooking Time: 25

26. Critical limits
The critical limits described above have been checked so that the product meets all the above points. Make sure that you don’t accidentally cross contaminate the product when you monitor or check it as this defeats the purpose of the food safety plan.
Always use a clean and sanitised temperature probe and ensure that all other monitoring, cleaning and sampling equipment is always cleaned and sanitised after each use and before the next check.

27. Corrective Action
As part of a Quality management system, corrective actions are used to tell us what needs to be done if something goes wrong, remember always ask your supervisor, however, they usually cover;
A corrective action is important as it is important to stop a problem BEFORE the product reaches the customer. It is better to find the product and dispose of a small quantity (always check with your supervisor!)
As we know, Food Safety is EVERYBODY’S responsibility, but before you do anything, always check with your Supervisor or Manager. If you are in doubt of what to do, isolate the product (put it aside) and mark it and get your supervisor/ manager.

28. Corrective actions
Corrective actions must be documented (written down) as to what was done when the problem was found and how the problem was stopped in that instance and what actions were put into place to stop the problem re-occurring in the future. Reporting and following up corrective actions is an important part of any quality management system so as to be able to follow up all incidents. If things are not reported and recorded, then how can you check?
Most Corrective Actions are written onto an "Incident Report Form" or a "Corrective Action report form". To ensure that the problem has been stopped, supervisors and managers must always follow up the Corrective Actions.

29. Recording and Reporting
As part of a quality management approach, a Food Safety Plan is designed to give us a system to be able to check that things are being done. Recording and reporting are an important parts of the process.
There are two basic types of monitoring procedure:
1. On-line systems, where CCPs are checked during the process.
These may be continuous systems where critical dates are continuously recorded or where observations are made at specified time intervals during the process.
2. Off-line systems, where samples are taken for measurement of the critical factors elsewhere. Off-line monitoring has the disadvantage that the sample taken may not be fully representative of the whole batch. Remember, you can use a variety of tools to monitor and check, this would include temperature probes, data loggers, cleaning and sanitising schedule, swabbing (testing the surfaces for the amount of bacteria, if any, is present and at what levels), sample testing, pest control schedules, wastage forms etc.

30. record keeping vary examples include the following
Temperature monitoring
Monitoring and recording temperature of goods being received
Production schedule is being maintained/ met
Swabs of the environment are being completed
Corrective actions taken and the follow up actions for the corrective actions
Cleaning, sanitising and maintenance schedules
Training records
Staff illness monitoring
Taking and freezing samples of the product. These are just a few examples.