Food Recall: Toxic chemical in ChiTree Apricot Kernals

ChiTree Apricot Kernals are being recalled due to Potentially toxic levels of naturally occurring hydrocyanic acid. The recall applies to all packaging as there is currently no date coding or batch identification included on the product. 

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Food Recall: Toxic chemical in ChiTree Apricot Kernals

E.Coli Food Poisoning Outbreak: A Timely Reminder

The E.coli food poisoning outbreak in Germany is a timely reminder for food businesses to review their food safety hazard analysis tables.  As it stands today, over 630 cases of HUS (Haemolytic uraemic syndrome and 1601 cases of EHEC (Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli) infections (without HUS) have been reported in Germany.  Of these, 21 deaths have been recorded.


Food Safety Hazard Analysis

The majority of certification standards require the food business to keep up-to-date with new and emerging diseases along with reviewing their hazard analysis or food safety risk assessments on a regular basis.
 
Check that specifically E.Coli has been identified and assessed as opposed to just “microbiological hazards”.  A common mistake by the food industry in the hazard analysis process is to not get specific with the actual type of microbiological hazard identified.  This is important as one common “preventative measure” does not and will not control all different types of microbiological hazards.

Risk of E.Coli

The outbreak in Germany highlights the need to undertake a review for any food business that uses or processes fresh produce, seeds or sprouts (or anything that ordinates from soil or water).  What is generally known about E.Coli is that it commonly found in the gut of humans and warm-blooded animals. 
Although the source of the bacteria has not yet been identified in the outbreak, I suspect some type of cross contamination issue with faecal matter (maybe via fertiliser or watering).


Further Reading

If you would like to keep up to date with the E.Coli outbreak in Germany the World Health Organisation Media Centre is the place to look (http://www.who.int/en/).

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Food Business Notification

 

The NSW Food Authority has successfully prosecuted a food business for failing to notify their business in accordance to food legislation.  A fine of $3,200 was issued for this offence by the local court in conjunction with a listing on the NSW Food Authority “Name and Shame” database. 

Food Safety Standard 3.2.2 (Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code) requires all food businesses to notify their existence to the relevant authority.

What is a food business?

A food business is defined as any business, enterprise or activity that sells food or handles food intended for sale.  This includes all commercial, charitable or community based businesses.

How were they identified?

The food activities of the business were uncovered as part of a food poisoning investigation.  Over 50 consumers became ill after the catering event was held.

Court documents stated that after an extensive investigation was conducted by the public health unit it was found that “the severe illness affecting participants was indeed caused by salmonella, and those affected constituted a significant proportion of people who had participated in the event. Further, whilst the investigation revealed that there was considerable cross-contamination of various foodstuffs and the facilities in question, the source of the salmonella was able to be identified with a substantial level of certainty”.

Is your business next?

It is the food businesses responsibility to notify their existence to the relevant authority.  In most cases, this will be either your local council or your State/Territory Food Authority or Health Department.
 
It is recommended that you keep a copy of your notification registration details to produce as required.  This will include providing this information during your 3rd party certification audit as the majority of customer standards require you to comply with your food legal obligations.

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How to document a HACCP Flow Chart

The HACCP Flow Chart is the basis of any HACCP based food safety program.  It is imperative that the food business documents this flow process correctly as the remaining HACCP principles are developed from this flow process chart.

Over the years there has been a gradual shift from the use of symbols that represent certain production operations to the use of words.  By documenting your flow process chart as a series of words, it helps to clearly indicate the steps in your process.

What is a HACCP Flow Chart?
A flow process chart is a pictorial representation of a process.  Within the food industry, it generally represents all the steps that raw materials go through to become a finished product.  Steps in a flow process chart can include Receival of raw materials, store of ingredients, preparation, cooking, cooling, packing, labelling, bulk storage and distribution.  Depending on your process, you may have many more or less steps and types of steps than these listed.

Flow Chart Symbols
Traditionally, HACCP flow chart symbols have been used to illustrate the actions within a flow chart.  The most common actions are shown below:

Flow Chart Text Boxes
It is more common now to use worded text boxes.  This helps to give a better description of the process step and is more also easily understood.  Text boxes also allow you to document as much detail about the process step as you need.

Clear documentation
Whatever method you choose to use, the flow chart should clearly indicate all steps in the process.  Please ensure that you consider steps involving re-work and services in eg. Water, compressed air (food safety hazards can be identified at these process steps).  If you find that you have several processes within a process, a separate flow chart should be documented.  Your first level document can be an overview with subsequent layers drilling down into each of these processes.
For more information and guidance on the flow process chart requirements, please check the HACCP certification standard which you have based your HACCP system on.

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Food Safety of Japanese Imports

With the recent nuclear disaster issues in Japan there have been many media reports concerning the safety of both the food and water supply. FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) have now taken this into consideration and requested that the regulator responsible for food importation in Australia, AQIS (Australian Quarantine Inspection Service) to undertake testing of food products imported from Japan.

This action comes off the back of both the Japanese and Singapore governments detecting levels of radionuclide well above the international CODEX guidelines. Australia’s actions follow that of other countries, namely China and South Korea who have also scaled up their testing regimes.

At this stage, The World Health Organisation has reported that leafy green vegetables, milk, egg and meat products are the biggest concern for possible contamination. Eating food containing radioactive materials could increase the risks of certain cancers in the future.

A check of your raw materials and review of raw material specifications should aid in the identification of any products that may have been imported from Japan. Another area to check is if your food safety risk assessment has considered the likelihood and consequence of increased levels of particular chemicals outside of regulatory limits.

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Love the Glove?

There is much debate around whether to wear gloves or not during the food preparation and food handling process. It seems that every time I run a food safety training session someone always asks the question. Personally, I am not a big fan, but that is not to say there is not a time or place.

Gloves are great when used and managed correctly. By this I mean – treat the gloves as you would treat your own hands. When your hands have become contaminated you are required to wash them thoroughly. It is therefore expected that when the gloves are contaminated, they are replaced with a clean set. The current food laws within Australia do not stipulate that gloves must be worn. It does however state that your hands must be washed when contaminated and that you must also take all practical measures to prevent unnecessary contact with ready-to-eat food.

The majority of the customer standards that I audit against require that if gloves are going to be worn, they are a contrasting colour to that of the food that is being manufactured. Regardless of the colour, I see regular customer complaints where gloves have ended up in the finished product. If your company is using x-ray technology to assess foreign matter in finished product, please be mindful to include pieces of glove in the verification process. If not, company GMP programs need to ensure control and appropriate disposal of gloves.

What is your stance on gloves used in food manufacturing? Let us know by leaving a comment.

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When it is no longer personal

Personal hygiene is of critical importance to the production of safe food. It doesn’t matter if you have the best constructed premises, if the food handler sneezes on the finished product it is almost certain the food will be deemed unsafe.

Reacting to Customer Accusations

Today I find myself having extra work generated for me due to a customer accusation made against one of my clients. The basis of the story is - customer buys product, customer gets sick (alleged), customer wants a response or some type of “reimbursement” or they threaten to go to the Health Department.

HACCP Flow Process Charts

The first part when developing a HACCP plan is to undertake the 5 preliminary steps. The preliminary steps are intended to help you gather and collate background information that will help with implementation of the 7 principles of HACCP. The HACCP preliminary steps form an important precursor to effectively identifying and controlling food safety hazards within your food business.

Food Allergen Management in Your Business

It is very important for your business to be aware of food allergens and the effect they can have on susceptible customers. Allergic reactions to food can vary in severity and can be life threatening. You and your business also have a duty of care and a legal responsibility to produce safe food. By complying with basic legal requirements and implementing best practice allergen management you will be protecting yourself and your business.

5 Simple Causes of Incorrect Food Product Labelling

Although it may seem like errors in labelling food products is no big deal, there can be serious consequences from such mistakes. With a greater focus on food labelling by consumers and regulatory authorities, it will just be a matter of time when these errors will start costing your business.

The three main consequences for incorrect labelling include regulatory action, product recall and consumer action. All actions can be easily prevented by avoiding the following:

Identifying Food Safety Hazards

Why is it that so many food businesses fail to identify their food hazards correctly? The identification and control of food hazards forms the basis of every HACCP Program. It is really HACCP 101! The worst case scenarios for not identifying and controling food hazards adequately are food poisoning outbreaks, product recalls and very bad media coverage (damage to your brand). So how do you work out what hazards could occur in your business?

Investigating Non-Conformances

As a food auditor an important part of the job is identifying non-conformances during the audit process. Unfortunately, many food businesses struggle with what is required to rectify non-conformances. Any non-conformance identified during an external or internal audit should be seen as an opportunity to really get in and resolve an issue before it escalates to a point where significant damage can occur to the business.

Welcome to the Food Safety, Quality and Compliance Blog

I spend 50% of my working life auditing food businesses for compliance against food safety legislation and customer standards like BRC, McDonalds, SQF, WQA. Don't get me started on why there are so many different standards - I will save that for another day.

When I audit, I get asked all these weird and wonderful questions by Quality Assurance Managers and food business owners that the majority of the time I think are pretty straight forward. I think from working in food compliance auditing I automatically assume that everyone knows what I know (because I don't think it is rocket science!). After 18 years doing this gig, I have finally got it that people don't. It is not through lack of intelligence, just lack of time and priority.

I live and breathe this food safety and compliance stuff and I am very very passionate about it. I am also very passionate about trying to help small business to be aware of their business risks in regards to food safety, quality and compliance. So hence starting this blog.

I hope to bring you insight into my world and hopefully you will learn stuff along the way. So without further to do, let's get started on this journey!