HACCP/HYGIENE and Food Safety

 

 

Meat and Poultry processing environment challenges. Processing environments are by nature cold and wet, and this type of environment can lead to problems with product quality and safety, as well as worker safety.

 

In dealing with food safety, most cold processing environments do not easily support growth of Salmonella or Campylobacter – the two main pathogenic bacterial concerns in raw poultry. However, in ready-to-eat products there is a pathogenic bacterium very wide spread in nature that survives well in wet and cold environments – Listeria monocytogenes (LM).

Generally, LM is found on non-contact surfaces such as soil, sewage, decaying vegetation, floors, walls, drains and in areas with standing water, but it can be found on equipment surfaces as well.

This survival of LM in ready-to-eat products is a matter of concern. Most symptoms are flu-like and occur within a few days to up to three weeks after infection. Healthy adults may have very few symptoms when infected.

Immune-compromised patients, on the other hand, have a higher risk of death due to increased risk of meningitis, septicaemia and encephalitis. In pregnant women, LM can cross the placenta and infect the foetus causing miscarriages, stillbirths or serious medical complications in newborns.

LM can survive longer under adverse environmental conditions than can many other vegetative bacteria that present a food safety concern. In addition to being able to survive and grow at refrigeration temperatures, LM tolerates high salt concentrations (such as in non-chlorinated brine chiller solutions) and survives frozen storage for extended periods.

It is more resistant to nitrite and acidity than many other food-borne pathogens. It is also more resistant to heat than many other non-spore forming food-borne pathogens, although it can be killed by heating procedures such as those used to pasteurise milk.

Scenarios that could lead to contamination with LM:

• A packaging line is moved or modified significantly.
• Used equipment is brought from storage or another plant and installed into the process flow.
• An equipment breakdown occurs.
• Construction or major modifications are made to an area where RTE ( Ready To Eat ) foods are processed or exposed (e.g. replacing refrigeration units or floors, replacing or building walls, modifications to sewer lines).
• A new employee, unfamiliar with the operation and LM controls, has been hired to work in, or to clean equipment in the area where RTE foods are processed or exposed.
• Personnel who handle RTE foods touch surfaces or equipment likely to be contaminated (e.g. floor, trash cans) do not change gloves before handling food.
• Periods of heavy production make it difficult to clean the floors of holding coolers as scheduled.
• A drain backs up.
• Product is caught or hung up on equipment. (Stagnant product in a system can be a major site of microbial growth during production.)
• Raw or under-processed foods are placed in an area designated for cooked foods.
• Frequent product changes on a packaging line cause you to change packaging film, labels, moulds, line speeds, etc.
• Personnel are used interchangeably for packaging raw and cooked foods.
• Increased production causes you to perform wet cleaning of lines that have been taken down from production in the same room as lines that are running product.
• Heat exchangers have become compromised.
• Equipment parts, tubs, screens, etc. are cleaned on the floor.
• Waste bins in the RTE area are not properly maintained, cleaned and sanitised.
• Re-circulating pumps and lines are not cleaned and sanitised.
• There is indiscriminate use of high-pressure hoses in cleaning.
• There is inappropriate use of footbaths in dry processing areas.
• Water is sprayed on wheels on transport carts when in-process product is stored near the wheels.
• Contamination of a RTE food with LM can occur during transportation and viable cells of LM can grow if the temperature is not controlled during transportation.

 

Periodic sampling and testing of finished RTE foods can be an important reference in evaluating control of LM over time. Although testing a single lot of finished product is not a practical means of assuring that the batch is free from LM contamination, results from such testing, performed on many batches over a long period of time, can serve to document control measures.

 

 

Significant changes can be made in the managing of the processing environment to reduce LM. These include plant layout, product flow, equipment development, procedures for cleaning and sanitising with LM in mind, and personnel practices.

1. Separating raw products from semi-finished and finished products is key to preventing cross-contamination. Operations must be pigeonholed as needed to enhance the separation of raw ingredients and processed products.
2. Wherever possible, flow of product through the operation – from the raw ingredients to the finished product – should be linear.
3. In order to improve the flow of product, equipment, and people to ensure separation of raw from cooked or treated product, plants and/or practices must be rearranged if necessary.
4. In some operations, it may be necessary to establish positive air flow on the ‘clean’ (cooked food) side of the operation relative to the ‘dirty’ (raw food) side.
5. Dedicated washing areas and CIP/COP (clean in place, clean out of place) systems should be provided for cooked or treated product equipment and raw processing equipment.
6. Dustbins for cooked or treated product areas should be labelled – preferably colour coded – and not be used elsewhere in the plant. They must be cleaned and sanitised daily or more frequently if environmental sampling data indicate this is necessary.
7. Before the start of operation each day, hoses are to be removed if possible from the manufacturing areas where RTE products are exposed. Otherwise, they must be properly hung and controlled during production.
8. Separate, colour-coded utensils, carts, racks, equipment, cleaning utensils etc should be used for the RTE product area.
9. Where possible, overhead fixtures should be eliminated in the RTE area, especially over open product zones; overhead fixtures should be on a scheduled maintenance and cleaning programme.
10. Where possible, wet process areas should be isolated from other production areas; at a minimum, standing water should be removed as soon as possible.

 

 

There are a number of reputable companies in South Africa that supply equipment, cleaning materials and expertise.

 

 

These include PHT, Industro Clean, Glenchem, Bidvest Steiner, Empact Group – Supercare, Entecom, Goscor, Prime Cleaning Suppliers, Pescatech and Lindol Hygiene to name but a few.

Traffic flow patterns between the raw ingredients and the processed products sides of the operation must be controlled to prevent transfer of LM from the ‘dirty’ to the ‘clean’ cooked side.

Some specific measures which should be considered for controlling the transfer of LM to clean areas are as follows:

1. Equipment, utensils and people in raw and cooked areas should not be interchanged during the working day.
2. Drains from the ‘dirty’ side should not be connected to those in the ‘clean’ side.
3. Plant management must install foot baths; if they are installed, they must be properly maintained to prevent their becoming a source of contamination. Foot bath solutions should contain stronger concentrations of sanitiser than would normally be used on equipment. Chlorine is not recommended for this use as it becomes too quickly inactivated.
4. A foam disinfectant may be sprayed on the floor as people or rolling stock (carts, forklifts, etc) enter the room.
5. Water used in processing operations which will come in contact with product, for example chill water for RTE products and for blanched vegetables to be used in RTE products, should contain an antimicrobial agent known to be effective against LM and be approved for the specific application at the levels used.
6. Pallets entering the packaging room must be clean, dry and in good condition, and exposed products must be stored and packaged in a clean, dry environment.

Although food safety is always a concern in a wet processing environment, worker safety should not be overlooked. Slips, trips and falls can be a significant hazard when working in a wet processing environment, and standing water can be a cause of these accidents. Fat on the floor when mixed with water will form a slick emulsion that can become a slip and fall hazard.

 

However, the slickness of the floors not only depends upon the presence of standing water, but also the type of flooring. Most processing plants have epoxy-coated concrete floors with resins to prevent slippery surfaces when wet. Tiled floors and smooth concrete floors can become very slippery when wet.

Good news is that there is a wealth of local suppliers that are just waiting to assist with your flooring needs such as Cape Industrial Flooring, Epoxy Flooring Systems, Floormaster, Floorshield, Flowcrete/Stoncor, Robex, and Verni – Speciality Construction Products to name but a few.

To prevent falls and to ensure a secure workplace, standing water on floors should be removed, and employees should be either supplied with or advised to wear work boots or rubber soled boots that prevent slipping. The best way to ensure an environment that promotes food safety and quality, and worker safety is to remove standing water from floor and equipment.

In a nutshell: Get the water out and bacteria won’t get in.




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