CHAPTER 11

• Food Safety Management Systems

  • Group of practices and procedures intended to prevent foodborne illness 
  • Actively controls risks and hazards throughout the flow of food
• The Foundation of Food Safety Management

  • Personal hygiene program
  • Food safety training program
  • Cleaning and sanitizing program
  • Pest control program
  • Standard operating procedures
  • Supplier selection program
• Focuses on controlling the five most common risk factors for foodborne illness: 

  1. Purchasing food from unsafe sources 
  2. Failing to cook food adequately 
  3. Holding food at incorrect temperatures 
  4. Using contaminated equipment 
  5. Practicing poor personal hygiene
• There are many ways to achieve active managerial control in the operation: 

  • Training programs 
  • Manager supervision 
  • Incorporation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) 
  • HACCP
• These are the critical to the success of active managerial control: 

  • Monitoring critical activities in the operation
  • Taking the necessary corrective action when required 
  • Verifying that the actions taken control the risks factors
• It is the manager’s responsibility to actively control these and other risk factors for foodborne illness. This is called active managerial control. There are many ways to achieve active managerial control in the operation.
• According to the FDA, you can use simple tools such as training programs, manager supervision, and the incorporation SOPs. Active managerial control can also be achieved through more complex solutions such as a HACCP program. Monitoring is critical to the success of active managerial control. Food will be safe if managers monitor critical activities in the operation.
• The FDA provides recommendations controlling the common risk factors for foodborne illness:

  • Demonstration of knowledge
  • Staff health controls
  • Controlling hands as a vehicle of contamination
  • Time and temperature parameters for controlling pathogens
  • Consumer advisories
• The HACCP approach:  

  • HACCP is based on identifying significant biological, chemical, or physical hazards at specific points within a product’s flow through an operation.
  • Once identified, hazards can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to safe levels.
• To be effective, a HACCP system must be based on a written plan: 

  • It must be specific to each facility’s menu customers, equipment, processes, and operations. 
  • A plan that works for one operation may not work for another
• Principle 1: Conduct a Hazard Analysis

  • Identify potential hazards in the food served by looking at how it is processed 
  • Identify TCS food items and determine where hazards are likely to occur for each one: look for biological, chemical, and physical contaminants 
• Principle 2: Determine Critical Control Points (CCPs) 

  • Find points in the process where identified hazards can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to safe levels – these are the CCPs 
  • Depending on the process, there may be more than one CCP
• Principle 3: Establish Critical Limits 

  • For each CCP, establish minimum or maximum limits 
  • These limits must be met to prevent or eliminate the hazard and reduce it to a safe level.
• Principle 4: Establish Monitoring Procedures

  • Determine the best way to check critical limits and ensure that they are consistently met 
  • Identify who will monitor them and how often
• Principle 5: Identify Corrective Actions  

  • Identify steps that must be taken when a critical limit is not met 
  • Determine these steps in advance
• Principle 6: Verify that the Systems Works 

  • Determine if the plan is working as intended 
  • Evaluate the plan or a regular basis using (1) Monitoring charts (2) Records (3) Hazard analysis 
  • Determine if your plan prevents, reduces, or eliminates hazards
• Principle 7: Establish Procedures for Record Keeping and Documentation

  Keep records for these actions: 

  • Monitoring activities 
  • Corrective actions 
  • Validating equipment (checking for good working condition) 
  • Working with suppliers (invoices, specifications, etc) 
• These specialized processing methods require a variance and may require a HACCP plan:

  • Smoking food as a method to preserve it.
  • Using food additives or components such as vinegar to preserve or alter food so it no longer requires time and temperature control for safety
  • Curing food 
  • Custom-processing animals 
  • Packaging food using ROP methods including MAP, Vacuum-packed, Sous vide
  • Treating (e.g. pasteurizing) juice on-site and packaging it for later sale 
  • Sprouting seeds or beans