Food safety management systems Flashcards
What is the FSA?
- government department (only government department not lead by a minister)
- run by independent board acting in public interest
- purpose: to protect consumers by improving safety of food and by giving honest, clear information
- responsibilities: food and feed safety, risk assessment, management and communication
- values: consumer first/ open and transparent/ science and evidence based
- budget: £150m. Staff = 1500 (1000 in meat plants)
Differentiate FSA and DEFRA responsibilities:
- FSA: food and feed safety legislation: hygiene, contaminants, additivies, labelling and composition in relation to food safety, GM food, imports, food contact materials
- DEFRA: animal health and welfare, beef labelling, organics, non-food safety related labelling, animal product imports, pesticide/veterinary drug residues
Outline the strucutre of health ministers in England, Wales, NI and Scotland.
- FSA –> Health ministers for UK, Wales, NI
- Food Standards Scotland –> Health minister scotland
Outline FSA governance
- Non-executive: no minister, FSA board (14)
- Executive: Chief executive directors (10)
Describe FSA Open Board Meetings
public can physically attend/ watch online –> increases public confidence
T/F: raw poultry meat is the most significant source of Campylobacter for human infections
True
What is the economic cost of campylobacter?
- 1000 hospitalisations (UK)
- 4/5 from contaminated poultry
- 9 million sick/y in Europe
What is the ‘ACT’ campaign?
Acting on Campylobacter Together
What was the campylobacter reduction target?
- reduce high level contamination (>1000cfu/g) from 27% in 2008 to 10% in 2015
- there is continuing monitoring
Outline food safety legislation
- important developments in way food processed and distributed
- new legal framework: whole food chain approach, clear responsibilities (FBOs and CAs), traceability, precautionary principle, take rapid, effective, safeguard measures for animal health emergencies
Outline FBO - HACCP pre-requisites
- provision of basic environmental and operating conditions
- focused on: premises/ product/ personnel
- required for production of safe, wholesome food
- also referred to as Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) and/or Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
Examples of common pre-requisites
- water quality
- maintenance programme
- cleaning programme
- personal health
- pest control
- training
- temperature controls
- traceability
- waste management
- raw materials
- wrapping and packing
- transport hygiene
What are the HACCP principles?
- ID potentials hazards and measures for their control
- Determine critical control points (CCPs)
- Establish critical limits (CL) which must be met to ensure each CCP is under control
- Establish a monitoring system
- Establish the corrective action to be taken when monitoring indicates that the CCP is not under control
- Establish verification procedures to confirm that the HACCP system is working effectively
- Establish documentation for procedures and records
Outline main principles of poultry slaughterhouse campylobacter reduction
- improve controls on campylobacter and other microbiological hazards
- increase FBO responsibility/ accountability. Concentrate official tasks purely on the verification of FBO’s compliance with the legislation and its enforcement
- remove ‘redundant’ tasks
- maintain consumer confidence (food safety, animal health and welfare)
- don’t disturb international trade
What is Reg 852/2004?
- general principles for hygienic production of foodstuffs throughout the food chain
- HACCP is an instrument to help FBOs attain a higher standard of food safety
- Article 5: require FBOs to put in place procedures based on HACCP based principles (all 7 principles listed)
What is Reg 853/2004?
- detailed hygiene rules for products of ANIMAL origin
- references to HACCP
What is Reg 854/2004?
organisation of official controls - audit of HACCP by OVs
Define HACCP
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
How many birds can be processed per hour by a high speed poultry slaughterhouse?
12,000 birds/h
Outline campylobacter process hygiene methods
during 5w for each flock:
- 1 caeca sample (3 pooled caeca): know level of contamination entering slaughterhouse
- 1 neck skin ( 3 pooled skins): know level of contamination at end of slaughter process
- allows determination of efficacy of hygiene at slaughterhouse
T/F: tackling campylobacter is a shared responsibility and consumers have roles
True
Outline retail figures for campylobacter
- 19% chickens tested positive for Campylobacter within highest band of contamination (>1000 cfu/g)
- 73% chickens tested positive for presence of campylobacter
- 0.1% of packaging tested positive at highest band of contamination
- 7% packaging tested positive for presence of campylobacter
What is the legislation about selling fresh chicken?
European Marketing Limit - to sell poultry as fresh, it can’t have been stored at
Outline a rapid surface chilling system
liquid N applied - aim for even distribution. Originally trialled with 40 second tx at 12,000 birds/h –> tunnel is 60m which is unviable. Now reduced to 15s means tunnel is 20m.
Outline steam and ultrasound system
- cheaper to run, less time, almost same efficacy of liquid nitrogen
- ultrasound waves (160dB) disrupts surface slime layer on chicken. This means the steam (90 degrees) can kill the bacteria on the skin. The heat is stopped before the quality of product/meat is affected.
What is the target level of campylobacter in poultry?
Aim for less than 1000cfu/g (this is define as the high level of contamination)
