The Food Industry

Focusing on namely the chilled convenience food sector.

This is a 9 billion dollar industry with short shelf life, multi-component products e.g. pre-packed sandwiches and ready meals. 

Food Safety 

Farm-> primary producer-> secondary producer-> agent-> food manufacturer-> wholesaler-> retailer-> consumer.

There may be hundreds of different raw materials suppliers involved. This requires:

• Supplier approval/technical standards.
• Specifications.
• Supplier management.
• Materials inspection/testing.
• Traceability of material through supply chain. 

Traceability 

• Differently designed systems.
• Integral to recipe and product management.
• Batches clearly identifiable.
• Horizontal and vertical traceability. 
• Must be tested.

Animal/farm specific, date of harvest/kill, line number or operators, HACCP, & chain of ownership of the material. 

Food safety essentials; traceability, HACCP, raw material quality, process and manufacture design, hygiene, personnnel controls & management reviews. 

Quality Management

Inputs:

• Legislation.
• Customer Requirements.
• Industry guidelines.
• ISO standards.
• Corporate policy.

Central:

• Quality policy manual. 
• Codes of practice, HACCP etc.
• Quality procedures & work instructions.
• Quality records.

Outputs:

• KPIs.
• Micro, quality & complaints.
• Audits.

Examples of Technical Standards

- corporate policies, customer codes of practice and product and raw material specifications. 

• Good manufacturing practices.
• Hygiene and housekeeping.
• Process control and validation.
• Pest control.
• Foreign body control.
• Welfare.
• Product Quality.
• Analysis.
• Procurement including vet residues and pesticides.

When things go wrong 

Average cost of national product withdrawal-> 0.25 million per item & loss of confidence in the product/brand.

Science & Technology

• Retailers and manufacturers conduct their own research which is not published.
• This aims for food safety improvements, finding a better way of working/advancement, efficiency, and commercial advantage over competitors. 

Reduction of Salmonella in Poultry

• Multidisciplinary team over a number of suppliers.
• Risk assessment.
• Identification of interventions by sharing of experiences and trial work.
• Implementation through supply chain.
• Audit & review.
• Success-> reduction to <5% salmonella in suppliers. 

Example interventions:

• Feed heat treatment.
• Pest control.
• Hygiene.
• Building and equipment design.
• Personnel and vehicle traffic. 

Vets in the Food Industry

• Research and development work with primary processors e.g. campylobacter and salmonella.
• Primary plants.
• Enforcement in outbreaks e.g. FMD.