Quality Control Procedures & Raw Materials

Quality Control Procedures & Raw Materials • Raw materials are the tools, equipment, supplies, goods and services that a company requires to do business on a daily basis. • What are some raw materials you use in your trade? • Is it important for you to have quality raw materials? Why?

Control of the acceptance of Raw Material • Quality control procedures as applied to the acceptance and checking of raw materials are usually the responsibility of the receiver once the raw materials have been received from the supplier. • Therefore, it is essential that the receiver have quality controls in place to identify any non-conforming product and which ensure that any product found unacceptable is returned to the supplier. • An acceptable product is one which meets all contractual obligations.

Outline for receiving raw materials • Some organizations with quality procedures may follow an outline for receiving raw materials: • 1. A requisition or purchase order, created by the purchaser is sent to the supplier. This form contains the following information: • Company with whom the order is placed (supplier) • Company placing the order (purchaser) • Purchase order number (useful for tracking) • Date of order • List of goods and quantities • Quoted price per item and total price • Payment details (cash, credit)

A copy of the requisition is kept by the purchaser and a copy is forwarded to the supplier. • 2. A delivery docket or packing slip, created by the supplier, usually accompanies the delivery of ordered goods. This form contains the following information: • Supplier and receiver • Purchase order number • Date of delivery • List of all goods and quantities being delivered (may include item numbers) • *there are no price details included on this form. • A copy of the delivery docket is kept by the supplier and a copy accompanies the order.

Visual Inspection • When the purchaser receives the order, he/she conducts a visual inspection to ensure the number, quality, size, weight (if applicable). • Sometimes a visual inspection is not enough and testing may be conducted.

Types of tests or inspections • Visual- look at the product • Measurement- does it meet requirements or standards laid out in plans • Functional tests- does it do what it is supposed to do? • Special testing- radiography, ultrasound

Examples when visual inspection may not be enough • Eggs used in cooking. Eggs would have to be randomly tested for freshness to ensure they can provide the best ingredients by a chef. (Cooking) • Breakers for electrical work may need to be tested before they are actually put in use (Electrical Trade) • Welding rods would have to be checked to ensure they had not absorbed excessive amounts of moisture that could affect their usability (Welding)

In Class Activity • Each group must identify at least two examples of when visual inspection is not enough when receiving raw materials in your trade. • What inspection would be appropriate?

Outline for receiving continued • 3. An invoice, created by the supplier may either accompany the order or may be sent at another time. • This form contains: • Invoice number • Date of invoice • Supplier and Receiver • List of goods and the quantities being charged • Total Price (any taxes and discounts applied and shown)

Discrepancies • Whenever there is a discrepancy found in information contained on these forms or whenever there is a defect in the product received, it must be reported immediately to the following people or departments: • Supervisor/manager • Supplier • Finance/accounts department • Any other person or department as specified in company procedures.

Storage of Raw Materials • Another important aspect of receiving raw materials is the storage of these materials once they have been received and accepted. • The primary objective is to protect the quality of the product, have enough merchandise on hand, and prevent loss through spoilage and/or theft. • Control is generally established by having a person or persons responsible for the storage and maintenance of all supplies.

Minimum Storage Procedures • Appropriate storage- shelving • Defined space for each item or type of item. Pay particular attention to the storage space when storing dangerous chemicals. • Where applicable, materials should be stored to ensure “first in-first out” • All items should be clearly labeled with date, item and quantity, if possible. • Storage areas should be clean and free from vermin (especially for food) • Attention should be paid to the temperature and humidity for certain products • Physical inventories should be performed on a regular basis

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point System (HACCP) • Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point or HACCP is a systematic preventive approach to food safety and pharmaceutical safety that addresses physical, chemical, and biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than finished product inspection. • HACCP is used in the food industry to identify potential food safety hazards, so that key actions can be taken to reduce or eliminate the risk of the hazards being realized. The system is used at all stages of food production and preparation processes including packaging, distribution, etc.

History of HACCP • The HACCP was developed in the 1960s by the Pillsbury Company as part of its efforts to produce food or the NASA Space Program that was approaching 100% assurance against contamination

HACCP Seven Principles • Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis. - Plans determine the food safety hazards and identify the preventive measures the plan can apply to control these hazards. A food safety hazard is any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food to be unsafe for human consumption. • Principle 2: Identify critical control points. - A CCP is a point, step, or procedure in a food manufacturing process at which control can be applied and, as a result, a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable level. • Principle 3: Establish critical limits for each critical control point. - A critical limit is the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or chemical hazard must be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level. • Principle 4: Establish critical control point monitoring requirements. - Monitoring activities are necessary to ensure that the process is under control at each critical control point.

Principle 5: Establish corrective actions. - These are actions to be taken when monitoring indicates a deviation from an established critical limit. The final rule requires a plant's HACCP plan to identify the corrective actions to be taken if a critical limit is not met. Corrective actions are intended to ensure that no product injurious to health or otherwise as a result of the deviation enters commerce. • Principle 6: Establish record keeping procedures. - The HACCP regulation requires that all plants maintain certain documents, including its hazard analysis and written HACCP plan, and records documenting the monitoring of critical control points, critical limits, verification activities, and the handling of processing deviations. • Principle 7: Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as intended. - Validation ensures that the plants do what they were designed to do; that is, they are successful in ensuring the production of a safe product. Plants will be required to validate their own HACCP plans.

Types of food safety hazards controlled by a HACCP system • For the purposes of HACCP, hazards refer to agents in or conditions of food that can cause illness, injury or death of a person. These hazards fall into three categories: biological, chemical and physical. • Biological Hazards (B) • Biological hazards are those caused by micro-organisms (bacteria, virus, parasites and moulds) and are often associated with the failure of a process step. (E.g., Pathogen survival due to improper time/temperature applications during pasteurization) • Chemical Hazards (C) • Chemical hazards include those caused by substances/molecules that: • Are naturally derived from plants or animals (e.g., poisonous mushrooms); • Are intentionally added to the food during growth or during food processing. These substances are considered safe at established levels but are dangerous above these levels (e.g., sodium nitrite, pesticides); • Contaminate the food accidentally (e.g., cleaning chemicals); • Cause some individuals to experience an immune system response (food allergens). • Physical hazards (P) • Physical hazards include substances not normally found in food that can cause physical injury to the person consuming the food (e.g., wood slivers, glass fragments, metal shavings, bone pieces).

Controlling the work environment and operational practices • Prior to developing HACCP plans, the establishment shall develop and implement prerequisite programs to assist in controlling the likelihood of introducing food safety hazards to the product through the work environment and operational practices. • The prerequisite programs shall be documented, updated whenever there are changes associated with the prerequisite programs and reassessed at least annually.

The seven prerequisite programs include the following elements and sub-elements: • (A) Premises (see 3.1.1.1) • • A.1 Outside Property • o A.1.1 Outside Property • • A.2 Building • o A.2.1 Building Design, Construction and Maintenance • o A.2.2 Lighting • o A.2.3 Ventilation • o A.2.4 Waste and Inedible/Food Waste Disposal • • A.3 Sanitary Facilities • o A.3.1 Employees Facilities • o A.3.2 Hand Washing Stations and Sanitizing Installations • • A.4 Water/Steam/Ice Quality, Protection and Supply • o A.4.1 Water/Steam/Ice Quality, Protection and Supply • (B)Transportation, Purchasing/Receiving/Shipping and Storage (see 3.1.1.2) • • B.1 Transportation • o B.1.1 Food Carriers • • B.2 Purchasing/Receiving/Shipping and Storage • o B.2.1 Purchasing/Receiving/Shipping • o B.2.2 Storage • (C) Equipment (see 3.1.1.3) • • C.1 Equipment General • o C.1.1 Design & Installation • o C.1.2 Equipment Maintenance and Calibration

Prerequisites continued • (D) Personnel (see 3.1.1.4) • • D.1 Training • o D.1.1 General Food Hygiene Training Program • o D.1.2 Technical Training Program • • D.2 General Food Hygiene Program • o D.2.1 General Food Hygiene Program • (E) Sanitation and Pest Control (see 3.1.1.5) • • E.1 Sanitation • o E.1.1 Sanitation Program • • E.2 Pest Control • o E.2.1 Pest Control Program • (F) Recall (see 3.1.1.6) • • F.1 Recall System • O F.1.1 Recall Plan • o F.1.2 Product coding and labelling • (G) Allergen Control (see 3.1.1.7) • • G.1 Allergen Control Program • o G.1.1 Allergen Control Program

HACCP plan • Establishments shall conduct a complete hazard analysis for all of their processes and products in order to identify and control all hazards effectively. A HACCP Plan is a written document designed in accordance with the following steps to ensure control of food safety hazards within an establishment. • There are 12 steps to developing each HACCP plan. These steps are as follows: • 1. Assemble the HACCP team • 2. Describe the product and identify its intended use • 3. List product ingredients and incoming material • 4. Construct a process flow diagram and confirm its accuracy • 5. Construct a plant schematic and confirm its accuracy • 6. Identify and analyze hazards (Principle 1) • 7. Determine critical control point(s) (CCP) and other control measures i.e. process control (PC) and prerequisite programs (PP) (Principle 2) • 8. Establish critical limits for CCP (Principle 3) • 9. Establish monitoring procedures for CCP (Principle 4) • 10. Establish deviation procedures for CCP (Principle 5) • 11. Establish verification procedures for CCP (Principle 6) • 12. Establish record keeping for CCP (Principle 7) • Steps 1 to 5 are preliminary steps to enable hazard analysis. Steps 6 to 12 incorporate the 7 principles of HACCP

Documentation • All relevant information needed to conduct the preliminary steps, the hazard analysis, and the establishment of the critical control points and process controls shall be documented, updated whenever there are changes, and reassessed at least annually. • FSEP has created 10 specific forms that can be used for the documentation of a HACCP plan.

Maintenance and reassessment of the HACCP system Whenever any changes or situations occur that could affect the hazard analysis or alter the HACCP system, the establishment shall: • Update the parts of the HACCP system affected by the changes or situations; • Reassess completeness and effectiveness of the updated part of the HACCP system; • Revalidate all CCPs affected by the changes. Here are examples of potential triggers which could lead to the need to update and/or to perform a reassessment of parts of the HACCP system: • New regulatory requirements related to food safety • New product • Noncompliant situations identified during monitoring and verification activities • Consumer/client complaints • Food safety recalls • Unsatisfactory laboratory results • New technology or piece of equipment that impacts on the level of a hazard • New/on-going construction or change in the product flow and or employee traffic patterns resulting in a potential for cross contamination

HACCP system reassessment procedures • At least annually, the establishment shall reassess its entire HACCP system to determine whether the system: • Is up to date; • Identifies all food safety hazards; • Has control measures in place for all food safety hazards which may be controlled by the establishment; • Results in the desired outcomes; • Conforms to current regulatory requirements; • Conforms to the requirements defined in the FSEP manual.

Benefits of HACCP • Although the adoption of HACCP systems worldwide is due primarily to the added food safety protection provided to consumers, there are other benefits to the food industry that can be realized by implementing a successful HACCP system. • a. Formally incorporates food safety principles as integral steps of production processes • HACCP recognition status cannot be completed without a firm commitment by senior management to formally support food safety control measures throughout the production process. The implementation and maintenance of those control measures play a critical role in raising awareness of front line production management and staff of the presence and importance of specific food safety procedures within their process. • b. Increased employees’ ownership of the production of safe food • As a sign of this commitment, it is the responsibility of senior management to foster the idea within the facility that food safety is the responsibility of everyone. Through the process of developing and implementing a HACCP system, employees become more aware of food safety and their role in contributing to food safety. This increased knowledge leads to ownership of and pride in the production of a safe food product. • c. Increased buyer and consumer confidence • Establishments that have implemented a HACCP system provide buyers and consumers with a greater degree of confidence that the facility is producing a safe food product. Establishments can demonstrate by showing documents and records that food safety is under control.

Benefits Continued • d. Maintaining or increasing market access • Market forces continue to drive HACCP implementation throughout the food industry. In many cases, buyer demands and foreign governments require HACCP implementation to maintain market share and/or gain access to previously inaccessible markets. As HACCP systems are accepted worldwide, FSEP helps the Canadian industry to maintain and expand its international markets. • e. Reduced waste • The preventative nature of HACCP allows a company to control costs by minimizing the amount of product requiring rejection or recall, and by focusing resources on areas that have been identified as critical in the manufacture of a safe food product. With the regular monitoring inherent in a HACCP system, establishments become aware of problems earlier and the costs of waste are reduced.

Food Safety Enhancement Program (FSEP) • The objective of the Food Safety Enhancement Program (FSEP) of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is to specify minimum requirements for an effective food safety management system. • FSEP provides a mechanism for operators of establishments to demonstrate their ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe for the consumer. In addition, it enhances the establishment’s ability to achieve and maintain compliance with the relevant regulatory requirements. • FSEP is based on the principles of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system developed by the Codex AlimentariusCommission (A subsidiary body of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization of the United Nations). • HACCP is an internationally recognized, science-based food safety system, designed to prevent, reduce or eliminate potential biological, chemical and physical food safety hazards. • A HACCP system is the responsibility of the establishment. The food manufacturer has the most control over the product and thus can have the greatest impact on the safety of the food produced.

FSEP specifies the requirements for an effective HACCP system that combines the following key elements to ensure the production of safe food: • Prerequisite programs • HACCP plans (may include process controls, linked to a critical control point, if Applicable) • Validation of critical control points • Maintenance and reassessment procedures

FSEP • Products and sectors we regulateinclude: dairy products, egg and egg products, fish and seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, honey, labelling, maple products, meat and poultry products, organic products, non-federally registered sector, packaging materials and non-food chemical products, processed fruit and vegetables, retail food • List of HACCP/FSEP Recognized Establishments : • http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/polstrat/haccp/estlist/rege.shtml • Food Safety Enhancement Program Manual • http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/polstrat/haccp/manue/fseppasae.pdf

Applying Quality Control Procedures when you are producing and checking specifications and processes in the workplace • When you want to understand a work process or some part of a process, these tools can help: • Flowchart: a picture of the separate steps of a process in sequential order. You can include a sequence of actions, materials, or services entering or leaving the process (inputs and outputs), decisions that must be made, people who become involved, time involved at each step, etc.

Flowcharts • When to use a Flowchart: • to develop understanding of how a process is done • to study a process for improvement • to communicate to others how a process is done • when better communication is needed between people involved with the same process • to document a process • when planning a project • It is a generic tool that can be used to describe anything: a manufacturing process, a service process, a project plan, etc. • SEE SAMPLE

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) • FMEA is a step-by-step approach for identifying all possible failures in a design, a manufacturing or assembly process, or a product or service • Failure modes means the ways in which something might fail. Failures are any errors or defects, especially ones that affect the customers, and can be potential or actual. • A potential error is one that may occur if systems are not put in place to reduce the changes of the error occurring. • An actual error is one that has happened. • See sample

FMEA • Effects analysis refers to studying the consequences of those failures. • Failures are prioritized according to how serious their consequences are, how frequently they occur and how easily they can be detected. • The purpose of the FMEA is to take actions to eliminate or reduce failures, starting with the highest-priority ones. 33

FMEA • Failure modes and effects analysis also documents current knowledge and actions about the risks of failures, for use in continuous improvement. • FMEA is used during design to prevent failures. • Later, it’s used for control, before and during ongoing operation of the process. • Ideally, FMEA begins during the earliest conceptual stages of design an continues throughout the life of the product or service.

FMEA • When to use FMEA: • When a process, product, or service is being designed or redesigned • When an existing process, product or service is being applied in a new way. • before developing control plans for a new or modified process. • when improvement goals are planned for an existing process, product or service. • when analyzing failures of an existing process, product or service • periodically throughout the life of the process, product or service 35

Mistake-Proofing • Mistake-proofing is the use of any automatic device or method that either makes it impossible for an error to occur or makes the error immediately obvious once it has occurred. • When to use Mistake Proofing: • When a process step has been identified where human error can cause mistakes or defects to occur (especially in processes that rely on the worker’s attention, skill, or experience) • In a service process, where the customer can make an error which affects the output. • At a step in the process when an output or customer is transferred to another worker • See Sample

Mistake-Proofing • Continued: • when a minor error early in the process causes major problems later in the process. • when the consequences of an error are expensive or dangerous • when a process step has been identified where human error can cause mistakes or defects to occur, especially in professes that rely on the worker’s attention, skill or experience.

Quality Control Procedures & Raw Materials