Food Safety Programs

---

An Allergen Control Program is a food establishment’s written plan for the storage, handling, processing, packaging, and identification of allergenic foods and ingredients. The goal of an effective Allergen Control Program is to prevent contamination of food products with undeclared allergens and to adequately inform consumers of products that contain allergens.

Food establishments should ensure that adequate research is done all food ingredients used and that allergens are accurately declared by suppliers. Food facilities and their processes should be designed and setup in a way that minimize the possibility for cross-contamination and to allow for adequate controls during operations. The allergen control plan should include steps to properly transport, receive and store allergen-containing ingredients. Production rooms or lines for allergen-containing foods should be adequately separated from other production areas or scheduled in a manner that minimize the chance for cross-contamination. The movement of employees should be restricted when both allergen and non-allergen containing foods are being produced. Food facilities should have adequate cleaning and sanitation procedures or SSOP (Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures) in place for all food production activities. The Allergen Control Program should document specific cleaning and sanitation requirements for producing allergen containing foods.

Food establishments are also required to identify and declare all major food allergens on their food label. Undeclared allergens are the leading cause of product recalls and detentions. Foods entering the United States must comply to the Food Allergen and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA), which outline the rules for allergen labeling.

Adequate training should be provided for employees to ensure that they understand their responsibilities as part of the Allergen Control Program and that they are aware of safety risks for consumers. Most food establishments provide routine Food Allergen Awareness Training (training resources available at PFCS Online Training) for their employees as part of their food safety program. Employee training should be documented and assessed periodically to ensure conformance to the Allergen Control Program.

The Allergen Control Program should undergo frequent internal and supplier’s audit to ensure that it is working and reviewed periodically for overall effectiveness. The program should be re-evaluated whenever there is a new supplier or if there is a change in the equipment, processing method or ingredients used.

All food establishments are required to develop and implement an effective Cleaning and Sanitation Program for their operations. It is a written plan outlining how the premises, facilities, equipment, and other amenities are cleaned and kept in good sanitary conditions to prevent contamination and ensure the production of safe foods.

The program should describe the cleaning procedures for all food equipment, utensils, floors, drains, walls, ceilings, overheads structures and anything else that may be of food safety concerns. A master cleaning schedule should be in place to outline what to be cleaned, the chemicals to be used, who is responsible and the frequency for cleaning. Cleaning chemicals and sanitizers should be suitable for use in food establishments and should not contaminate any foods or packaging materials during and after use. All chemicals must be properly labeled and stored only in the designated areas. Safety Data Sheets (SDS) should be available for all chemicals used in the food establishment. All food contact surfaces must be thoroughly inspected to ensure they meet the required sanitary conditions before starting operations. The Cleaning and Sanitation Program should also describe how cleaning is verified including any testing that may be required.

Cleaning and sanitation records should be up to date and readily available for auditing. The program should be reviewed periodically or anytime changes occur.

In the food industry, a Crisis Management Plan describes the actions a food business will take in response to critical event or situation that could affect its ability to provide customers with safe foods. Threats to food safety may vary from business to business depending on factors such as product type and facility location, but the most common ones are fire, flood, hurricane, power failure and disruption in the availability of potable water. The implementation of the plan is also essential in minimizing financial losses and protecting the reputation of businesses.

The development and implementation of a Crisis Management Plan requires the establishment of a crisis management team. The team should be well rounded and include upper management personnel to make key business decisions. Other team members may include personnel from food safety and quality, purchasing, marketing and sales.  Depending on the setup of the organization and the nature of the crisis, the team may also consist of members outside of the business such as legal representation, food safety consultants and other experts. Each member should have defined roles and responsibilities. The roles and responsibilities of the team should be clearly defined, and adequate training should be provided to all team members. The team should be aware of all known threats to the business that could impact food safety and quality, as well as the procedures to follow to mitigate these threats.

Effective communication is key when responding to any crisis. The crisis management plan should describe how communications will be handled and who is responsible for its transmission. There should also be a crisis contact that include members of the crisis team, customers, regulatory personnel, outside contractors, legal advice, and other industry experts.

Once the crisis management team is established and all known food safety threats to the business are identified, the team must develop action plans for each threat. The action plans should document the steps to be taken in response to each threat with the primary goal of maintaining or regaining control. The team should implement controls that can assure that food safety is not compromised and if compromised, how the unsafe food products will be isolated and prevented from reaching consumers. The plan should also include criteria for implementing each control such as the number of hours without power or a specific change in product temperature, and how these criteria will be monitored during the crisis. There should be clear differentiation between what products can be salvaged and those that are no longer safe and need to be destroyed. All salvage and product destruction procedures should be document and are readily available.

In the event of a crisis, there should be proper recordkeeping to show that the crisis management plan is being followed and that there is evidence to back up the review and disposition of affected products. It is routine for food businesses to conduct mock scenarios to assess the effectiveness of their crisis management plan. It is also recommended that the plan is reviewed at least annually.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.

Add an answer to this item.