When you're purchasing food from the supermarket you're trusting that the manufacturer has created a product that not only tastes good but is safe to eat as well. And just like you rely on other facilities to make a product that's safe for you to eat, your customers are relying on you to do the same for them. When foreign substances are introduced into the food that you are working with, it can result in contamination. This can not only cause your customers to get sick, it can damage your company's reputation as well.
That's why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, created a regulation that establishes current good manufacturing practices, CGMPs, for the food industry. The criteria that food processing and handling facilities must meet to help reduce the risk of contamination.
Individual facilities must then look at these criteria and develop their own detailed good manufacturing practices, GMPs, that will keep the food they work with contamination free. In this first of two GMP programs, we'll take a look at how following GMPs can help you to ensure the safety and quality of the food products you're processing or handling. As well as the first three sections of the FDA's regulation, which address personnel, plants and grounds, and sanitary operations.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's FDA... Current Good Manufacturing Practices Regulation requires every facility that processes or handles food to create a group of Good Manufacturing Practices that can help to prevent contamination in all of the aspects of their operations. The regulation provides criteria for the ideal manufacturing conditions that should exist in food processing and handling facilities to prevent food products from becoming contaminated. The FDA organizes GMPs into seven groups. The first three address personnel, plants and grounds, and sanitary operations.
The remaining four sections address sanitary facilities and controls, equipment, and utensils. manufacturing processes and controls, and warehousing and distribution. The GMPs that are developed in each facility might vary slightly depending on the manufacturing conditions.
For instance, a meat processing plant might require different GMPs than a bakery. So each facility is responsible for creating a set of GMPs that work for them. by following yours, you can help to create products that are safe for your customers to eat.
The first three sections of the FDA's regulation set criteria for providing a contamination-free environment by maintaining the condition of your manufacturing space, the areas outside of it, and the people inside of it. The initial section of the regulation focuses on the personnel who are working in your facility. Making sure that everyone is clean and disease-free while they are on the job. You and your co-workers are a crucial part of keeping the food products that you work with free from contamination. And if you don't follow your facility's GMP processes and procedures for personal hygiene and cleanliness, there's a good chance that you could introduce contaminants into the food products that you work with.
The next section of the regulation addresses the condition of your plant and the grounds surrounding it. Your GMPs must establish ways to keep the outside of your facility in a condition that protects against contamination, such as ensuring there is enough space so that things like maintenance equipment and food storage areas can be separated from each other, and keeping grounds clean and secure so that pests... cannot get to food or food processing areas. The FDA regulation also requires your facility to develop GMPs that focus on sanitary operations.
They must address the maintenance of the manufacturing space, how and when to use cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, pest control, and cleaning of food contact and non-food contact surfaces. One of the sections in the FDA's CGMP regulation that directly affects everyone in your facility is the one on personnel. That's why your facility's good manufacturing practices, GMPs, must include processes and procedures that you and your coworkers should use to help maintain good personal hygiene. These should address things like personal cleanliness, hand washing, clothing, jewelry, wearing gloves, hair restraints, and taking any other precautions that are necessary to avoid contaminating the food products that you're working with. Maintaining good personal hygiene starts with bathing and showering.
There are a lot of harmful microorganisms that can be found in our hair and skin, and they can easily be transferred to anything that you come into contact with. So to avoid contaminating the food products that you work with, you should make sure that you bathe or shower before you come to work. The next thing that you should think about is your clothing.
Wearing street clothes on the job can introduce outside contaminants into your facility. If possible, your work clothes should be used exclusively for work and stored inside your facility at all times. Continuing to keep germs and microorganisms off your hands as you go through the day is another crucial part of practicing good personal hygiene. You need to be aware of the specific GMPs that your facility has created for hand washing.
But at a minimum, you should wash your hands after you enter your facility, enter a new room, or touch something that might be contaminated, such as a product that hits the floor, dirty equipment, or even a doorknob. You should also wash your hands after coughing, sneezing or using a tissue, taking out the garbage, eating or drinking, using the bathroom, using tobacco, and handling chemicals that could contaminate the food you're working with. Wearing gloves is also a very good way to keep your hands sanitary at work. But don't forget to wash your hands before putting on a new pair.
This helps to ensure that you don't expose the outside of the gloves to any microorganisms that may still be on your hands. One thing that you should avoid when you're working with food is wearing jewelry. Rings, bracelets, or necklaces might seem to be securely fastened, but there's always a chance that they can catch on something and fall into food, equipment, or containers.
So leave your jewelry at home or in your locker just in case. Sometimes you don't even have to touch something to cause a problem. Things that you're using or eating can introduce contaminants into the air and then... onto the food you're working with. If you're in an area where you're exposed to food products or where equipment or utensils are cleaned, you should avoid eating food, chewing gum, drinking beverages, using tobacco, or applying cosmetics or medicine.
Did you know that just one hair can contaminate an entire batch of products? It can. And you don't want your hair to be the reason for a product recall.
That's why you should always wear a clean hat or a hair net when you're at work. They can help to keep your hair from falling into the food products that you're working with or from contaminating surfaces and equipment. If you have facial hair, you should also wear a beard restraint. Finally, when you're sick, it can be impossible to follow GMP hygiene guidelines at work. So if you develop a condition that can be contagious, you should report it to your manager or supervisor immediately.
They will tell you what you should do to keep your coworkers and your customers safe. You might think that the good manufacturing practices developed by your facility only need to be adhered to when you're actually handling food products, but it's also important to follow GMPs that address your physical plant itself and the grounds around it. Contamination can come from anywhere, so both the inside and outside of your building should be kept neat and clean.
and in a condition that protects the manufacturing environment. These GMPs should focus on making sure the plant and storage facilities are designed for the purpose they are being used for, maintaining the surrounding infrastructure, including roads, yards, and parking lots, and assuring that waste treatment and disposal do not create potential contaminants. Let's take a closer look at each of these areas.
The construction and design of your facility must be suitable for food production. The building must have enough space to adequately separate equipment and food storage areas. And floors, ceilings, and walls should be easy to clean and kept in good repair.
The lighting in your building should always be bright enough for you to see clearly, not just in areas where you're working with food or cleaning utensils, but in hand washing and bathroom areas as well. Proper ventilation is also vital to preventing contamination. It needs to minimize, if not eliminate, dust, odors and vapors in areas where they could contaminate the food products that you're working with.
The GMPs that address the grounds surrounding your facility should contain strategies that can be used to discourage pests and keep them out of the building. Cutting grass and weeds around the building and draining puddles or standing water goes a long way towards achieving this. But you should still be on the lookout for pests when you're outside your facility and report any potential problems to your supervisor.
Roads and parking lots also need to be well maintained. Damaged pavement can create dust, which can become airborne and carry bacteria and mold into your facility. Every food processing and handling facility must establish good manufacturing practices, GMPs, that contain processes and procedures to help protect the food products that are being worked with from outside contaminants.
But in order to comply with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's current good manufacturing practices regulations, these GMPs must also contain strategies to eliminate contaminants that are already present in the manufacturing environment. That's why it's important for your facility to implement GMPs that meet the FDA's criteria for sanitary operations.
To do this, they need to address the maintenance of your facility, the chemicals that are used to clean, sanitize, and maintain the facility, pest control both inside and outside of the building, And when and how to clean and sanitize equipment, utensils, and surfaces. First, let's look at the GMPs that address general maintenance. Your space and everything in it must be in good repair to protect the food that you're processing and handling.
For example, ceilings shouldn't have any leaks. Water or any other material that drips down could introduce contaminants into food products. The chemicals that are used for cleaning and maintaining the facility must be used and stored correctly. If not, they could contaminate the food that you're working with, as well as create significant health hazards for the people working there.
GMPs also need to be established for any cleaning tasks that you perform, specifying how, when, and where you should use each chemical. The focus here should be on doing things in ways that protect food, packaging, and workspaces from contamination. Whenever possible, chemicals must be non-toxic.
Toxic chemicals are only allowed in food areas when it is absolutely necessary. If you need help determining if a chemical is toxic, ask your supervisor. Any toxic chemicals that do have to be used should be stored so that food is protected from contamination and should be clearly labeled to eliminate the potential for misuse. Pest control is an area of prime importance in every food processing and handling operation. After all, if there is one thing that will attract pests, it's food.
Pest must be eliminated from all areas of your facility. You can help to reduce the risk of pests entering the building by implementing a rigorous cleaning schedule, sweeping up crumbs, and wiping any spills that will draw pests in. If pests do penetrate your facility, pesticides should only be used when there's no risk of contaminating food, packaging, or work surfaces.
Another thing that your facility needs to address are the cleaning and sanitizing processes and procedures that you will use to comply with the FDA requirements. They should describe in detail how, when, and how often to clean and sanitize food contact surfaces, including utensils, tables, and equipment. But your cleaning and sanitizing efforts can't stop there.
The GMP should address the condition of surfaces that don't have contact with food as well. You must clean and sanitize non-food contact surfaces, such as walls, ceilings, or anything else that doesn't touch food, as often as necessary, to prevent contamination of food, packaging, or work areas. And you can't forget portable equipment and utensils. Once they are cleaned and sanitized, they must be stored in a way that protects their food contact surfaces from contamination as well.
While most GMPs focus on protecting food as it is being processed, it is also important to avoid contaminating food products while they're being stored or transported. These GMPs need to address preventing cross-contact, biological, chemical and physical contamination, as well as the potential for food deteriorating during storage or transit. The FDA's GMP regulation requires your facility to do everything they can to maintain an environment that is free from contaminants. And establishing GMPs to meet their criteria for ideal manufacturing conditions is a good way to keep the food that you're processing or handling safe to eat.
Let's review. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has developed a current good manufacturing practices regulation. that sets criteria for minimizing the risk of contamination in food manufacturing environments. Based on this regulation, your facility must create its own good manufacturing practices that are specific to your operations.
Following GMPs for maintaining good personal hygiene habits can help you to avoid introducing contaminants into the food products that you're working with. Maintaining your facility and the grounds around it in a condition that can help to prevent contamination is an important part of the FDA's GMP regulation. Implementing GMPs for sanitary operations helps to eliminate contaminants that are already present in your facility, which is just as important as avoiding contamination from outside sources. If you follow your facility's GMPs, you can help to reduce contamination in the food products that you work with and keep your customers healthy and happy every day. As we discussed in the first program on GMPs, when you work in a food processing or handling facility, you have a responsibility to help create products that people can enjoy.
But if you don't take the proper precautions, you might have to take the wrong steps. might end up exposing the food that you're working with to harmful microorganisms. If these microorganisms are introduced into food products, it can result in contamination.
And contaminated products can not only hurt your business, They can also make your customers seriously ill. That's why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has created a regulation that establishes Current Good Manufacturing Practices for the food industry. All food processing or handling facilities must meet these criteria to help reduce the risk of contamination in their manufacturing environment. In order to adhere to the FDA regulation, each facility must develop a set of detailed good manufacturing practices, GMPs.
That can help prevent the food that they work with from becoming contaminated. In this second of two GMP programs, we'll take a look at how following GMPs can help you keep your facility contamination-free, so that the food products that you create will be safe for your customers to eat, as well as the last four sections of the FDA's GMP regulation, which address sanitary facilities and controls, equipment and utensils, manufacturing processes and controls. and Warehousing and Distribution. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's FDA current Good Manufacturing Practices regulation requires all food processing or handling facilities to create a group of Good Manufacturing Practices, GMPs. that could help to reduce the risk of contamination in their manufacturing environment.
The criteria provided by the regulation identify the ideal manufacturing conditions that should exist to prevent food products from becoming contaminated. And all facilities that process or handle food must find a way to meet these criteria. The FDA organizes GMPs into seven groups. The first three address personnel, plants and grounds, and sanitary operations. The remaining four sections address sanitary facilities and controls, equipment and utensils, manufacturing processes and controls, and warehousing and distribution.
Not every food processing or handling facility is the same. So GMPs might vary slightly depending on the manufacturing conditions. For instance, a meat processing plant might require different GMPs than a bakery. So each facility is responsible for creating a set of GMPs that work for them. And by following yours, you can help to create products that are safe for your customers to eat.
The last four sections of the FDA's regulation focus on the condition of the water in your facility, the equipment and utensils you work with, the environment in which the food is kept, and the manufacturing operations themselves. The fourth section of the regulation, Sanitary Facilities and Controls, first focuses on keeping the water in your facility free from contaminants. This includes providing an adequate supply of good quality water and keeping the plumbing system in good working order. It also establishes criteria for hand washing and toilet facilities, as well as waste disposal such as sewage and trash.
The equipment and utensils section of the regulation addresses their use, cleaning and storage. Your GMPs in this area describe... how you will keep utensils and equipment clean and working well.
Manufacturing processes and controls is the next section in the regulation. It primarily addresses three areas. Sanitation, quality control testing and food storage, raw materials and other ingredients, and manufacturing operations, such as processing, packaging and storing food.
The last section of the regulation is transportation and warehousing. These GMPs should include processes and procedures to ensure that the food is stored and transported in a way that protects it from contamination. One of the most important requirements in the Food and Drug Administration's FDA current good manufacturing practices regulation for the food processing and handling industry deals with water and waste.
In essence this requires facilities to provide a clean water supply that has the appropriate temperature and pressure for the food related activities that take place in all areas. Make sure that their plumbing systems are designed and sized appropriately and installed and maintained correctly. And protect the water supply from becoming contaminated by outside sources, such as sewage and rubbish.
Specifically, the water in your facility should be from an acceptable source, such as a city water supply or a well, where the water is clean and sanitary. Running water must have the pressure and temperature that is suitable for the work that your facility is doing and be provided in all areas where food processing and cleaning take place. This includes locations that have equipment that must be cleaned regularly and where tools, utensils, and packaging materials are cleaned, as well as locker rooms and other places where employees clean up.
Other GMPs that your facility must create address maintaining the plumbing in your buildings. These GMPs must be designed to ensure that adequate amounts of water are carried throughout the plant, water is flowing in the right direction, plumbing is constructed in a way that helps to avoid contamination, no backflow or cross connections, and floor drainage is provided in spaces where floors get very wet. To further reduce the risk of contaminating the water supply, the plumbing system in your facility must be designed to ensure that sewage systems are isolated from other piping and sewage is removed from the facility and disposed of properly.
The building that you work in must also have clean toilet and hand-washing facilities that are easily accessible to all employees. GMPs must be developed to keep them clean and sanitary at all times, so that they won't be a potential source of contamination. Additionally, all garbage and rubbish should be stored in a way that minimizes odor, won't attract pests, and doesn't create a contamination hazard. And you must have procedures in place to dispose of it safely as well.
You have to use a number of tools and utensils to help you when you're working with food. And if the ones you need aren't clean or in good condition, there's the possibility that you might contaminate the food you're working with. That's why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's current Good Manufacturing Practices Regulation requires facilities to create their own site-specific GMPs that describe what you can do to keep all of the equipment and utensils that you use clean, sanitized, and in good working order.
To meet the criteria set by the FDA, these GMPs must address the material, design, and condition of the utensils and equipment that you use, keeping food contact surfaces in good repair, the maintenance of utensils, equipment, and food contact surfaces, ensuring that thermometers are present in every freezer and refrigerator, and that they measure temperature accurately, and any other equipment issues that might affect food safety in your facility. Diving into this more deeply, these GMPs must ensure that equipment and utensils are made of materials that are appropriate for food contact and easy to clean and maintain. They should also be kept free of oils, metal fragments, water, and other foreign substances that might contaminate food. So if a utensil or piece of equipment looks as though it might have something on it that could introduce contaminants, you need to clean and sanitize it before you use it.
Any equipment that is installed in your facility should be easily accessible as well. There shouldn't be any physical barriers that could prevent you from cleaning it thoroughly or maintaining it. it properly.
To meet FDA requirements your facility must also develop GMP addressing the condition of food contact surfaces. These surfaces must be non-toxic as well as corrosion resistant and made of materials that aren't easily damaged by chemicals, water and other substances that might be present in your environment. If a surface has been corroded or is just in bad condition, harmful microorganisms can easily accumulate in any cracks and crevices that might be present.
So to minimize the risk of a the risk of contamination, all food contact surfaces should be smooth and seamless as well. While it might not seem to be as important as other types of equipment, freezers and refrigerators play a vital role in keeping food fresh and safe to eat. That's why the FDA regulation requires that they contain a thermometer that records the temperature accurately. Substances that are kept at too high a temperature are vulnerable to harmful microorganisms, which could affect the raw materials, ingredients, or finished product during storage.
So if you feel that there might be a problem with the temperature in a freezer or a refrigerator in your facility, you should report it to your supervisor immediately. And believe it or not, even compressed air can be a problem in... food processing and handling facilities.
Used improperly, it can spread contaminants throughout food contact areas. If your facility employs compressed air for any reason, it must be used in a controlled way that doesn't affect the safety of the food products that you're working with. The GMPs that your facility has established to comply with the Food and Drug Administration's current good manufacturing practices all deal with keeping your facility and equipment free from contamination. But one of the most important groups of GMPs are those aimed at preventing contamination during manufacturing operations. GMPs that are developed for manufacturing processes and controls.
must be designed to meet the FDA criteria for handling raw materials and ingredients, keeping food safe during the manufacturing operations, and quality control and testing. And in your plant, there must be one or more competent persons who are responsible for these functions. We all know that food products must be tested for contamination before being released to the public.
But finished food products aren't the only things that need to be inspected for contaminants. The safety and quality of the raw materials and ingredients that you're working with should also be monitored at all stages of the manufacturing process. And it's important to know the difference. While raw materials and ingredients are both used to create finished food products, the terms are not interchangeable.
Raw materials are unprocessed substances that are used in food manufacturing. They can be plant-based, like fruits or nuts, or animal-based, such as meat or milk. Ingredients are materials that have been processed in some way before you use them.
For example, wheat would be considered a raw material, but the flour that is made from it is an ingredient. First and foremost, the ingredients and raw materials that you use to create finished food products must be safe to consume. So the GMPs that are created to prevent their contamination should include inspecting them for cleanliness and storing them properly. Some raw materials, like meat or produce, must undergo a process before they are safe to eat, such as cooking or washing.
So your facility's GMPs should contain specific directions on when and how to use these processes when they are needed. The containers that hold ingredients and raw materials. should be designed to protect them from contaminants as well as keep them at acceptable temperature and humidity levels.
This doesn't just apply to small containers. Materials that are stored in bulk must be held to the same standard. Frozen ingredients must also be kept at proper temperatures. If they need to be thawed before use, this must be done in a controlled environment so they don't become adulterated.
GMPs should also be developed to ensure that ingredients and raw materials are protected from contamination caused by metals or other foreign objects that can be present during manufacturing operations. If you think that a raw material might have been exposed to contaminants, it should be washed using clean water or otherwise decontaminated before it's used. It's also important that manufacturing operations themselves are free from contamination, minimize the growth of bacteria, and prevent spoilage. To help mitigate these risks, your facility's GMPs should provide detailed instructions for cooking, sterilizing and refrigerating ingredients and raw materials during their processing. Using equipment that is clean and sanitary is a vitally important part of protecting food during manufacturing operations.
So as you do your job, you need to make sure that you're following GMPs for cleaning and sanitizing as well. Music Using good manufacturing practices can significantly reduce the risk of the food products that you work with from becoming contaminated, which benefits both your customers and your company. Let's review.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has developed a current Good Manufacturing Practices Regulation that sets criteria for minimizing the risk of contamination in food manufacturing environments. Based on this regulation, your facility must create its own good manufacturing practices that are specific to your operations. Keeping utensils, equipment, and surfaces clean, sanitized, and in good condition is a crucial part of minimizing contamination of the food products that you're working with. Protecting your facility's water supply from contamination and establishing processes and procedures for sewage and rubbish disposal are areas that need to be addressed by your GMPs as well.
Working in a food processing or handling facility, you have a lot of responsibility. But if you follow your company's GMPs, you can help to produce products that are safe and enjoyable, and keep your customers coming back for more.