Control of Operation In Food Industries

Procurement of raw materials and ingredients:

• Receiving of food must be done at a designated place or a specific platform. It must be kept cleaned and where appropriate disinfected.
• All packaged raw materials or ingredients or any product used in food preparation or for direct consumption must be procured from FSSAI registered or licenced vendors. Such materials must be checked for 'expiry date'/ 'best before'/ 'use by' date, packaging integrity and storage conditions before accepting them and stored accordingly.
• Farm produce like vegetables, fruits, eggs etc. must be checked for spoilage and accepted only in good condition.
• Non vegetarian and vegetarian items must be received separately. Non-food items shall not be received at the same time when high risk food items are received.
• The FBO should have procedures in place to confirm that the incoming food materials meet the documented specifications (for example visual inspection upon receipt, certificate of analysis, laboratory testing, review of label for allergens, supplier control).
• Records of raw material or ingredient or any other material used in processing as well as their source of procurement shall be maintained for inspection.
• Receiving temperature of high risk food must be 50C or below. Receiving temperature of frozen food shall be -18 0C or below. Such food should be transferred as
• quickly for storage in rooms maintained at the same temperatures.

Food and packaging materials storage including warehousing:

• A food business shall store food and packaging materials in appropriate areas for effective protection from dust, condensation, drains, waste and other sources of contamination during storage.
• Storage areas shall be dry and well ventilated. When storing potentially hazardous food, a food business must store it under temperature control (and humidity control
• where necessary) and if the food is intended to be frozen, ensure that the food remains frozen during storage. Monitoring of temperature and/or humidity shall be applied in such cases.
• All materials and products shall be stored off the floor and with sufficient space between the material and the walls to allow inspection, cleaning and pest control activities
• to be carried out.
• All raw materials, food additives and ingredients shall be stored in separate areas from packaging materials, stationery, hardware and cleaning materials.
• Segregation shall be provided for the storage of raw, processed, rejected, recalled or returned materials or products and shall be clearly marked.
• The storage of raw materials, ingredients, work-in-progress and processed / cooked or packaged food products shall be subjected to FIFO (First in First out),FEFO (First Expire First Out). To meet this, adequate stock rotation systems should be in place.
• Ingredients and products containing allergens should be clearly identified and stored to prevent cross-contamination with ingredients and products not containing allergens.

Food processing and preparation:

• Systems shall be in place to prevent contamination of foods by foreign bodies such as glass, metal shards from machinery and dust. In manufacturing and processing, suitable detection or screening devices should be used where necessary. Procedures shall be in place for food handlers to follow in the case of breakage. Equally systems shall be in place to prevent contamination of foods by harmful chemicals.
• The Food Business shall develop and maintain the systems to ensure that that the time and temperature is controlled effectively where it is critical to the safety and suitability of food. Such controls shall include time and temperature of receiving, processing, cooking, cooling, storage, packaging, distribution, upto retail as applicable. Such systems shall also specify the tolerable limits for time and temperature variations. Temperature shall be appropriately monitored with temperature recording devices and records thereof shall be maintained.
• Whenever frozen food / raw materials are used / handled / transported, adequate care shall be taken so that defrosted / thawed material are not refreezed for future use. Personnel shall wash their hands before entering and may need to be required to put on clean protective clothing.
• Surfaces, utensils, equipment, fixtures and fittings shall be thoroughly cleaned and where necessary disinfected after raw food preparation, particularly when meat and poultry has been handled or processed.

Allergenic Contamination:

• Presence of allergens listed in the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling) Regulations, 2017 must be identified in food ingredients and products and controls shall be put in place to prevent their presence in foods where they are not labelled. Controls to prevent crosscontact of foods containing allergens with other foods shall be implemented e.g. separate storage facilities. Where cross-contact cannot be guaranteed, consumers shall be informed.
• Wherever steam is used directly on food during processing, the steam shall made from potable water.

Food Packaging:

• The packaging design and materials shall provide protection forproducts in order to prevent contamination, damage and accommodate required labelling as laid down under the FSS Act & the Regulations there under. Only Food grade packaging materials shall be used. Packaging materials like aluminium, tin and plastic shall conform to the Indian standards as mentioned under the FSS Regulations.
• The food packaging materials shall be inspected before use to prevent using damaged, defective or contaminated packaging, which may lead to contamination of the
• product. The food business operator shall have effective procedures in place to confirm that contaminated, damaged or defective reusable containers are properly cleaned and sanitized, repaired or replaced, as appropriate, before re-use.
• The packaging materials or gases where used, shall be non-toxic and shall not pose threat to the safety and suitability of food under the specified conditions of storage and
• use.
• Wrapping and packaging operations shall be carried out so as to avoid contamination of the products.

Rework and control of non-conforming products:

• Stored rework materials shall be protected from exposure to microbiological, chemical or extraneous matter contamination.
• Rework shall be clearly identified and/or labelled to allow traceability. All traceability records for rework shall be maintained. (e.g. Product name, production date, shift, line of origin, shelf-life).
• Where rework is incorporated into a product as an “in-process” step, the acceptable quantity, the process step and method of addition, including any necessary pre-processing stages, shall be defined.
• Where rework activities involve removing a product from filled or wrapped packages, controls shall be put in place to ensure the removal and segregation of packaging materials and to avoid contamination of the product with extraneous matter.

Food Transportation:

• Conveyances and/or containers used for transporting foodstuffs shall be kept clean and maintained in good repair and condition to protect foodstuffs from contamination and shall be designed and constructed to permit adequate cleaning and/or disinfection. Where direct contact with food may occur, materials used in carrier construction should be suitable for food contact.
• Food products in conveyances and/or containers are to be so placed and protected as to minimize the risk of contamination.
• Where conveyances and/or containers are used for transporting anything in addition to foodstuffs or for transporting different foods at the same time, there shall be, where necessary, effective separation of products to prevent cross-contamination.
• Where conveyances and/or containers are used for transportation anything other than foodstuffs or for transporting different foods, there shall be effective cleaning
• between loads to avoid risk of contamination.
• Bulk foodstuffs in liquid, granulate or powder form shall be transported in receptacles and/or containers/tankers reserved for the transport of foodstuffs. Such containers are to be marked in a clearly visible and indelible fashion, to show that they are used for the transport of foodstuffs.
• Wherever necessary, conveyances and/or containers used for transporting foodstuffs shall capable of maintaining foodstuffs at appropriate temperatures and allow those temperatures to be monitored. For example Ingredients and products requiring refrigeration shall be transported and stored at 5°C or less but not frozen. Frozen ingredients and products shall be transported and stored at temperatures which do not permit thawing (for example, below 0°C).

Food Traceability and recall:

• The food business operator shall have a system for assigning codes or lot numbers to incoming materials, packaging materials and finished products, etc. This will help to identify products.
• The FBO shall have a documented and effective product recall plan in place in accordance with the Food Safety & Standards (Food Recall) Regulations, 2017. Such a plan shall allow the FBO to effectively locate all affected food products that may cause a potential threat to public health and enable the complete, rapid recall of the implicated lot of the product from the market.
• Where a product has been recalled because of an immediate health hazard, other products which are produced under similar conditions which may also present a hazard to public health shall be evaluated for safety and may need to be recalled.
• Recalled products shall be held under supervision until they are destroyed, used for purposes other than human consumption, determined to be safe for human consumption, or reprocessed/reworked in a manner to ensure their safety.

Quality control:

• The food business operator shall have a quality control programme in place to include inspection and testing of incoming, in-process and finished products. Adequate infrastructure including a laboratory facility and trained and competent testing personnel should be available for carrying out testing. Calibration of laboratory equipments shall be done periodically.
• In case adequate in-house test facilities are not available, a system shall be in place for testing these materials in an NABL accredited external laboratory/ laboratory notified by FSSAI. In case of complaints or feedback on the product, the food business operator shall carry out the testing either though their in-house/ external accredited laboratories notified by FSSAI to ensure product compliance to standards.
• Each category or type of finished food product shall be tested as per FSS standards & regulations 2011 at least once in six months from an NABL Accredited or FSSAI notified laboratory. It is recommended to retain the control samples, till the end of shelf life.