BRC Standards Sections 6 & 7: Product Control & Personnel

Product Control and Personnel BRC Standards: Sections 6 & 7

• The lectures cover product control and personnel as specified in Sections 6 and 7 of the BRC (British Retail Consortium) standards.
• The goal is to understand the principles and control measures to ensure food safety.

Learning Objectives for the module

• State the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) as part of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) in the food industry.
• Identify the relevant elements of a HACCP program.
• Regulatory agencies and requirements for a HACCP program need to be identified.
• Evaluate and audit a HACCP system.
• Design protocols and procedures for food hygiene and contamination controls in food production facilities based on risk levels.
• Design and recommend a documented HACCP system with appropriate control measures at identified critical control points.
• Identify and prescribe corrective actions for failures at identified critical control points.
• Identify control measures for managing key elements of a pre-requisite program.
• Identify the BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standards) requirements for Food Safety V. 8 regarding control of operations.
• This includes recipe management, labeling and packaging control, net weight/volume controls, and equipment calibration.
• Understand standard requirements for staff training, personal hygiene, illness reporting, health screening, and protective clothing.

Section 6.1: Control of Operations

• It is the site's commitment to documented procedures and work instructions to produce consistently safe and legal products that meet quality characteristics.
• Must also have full compliance with the HACCP food safety plan.
• Documented process specifications and work instructions must be accessible for key processes that ensure product safety, legality, and quality.

Clause 6.1.1 Specifications

• Recipes should include identification of allergens.
• Mixing instructions involve speed and time.
• Equipment process settings must be documented.
• Cooking times and temperatures.

Clause 6.1.2

• Equipment setting adjustments impacting product safety or legality should only be done by trained and authorized staff.
• Controls such as password protection should be in place.
• Equipment settings for product safety or quality should only be adjusted by trained and competent staff.

Clause 6.1.3

• Process monitoring includes temperature, time, pressure, and chemical properties.
• Monitoring shall ensures consistent product specifications.

Clause 6.1.4

• Process parameters or product quality is controlled by in-line monitoring devices.
• Process parameters or product quiality must link to a tested failure alert system.
• In-line monitoring devices may use automatic temperature or pH loggers.
• A suitable failure alert system includes audible or visual alarms, machine stop functions, or product divert systems.
• Testing must happen routinely, with continuous records.

Clause 6.1.5

• Processing conditions may vary within equipment.
• Validate and verified equipment must be checked at a risk-based frequency.
• Validation is needed for heat distribution in retorts, ovens, processing vessels, and temperature distribution in freezers and cold stores.
• The objective is to ensure consistent production within defined parameters, like temperatures.
• Recognize non-uniform conditions, and identify hot or cold spots to improve uniformity.
• Identifying the worst cases ensures products meet minimum process conditions.

Heat-distribution Studies

• These should be done on cooking equipment where small temperature variations can affect the safety of products.
• Studies in static ovens can identify cold spots.
• Incorporate untreatable cold spots as worst-case scenarios when completing heat-distribution studies.
• When dealing with chill or freezer facilities, the risk level will depend on the product, time spent in storage, and the margin allowed by temperature settings.
• Temperature-distribution studies may not be needed for small chill or cold stores only storing product for short periods.
• When assessing equipment, consider seasonal variations because chillers may perform differently in winter than in summer.

Clause 6.1.6

• For equipment failure or deviation from specification, procedures to establish the safety status and quality of the product to determine necessary actions.
• There must be defined procedures for equipment failure or deviation.
• In cases of equipment failure or deviation from process specification the company must have defined procedures to ensure safety before release.

Clause 6.1.6 Minimums

• At a minimum, procedures must include identification of all potentially affected products since the previous check.
• Assess the affected product for suitability/safety.
• Consider sensory testing, microbiological sampling, thermal process data, or mathematical modeling.
• Procedures must define who authorized an action.
• Records of actions taken must be kept.

Section 6.2: Labelling and Pack Control

• Product labeling activities must ensures correct labeling and coding procedures

Interpretation

• One of the most common causes of product withdrawals and recalls is incorrect labeling is a common issue.
• Procedures are needed to manage packing operations and to pack products in correct packaging.

Clause 6.2.1

• Allocate packaging material to packing lines.
• There should be control packing area which ensures that only the packaging for immediate use is available to the packaging machines.
• A formal process should be established for the allocation of packaging materials to packing lines to allow for immediate usage.
• For offline coding or printing of packaging materials:
  • Setting and amendments to the printer parameters (date codes) should be completed by authorized staff.
  • Controls should ensure that only correctly printed material is available at packing machines.

Allocation of packaging materials

• Packaging materials must be brought to the line for each production run in a formal manner.
• Packaging must be controlled following a documented process.
• The integrity of date codes is important for product safety.
• Applied date codes (or other information) needs to be controlled.
• Only authorized personnel may imput information.
• The packing line should available the packing requred for immediate use only.
• It is best to release new packaging from the store after all packaging from the previous run is removed.
• If off-site packaging stores are in place, ensure that only the relevant packaging is released to the packing line.
• Store packaging in a secure location with authorized access.
• For multiple component packaging ensure all individual parts must match the product.

Clause 6.2.2

• Production line checks should be documented before and after production are needed.
• Checks ensures that the lines are cleared and ready for production and all products and packaging have been removed.

Examples of checks

• lines have been suitably cleaned
• lines have been cleared of any packaging from previous production runs
• lines are ready for production, with CCPs and quality
• parameters correctly set

Further check suggestions

• The line should be setup and equipment should be re-disinfected
• Checks are required for changes of product are to ensure that all packaging from the previous line are clear.
• Evidence that are being carries out must be supervisor approved and guidelines.

Clause 6.2.3

• It is essential to ensure products are packed and labelled correctly
• Checks at the start of packing
• Checks are needed during the packing run
• Check must be done when packaging materials are changed

The checks are verification for

• date coding
• batch coding
• quantity indication
• pricing information
• bar coding
• country of origin
• allergen information

Packaging Controls

• Packaging controls are needed if different products share a look.
• Packaging controls are needed if a standard product may be packed into different types of packaging.
• Packaging controls are neeed if there is a family of very similar labels for a product range
• Verificaiton of checks must be predefined to minimise potential errors.

Clause 6.2.4

• Online scanners are use to product label checking.
• There must procedures of verification processes that are setup correctly that alter operator of rejecting products.
• Testing is completing for the starting a packing
• Testing at the end to see the total units are correct.
• A frequency should be noted on a the ability to find hold products by authorized perosonnel.
• Procedures should be establish in all condition and scenario to ensure the manual of products are correct.

Section 6.3: Quantity – Weight, Volume and Count Control

• The site must operate a quantity which the produce product control the is safely.
• The quality checking shall retain appropriate of the standards.
• It operate of the legal and requirement of every area products are sold.

Additional information

• Check that production area are set and reject process to check that the products are quality ensured.
• The quality of the products can decrease on transports that weights can reduce factorin that product weight and ends meets customer standards.

Clause 6.3.1 – Three Packer Rule

• The average for the production run must be greater than the declared weight on pack.
• 1 in 40 or 2.5% can be between the average and 1 TNE (Total Negative Error- typically 3%)
• No product can be less the declared weight minus 2 TNE (Total Negative Error x 2 - typically -6%)
• It ensure that any bulk items is following customer satisfaction.

Clause 6.3.3

• Online check of the effective and verifiable testing procedure to ensure all standard are correct must be assured.

Section 6.4 Calibration and Control of Measuring and Monitoring Devices

• The site is able to measure equipment to provide results for measurement products.
• Identify and control measuring that monitors product control and safety. Document equipment, identification numbers and protection can prevent detrioration and risk.

Clause 6.4.2

• All identified measurement device and updated and adjasted to ensure all standards are correct.
• Assessment testing will be check frequently

Clause 6.4.3

• Check if equipment is assess and that all records are maintained of all result.
• Reference must be calibrate to assess a set that meets standars with any deviation that prevent.
• Maintained log are recorded to ensure minimum standard is meet for what reading are provide for termometers.

Section 7: Personnel

• The area look at training.
• Personal Hygiene
• Medical Screening
• Protective Clothing

Section 7.1 Training

• The company should ensure all personnels are doing well and their work is safe by the training of the safety.
• Temporary staff and contractors all receives standards of levels for high risks factor to ensure their responsibility.
• To do induction which include training on all staff to makes sure every staff is up to par as per company levels and exit safety is being follow by has been consider to give food sanitation training.

Clause 7.1.2

• If personal is relate their training to relate to critical control point to their areas of working , monitoring of this activities must align to the standard to makes corrective is align.
• Check that all staff how to carry out task and ensure all data is collect.
• A competent assessment will be done and all staff must pass this testing to ensure they are safely managing tasks.

Clause 7.1.3

• Identify that testing needs are meeting.
• Training and other actions to ensure staff have been update.
• All staff delivery training are appropriate and effective and the test is in their language to ensure understanding.

Clause 7.1.4

• Training ensure on allergen and allergen-handing procedures are being train on each area to avoid cross contamination

Clause 7.1.5

• Training on labeling of packaging must be followed.
• Records must be available for trainee and courses to make sure everyone is aware of all safety.

Clause 7.1.7

• Routinnley testing is done on staff. that the area and any concern that safety.
• Proper process to keep high risk products and people safe at all times to reduce injury or accident.

Section 7.2 Personal Hygiene

• The is the main goal that staff are following standards to be safe for safety and any potential factors that ensure from safety in area.

Section 7.2.1

• Watch as well as jewellery is not permit to be worn.
• Fingernails shall be check and always be short.
• Perfume can not be to strong.
• Clothing and checks should be done randomly to ensure their is no cross contamination by foreign items.

Section 7.2.2

• Washing areas shall be available and standard for that product at all times.

Section 7.2.2 Explanation

• Hand cleaning can prevent risks to product and always has to follow and should wash hand before any areas to be safe.

At minimum standards should be ensured at

• before enter and product area
• and any break away to ensure
• washing procedure must be clear for hand-washing
• see and follow guidelines

Section 7.2.2

• Hand washing is know for effective and and sanitation purposes to protect risk from E coli and salmonella must be use properly and should give staff appropriate training.

Section 7.2.3

• All cuts and grazes should be disinfected with blue covering and to add on addition must be use to ensure no contact in product.

Section 7.2.4

• If metal is used and tested with proper records to ensure product can be tested when test are carries out.

Section 7.2.5

• Proper testing on storage must be check with minimal risk.
• All personal should not be be risk product or risk contaminating so medical needs must be properly check and storage.
• It follows and ensure staff of what is allowed and not allowed when they are check.

Section 7.3

• Medical are required to prevent transmission when employees can effect by illnesses so they should notify when they can effect the production.

Clause 7.3.1

• All staff must be aware and procedure must also be check regularly to prevent issue from getting worse.

Clause 7.3.2

• Where there is high risk procedure ,visitor must have health questionnaire because in packing area or storage .

Clause 7.3.3

• A document must be provided that what staff are and not suffering from illness or effect by their medical condition to affect.

Section 7.4 protective Equipment

• Equipment that prevent injuries and is also sterile must be worn this applies to everyone.

Clause 7.4.1

• Ensure everyone has been informed document is sign this also includes if areas you are allow to wear to ensure that proper are being wore.

Clause 7.4.2

• Ensure everyone has sizes that fit them and what is allow to be worn and what to be avoid with that also to check on pockets.

Clause 7.4.3

• Has approval of laundries that is washing equipment in how of cleanliness when clean , effectiveness .

Clause 7.4.3 Continue

• Home wash is the same process of washing, temp control, and items may not be wash and should be visually cleaned.

Clause 7.4.3 interpretation

• Equipment also test it to see if it clean well to minimize injuries.

Clause 7.4.4

• Must check area ,clean regularly and take action when their is any issues to ensures everyone is safety.

Clause 7.4.5

• Are always to weared that is right, fitting, correct size with regular change if not we are not approve.

Clause 7.4.6

• Make that PPE have a schedule and proper for the environment you are working.