Food safety FAQs
If you operate in the food sector, you will likely already know the importance of effective, hygienic and compliant production. Without proper food safety measures in place, businesses run the risk of increased costs through fines and wastage; more product recalls; tarnished reputations and poor customer satisfaction.
However, being able to ensure such production in your plant means having the right knowledge: such as best practices for a safe production process, knowing what tools can help you and knowing what the issues to look out for.
In this guide, we are answering the most common questions about food safety, from why a clean workplace is so important to why contamination is such a big problem. With the answers in place, you can optimise your production process to make sure you are consistently making safe products for your customers.
What are the consequences of poor food safety?
Food safety is incredibly important for many reasons – both for your business and your customers. On a compliance basis, there are specific standards food producers must adhere to: as part of this, your business will be subject to checks and audits to ensure compliance. If you fail to pass these checks, you can face severe consequences – bad publicity, damaging your reputability and reliability, and maybe even closure of your business.
For your customers, not adhering to the right standards means they risk becoming ill, injured or in extreme cases death, as a result of your products. For example, a contaminant like metal or glass in your product could cause severe harm to a customer, while poor hygiene regime in your product line could lead to food poisoning. All of this could lead to falling sales, customer complaints and even lawsuits. That is why it is essential to make safety one of your top priorities in the workplace.
What is the correct procedure for washing your hands when working in food?
One of the most basic, but most important, measures you can take to ensure proper hygiene in your plant is to make sure your staff are regularly and adequately washing their hands.
The correct procedure for washing hands is to rinse for at least 20 seconds using water and plain soap. During these 20 seconds, you should make sure you wash the backs of your hands, palms, in between fingers and under your nails to ensure all germs are eliminated. Hands should be washed frequently throughout the day, including before and after handling food, after toilet breaks, and always after sneezing or dealing with any wounds that may occur during the workday (such as a cut).
As well as washing your hands, procedures like wearing gloves can help to reduce the risk of contamination further. You should also consider placing hand washing reminders throughout your business and making sure sinks are easily accessible for staff to use during the workday.
How should I clean surfaces and equipment?
Another key to good hygiene in your production line is consistent cleaning of all surfaces, machines and equipment. This should be done using the appropriate equipment – such as hot soapy water, or chemical cleaners where needed. The suppliers of your equipment and machinery should be able to advise the best practice for cleaning.
Cleaning of equipment and machinery should be done after it has been used and before you re-use it for another food substance, as this will help to reduce cross-contamination. As well as this, you should have scheduled cleaning of work areas throughout the workday, with appointed staff members in place to undertake this task and a written record of cleaning. With this cleaning plan in place, you can help to reduce the risk of germs and increase hygiene.
What is cross-contamination?
Cross-contamination is when bacteria is passed from one food substance to another and can result in salmonella, listeria and other harmful infections. However, good hygiene in your production plant can reduce the risk of cross-contamination and eliminate the risk of food poisoning.
If you produce different types of food in the same plant, you are at increased risk of cross-contamination between substances. If this is the case, measures should be taken to separate different foods where possible, such as in storage. Your staff should also ensure they wash their hands between the handling of various substances. Similarly, if you use a machine or piece of equipment for one substance, it should be carefully cleaned before it is used for another application. These simple measures can drastically reduce the possibility of cross-contamination.
What other safety issues should food producers look out for?
As well as the risk of bacteria, causing safety issues for your food through a lack of hygiene, physical contaminants can create problems for your production. Physical contaminants include metal, glass, bone, plastic and anything else that could make its way into your product when it isn’t supposed to. These contaminants can appear as a result of broken materials or equipment during the production journey, from the environment or from the transportation of the product, and can lead to product recalls and safety issues.
In order to remove these types of contaminants, you will need to have inspection processes in place, such as metal detection or X-ray. Part of this should include screening your product batches at various stages during production, so that you can identify and remove contaminants before you reach completion.
The key to food safety is knowing what the risks are to your production and finding the right solutions to eliminate risk – such as through good cleaning practice or inspection of your product. The rewards for being able to address these issues are extensive: lower costs, improved compliance and safety for customers.
If you have questions about how to ensure food safety in your production line, Yamato can help. Get in touch today to find out about the solutions we can provide for you.