Food Plant Sanitation

Design, Maintenance, and Good Manufacturing Practices

Michael M. Cramer

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9780367266417
• eBook ISBN: 9781000571554
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Nutrition, Dietics & Bariatrics

Food safety and quality are primary concerns in the food manufacturing industry. Written by an author with more than 40 years' experience in the food industry, Food Plant Sanitation: Design, Maintenance, and Good Manufacturing Practices, Third Edition provides completely updated practical advice on all aspects of food plant sanitation and sanitation-related food safety issues. It offers readers the tools to establish a food safety system to help control microbiological, physical, and chemical hazards. Understanding that sanitation is integral to food safety is the foundation for an effective food safety system. Features of this new edition include new photographs, tables, and up-to-date material that better reflect current guidance on food plant sanitation, including additional information on the implementation of FSMA.

The chapters address testing for and control of microorganisms in food manufacturing, including recent challenges in the industry due to pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes. They also offer discussions on biofilms, regulatory requirements from the European Union, allergens, sanitary facility design, and describe proven best practices for sanitation as well as current sanitary requirements and regulatory changes from the FDA and USDA. In addition, the author presents methods for verifying sanitation, and provides greater differentiation of verification versus validation.

The final chapters identify good manufacturing practices for employees and present a comprehensive pest management plan, including control measures and chemical interventions. The book concludes with strategies for preventing chemical and physical food safety hazards. This reference provides a practical perspective for implementing food plant sanitation and safety processes. The author has included, wherever possible, examples of procedures, forms, and documents to help novice food safety and quality professionals develop effective food safety systems.

Chapter 1 Sanitation Regulatory Requirements

DOI: 10.1201/9780429294341-1

…all of the old smells of a generation would be drawn out by this heat—for there was never any washing of the walls and rafters and pillars, and they were caked with the filth of a lifetime.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair [1]

Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle was considered by many to be a general reflection of unsanitary and unsafe working conditions in the meatpacking houses of the early 20th century. It is believed that this story ultimately led President Theodore Roosevelt to push for many of the federal regulations, including the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food Act, that apply to the food manufacturing industry today. The intent of food laws is to protect the public because consumers cannot detect contamination in food simply by sight, smell, taste, or touch. Consumers must rely on food manufacturers and other parties, including the government, to ensure that they are provided with safe food products [2]; consequently, Congress assumed responsibility for food protection, and though the industry has changed significantly for the better, the regulations that apply to food manufacturing are done so with the intention of protecting the consuming public and plant workers. Much of The Jungle centers around the sanitary working conditions in food manufacturing, and manufacturers now recognize that sanitary operations are not only required by law but make for good business practices. As a result of the implementation of these laws and through the efforts by the food industry, the United States is recognized as having the safest food supply in the world.

Food plants may operate under federal regulations or various state and local codes. All are designed to prevent the production of food ingredients or products that may lead to contamination with filth, hazardous substances, or adulteration. Whether operating under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), food plants are governed by federal regulations. The intent of this chapter is to present in simple terms the basics of federal regulations covering sanitation and sanitary operations. In addition to FDA and USDA, other agencies concerned with sanitation are the Environmental Protection Agency Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Clean Air Act, Federal Water Pollution Control Act and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for worker safety, and state and local public health agencies [3].

Food and Drug Administration

In 1938, Congress passed the Pure Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that covers all commodities, except meat and poultry products, for which USDA has responsibility in interstate commerce from harvest through processing and distribution. It is the principal statute covering the production and distribution of foods in the United States [4]. The act establishes tolerances for unavoidable toxic substances, authorizes factory inspections, and declares that food is adulterated if it has been prepared, packed, or stored under conditions in which it might have been contaminated. In 1969, the first Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) were published as Part 128 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) [4]. The CFR is divided into approximately 50 titles, and Title 21 deals with food and drugs. The GMPs were recodified in 1977 as Part 110 of the CFR and revised and updated in 1986, at which time a reference to Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) was included and stipulated a need to control “undesirable microorganisms” [5]. They explain GMP requirements that cover all aspects of food manufacturing from employee requirements, through facility and equipment design and cleaning. Implementation of GMPs in a food operation will be covered in greater detail in Chapter 7 of this book. The sections of Part 110 are reprinted below [6].

Title 21—Food and Drugs

Chapter I—Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services (continued)

Part 110_Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packing, or Holding Human Food—Table of Contents

Subpart A General Provisions

Part 110.5 Current Good Manufacturing Practices

1. The criteria and definitions in this part shall apply in determining whether a food is adulterated (1) within the meaning of section 402(a)(3) of the act in that the food has been manufactured under such conditions that it is unfit for food; or (2) within the meaning of section 402(a)(4) of the act in that the food has been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health. The criteria and definitions in this part also apply in determining whether a food is in violation of section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264).
2. Food covered by specific current good manufacturing practice regulations is also subject to the requirements of those regulations.

Part 110.10 Personnel The plant management shall take all reasonable measures and precautions to ensure the following:

1. Disease control. Any person who, by medical examination or supervisory observation, is shown to have, or appears to have, an illness, open lesion, including boils, sores, or infected wounds, or any other abnormal source of microbial contamination by which there is a reasonable possibility of food, food-contact surfaces, or food-packaging materials becoming contaminated, shall be excluded from any operations which may be expected to result in such contamination until the condition is corrected. Personnel shall be instructed to report such health conditions to their supervisors.
2. Cleanliness. All persons working in direct contact with food, food-contact surfaces, and food-packaging materials shall conform to hygienic practices while on duty to the extent necessary to protect against contamination of food. The methods for maintaining cleanliness include, but are ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• The Author
• 1 Sanitation Regulatory Requirements
• 2 Regulatory Inspection and Control Action
• 3 Microorganisms of Food Manufacturing Concern
• 4 Control of Listeria in Food Manufacturing
• 5 Biofilms
• 6 Sanitary Facility Design
• 7 Sanitation Best Practices
• 8 Verification of Sanitation
• 9 Employee Good Manufacturing Practices
• 10 Pest Control and Sanitation
• 11 Chemical and Physical Hazard Control
• Index