- Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline
Part 11 of your farm food safety plan addresses your packinghouse
activities. This includes
transportation of the product from the field to the packinghouse, product
storage once it has been delivered to the packing house, the washing/packing
line, ice, worker health and hygiene and packinghouse general
housekeeping. Keep in mind that not all
areas of the audit will apply to your farm based on your production
practices. Those areas not applicable
would be marked not applicable by the auditor.
Areas that do apply but you are deficient in would result in a reduction
of audit points. A minimum of 80% must
be achieved in each section to pass the final audit. Conducting a mock audit is the best way to
determine deficiencies and changes that will need to be made to your farm
infrastructure and/or production practices.
The following statements and procedures should be considered
to be included in your packinghouse facility section:
- Transported
product is covered in a safe manner
- Product
is stored properly in the packinghouse facility
- Product
that will be packed several hours or days later is stored in a
refrigerated cooler
- Water
source used on washing and packing
lines is tested and is potable
- Check the water temperature in dunk tanks on a scheduled basis (if
applicable)
- Chlorine
or other disinfectant is used to treat water and the labels are followed
as to concentration, pH, water temperature and they are monitored (if
applicable)
- Water
contact surfaces are cleaned and sanitized prior to grading and packing
- Contact
surfaces are cleaned and sanitized prior to grading and packing
- Packinghouse
is thoroughly cleaned at the end of each day, including washing, grading,
sorting and packing lines
- If ice
is used during packing and the source of this ice (if you manufacture your
own ice show that the water source is potable, if you purchase ice you
will need a copy of the manufacturing and storage procedures from the
manufacture on file)
- State
how the ice is transported from the truck/ice machine to the packing area
- Break
areas are away from packing areas
- State
your employee policies including: hairnet policy, jewelry policy and glove
policy
- Train
all employees on worker hygiene
- Indicate
if produce is packed in new boxes and how it is stored once packed
- State
where your box/container storage areas are located
- Use
only food grade lubricants on the packing machinery and equipment
- Store non-food grade chemicals away from the
packing area
- Keep
packinghouse areas free from
litter, debris and standing water
- Dumpsters
are located away from the packinghouse or if close are covered
- Garbage
cans inside the packinghouse have
lids
- Check
floor drains in the packinghouse weekly to ensure proper drainage
- Clean
all pipes, fans and ceilings in the packinghouse on a scheduled basis
- Cover
glass lights, in case of breakage, with shatterproof covers
- State
your commitment to make sure that wastewater spillage does not occur and
describe your cleanup procedures should it occur
- Describe
your procedure for cleaning or disposing of product that comes in contact
with the floor
- Do not
allow animals, including pets, in the packing area
- Describe
the measures you use to keep pests out of the packinghouse
- Describe
how contamination is prevented from motors, pipes and other equipment in
the packinghouse
- Describe
how harvested product coming into the packinghouse is identifiable to the
field it was grown in, the harvest crew, and the date it was harvested
This is the eleventh article in a series dedicated to
preparing a farm food safety plan. For
previous articles refer to earlier editions of the Plant and Pest Advisory, or
visit the Rutgers Vegetable Crops blog at: http://jerseyvegcropsagupdates.blogspot.com/
Remember you may not need a third party audit; it depends on who is purchasing
your produce. However, everyone should
have a food safety plan. For more
information on Farm Food Safety visit: http://njveg.rutgers.edu/html/mf-food-safety.html
