3 Sanitary and Hygienic Requirement in Food Processing Industry (Write Up)

1 3.WITE-UP

SANITARY AND HYGIENIC REQUIREMENTS OF FOOD MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS

One of the conditions of FSSAI license is to maintain sanitary and hygienic requirements laid down under Schedule 4 of the Licensing & Registration of Food Business Regulations. These requirements are nothing but Food Safety Management System (FSMS) which include Good Hygienic Practices (GHP), Good Manufacturing Practices, HACCP etc. The establishment in which food is handled, processed, manufactured, stored, distributed by the food business operator should be as per norms laid down under the Regulations. It is the responsibility of the food business operators to ensure compliance of the requirements.

General requirements on hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by all food business operators applying for license or who are already licensed, as laid down under Part II, Schedule 4 of the aforesaid Regulations, are given below:

1. LOCATION AND SURROUNDINGS:

(i) Food establishment shall be located away from environmental pollution and industrial activities that produce obnoxious odour, fumes, smoke, chemical or biological emissions and pollutants which may pause threat of contaminating food (ii) The surroundings shall be clean, free from infestation of pests, wastes- solid or

liquid

(iii) Manufacturing premises should not have direct access to any residential premises/area

2. LAY-OUT AND DESIGN:

(i) Installation of machinery & equipment to be in such a way so that flow of process operation is unidirectional and it should permit free movement of men and materials and not amenable to cross-contamination

(ii) Floor, walls, ceiling, doors and windows etc. should be suitably laid and so designed as to permit hygienic production

(iii) There should be efficient internal and external drainage systems with adequate measures to prevent entry of pests, rodents etc.

(iv) Doors, windows and other openings suitably screened to prevent entry of flies

2

3. EQUIPMENT AND CONTAINERS :

(i) All equipment should be non-corrosive, made from food grade materials that do not impart any toxic substance to food

(ii) No equipment and containers made up of iron or galvanized iron to be used in food handling, preparation and storage

(iii) Equipment to be suitably designed and placed so as to permit easy cleaning and disinfection

(iv) The containers for preparation and storage of food shall not be used for other purposes like cleaning and waste disposal

(v) Equipment and containers for wastes, by-products and cleaning chemicals shall be properly identified

(vi) All equipments and containers should be kept in good condition, properly clean and disinfected

(vii) Every container for preparation and storage of food shall be fitted with suitable cover/lid.

4. FACILITIES :

(i) There shall be provision for potable water as per BIS specifications and overhead tanks for storage of the same, which to be regularly cleaned

(ii) There should be separate pipelines for potable and non-potable water

(iii) Adequate facilities for cleaning of utensils, raw materials with hot and cold water provided

(iv) Water used for preparation of ice and steam should be of potable quality

(b) Drainage and waste disposal:

(i) There should be efficient drainage system for quick disposal of effluents and adequate facility for disposal of solid wastes from the processing premises

(ii) Disposal of liquid and solid wastes shall be in conformity with Environment and Pollution Control Board norms

(iii) The storage of solid wastes shall be away from processing premises which shall be disposed off quickly so that it does not contaminate processing and storage areas

(c) Personal facilities:

(i) There should be sufficient number of toilets, urinals for each sex, located away from manufacturing premises

(ii) Facilities for hand and foot wash with disinfectants at the entrance of the manufacturing premises and change room for workers

3 (iii) There should be display board at prominent places indicating DOs and DON’Ts for

workers both in English and local language

(d) Ventilations and lighting:

(i) Provision for natural and artificial ventilations and lighting

(ii) The intensity of lights should be as per the requirement of operation (iii) All fixtures should be properly protected

5. FOOD OPERATION CONTROL:

(a) Procurement of raw materials:

(i) All raw materials including ingredients and additives should be procured from reliable sources and record maintained for traceability

(ii) No raw material should be procured from a source which is known to contaminated with undesirable micro-organisms, pesticides, veterinary drugs or toxic or decomposed or extraneous substances which cannot be reduced to an acceptable level by normal sorting or processing

(iii) All raw materials should be physically checked while receiving and cleaned before use

(iv) Packaged raw materials to be checked for expiry or best before date

(v) Receiving temperature for high risk raw materials like raw milk, meat, fish should be below 5˚C.

(b) Storage & use of raw materials:

(i) Raw materials to be properly stored on pallets or racks to protect from hazards (ii) Edible and non-edible materials are to be stored separately with proper identification (iii) Cold storage facility to be provided where necessary

(iv) Raw food, particularly meat, poultry, sea foods etc. and cooked food shall be stored separately to avoid cross-contamination

(v) Raw materials should be used as per FIFO ( First in first out) or FEFO( First in first expire) system

(c) Process control:

(i) There should be proper devices for time and temperature control

(ii) The food business should develop and maintain systems to ensure that time and temperature are effectively controlled where it is critical to the safety of food

4 (iii) Whenever frozen foods/raw materials are used/handled ,proper care to be taken so that defrosted/ thawed materials are not stored back for future use and only required quantity is thawed

(d) Food Packaging:

(i) All packaging materials including packaging of ingredients, additives shall be used which do not contaminate food

(ii) Packaging materials shall meet BIS specifications of food grade materials

(e) Distribution and service:

(i) All critical links in supply chain to be identified to minimize food spoilage during transit

(ii) Temperature for products in cold chain to be maintained and containers for bulk transport of food to be suitably designed

(iii) The vehicles for transporting food staffs shall not be used for transporting other materials which may cause contamination to food or same vehicles for transporting meat, poultry, fish or such foods which are repugnant to other type of foods and may cause cross- contamination

6. MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION :

(i) Management and supervision are necessary for monitoring and taking control measures in operations

(ii) All supervisory staffs for production and quality control should have appropriate knowledge and skill to ensure food safety and quality

(iii) Detail standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for receiving raw materials, processing, packing, storage and distribution to be developed for management and control

7. FOOD TESTING FACILITIES:

(i) In-house testing Laboratory with adequate facilities and qualified chemist to be provided

(ii) If In-house facilities are not available for testing of chemical and microbiological contaminants, these should be done from outside NABL accredited Laboratory

8. AUDIT, DOCUMENTATION AND RECORDS:

(i) Periodic audit of whole system according to SOP to be done to find out gap for taking appropriate measures

5 (ii) Records of, raw materials, processing, preparation, cooking, quality control, cleaning & sanitation, distribution, food recall etc. to be maintained and retained for a period of at least one year or up to shelf life of the product

9. SANITATION AND MAINTENANCE:

(a) Cleaning and maintenance:

(i) Cleaning and maintenance of all machinery and equipment to be done as per schedule specifying areas & equipment to be cleaned, frequency of cleaning, cleaning chemicals used and their dozes

(ii) Cleaning chemicals to be handled carefully and stored properly with identifiable containers

(b) Pest control:

(i) The food establishment to be kept in good repair so as to deny entry and harbour of rodents, pests and insects

(ii) Holes and drainages to be adequately sealed to prevent entry of rodents

(iii) Treatment with permissible pesticides and insecticides with appropriate limits shall be carried out carefully to ensure safety of food and person who handle the chemicals

10. PERSONAL HYGIENE :

(i) No person suffering from infectious disease is allowed to work in food processing establishment

(ii) Workers shall be medically examined before employed for work in processing operations

(iii) All workers and factory staff shall be inoculated against enteric group of diseases once in a year

(b) Personal cleanliness:

(i) All food handlers to be provided with clean and protective clothes, hand gloves and foot wear

(ii) Their personal cleanliness to be maintained at all the times, they should wash their hands with soap and disinfectant before every entry to processing premises and after use of toilets

(iii) Supervisors shall ensure that their nails cut regularly and hair trimmed

6 (iv) No ornaments, except marriage bangles/ chains or such ornaments with proper

covering, shall be allowed during food handling

(v) Workers shall refrain from bad habits like chewing, smoking, scratching parts of body, sneezing , coughing etc. during food handling

(c) Visitors:

Ideally no visitors should be allowed to enter to processing hall, if allowed they should be provided with all protective wears.

11. PRODUCT INFORMATION I AND CONSUMER AWARENESS:

All packaged foods shall carry necessary and mandatory information on the packages of food with a labels as per the regulations for consumers’ awareness and for proper handling of food by the persons in supply chain for its safety.

12. TRAINING

(i) The food business shall ensure that food handlers and supervisory staff are aware of food safety and hygiene

(ii) They should be given training periodically on food handling, food safety and hygiene.

(iii) Effectiveness of training should be reviewed periodically by the management

REFERENCES:

1. Schedule 4, FSS Licensing & Registration of Food Business Regulations, 2011 2. www.fssai.gov.in

3. www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimantarious 4. www.bis.org.in

5. www.moef.nic.in