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HACCP Program for Warehouse Handling Food Products- A simple Guide for Startups

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Definitions of terms used . Before we get started, let's first look at key terms to be used in this blog. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) HACCP is a food safety management system that addresses food safety concerns through the analysis and control of contaminants (physical, chemical, and biological). Critical Control Points (CCP) Step in the process at which a control measure is applied to prevent or reduce a significant food safety hazard to an acceptable level. Critical limits Measurable values that separate acceptability from unacceptability. Deviation Non-fulfillment of a set requirement. Corrective actions These are actions  taken to eliminate a deviation and to prevent its recurrence. Risks Risks are the effects or consequences of the uncertainty of an event. Setting up a HACCP Program for Warehouse The food chain starts from the garden and ends at the consumer’s table. Along this chain, there are several players involved, and among these are warehouses or food...
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Warehouse Prerequisite Programs-Product Recall Procedure

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A product recall is an action (s) taken to remove a food product from the market at any stage of the food chain, including that possessed by the final consumers. An efficient product recall process/program involves numerous components that work in close connections to each other, these include; Product Recall Team A complaint (trigger) Traceability  Mock recall Product recovery and product reconciliation Final disposition Root cause analysis and Corrective action Product Recall Team For an efficient product recovery, assemble a warehouse team responsible for product recall, outlining the unique responsibilities for each individual ( HACCP Team can double as a product recall team) such as one responsible for communication to the clients, media, and statutory or regulatory authority and the personnel responsible for product reconciliation and disposition of the recovered product.   Complaint  A complaint is the most common trigger of a warehouse product reca...
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Dispatch Procedure for Food Warehouses

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In the previous articles, we have looked at the different aspects of a warehouse HACCP Program such as the Receiving procedure  and the  Storage procedure   as CCPs. This article covers dispatch as a CCP to complete the three CCPs that were in our  Process Flow diagram .  Dispatch procedure covers activities from storage units to the cooling dock and the delivery truck. Activities under the dispatch procedure include the following:   Temperature monitoring  Product quality checks Delivery truck inspection Staging of products Temperature monitoring For warehouses that handle temperature-sensitive products, temperature monitoring plays a vital role by enabling early detection of temperature deviations and prompt actions to correct the non-conformance. Before dispatching a product from the warehouse, check the temperature of the storage room, product, and cooling dock before dispatch. The storage room temperature should be -18 degrees Celsius (-12°C Max) ...
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Storage Procedure for Food Warehouses

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Keywords Prerequisite Programs Activities or conditions that are necessary to maintain food safety along the food chain. First Expiry First Out(FEFO) The inventory management system used to control the stock-flow based on expiry dates.  Storage is a vital element of the warehouse HACCP program, and in most cases, cold storage is one of the CCPs (It can be a critical point or a CCP depending on the warehouse's risk assessment ). If done wrong, it could cause product deterioration because of the flourishment of spoilage microorganisms like psychrophilic spoilage bacteria , which sometimes can be pathogenic. The storage procedure details handling of received products and the documents involved. Proper storage involves a lot of inter-linking activities aimed at protecting food products while at the warehouse. Some of these are Pre-requisite Programs (PRPs) that support storage as a Critical Control Point (CCP). They include the following; Cleaning and sanitation Temperature and hu...
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