Any product accidentally dropped to the
floor is constantly removed and properly
discarded.;The;whole;line;is;sanitized
once;a;week.;This;includes;floors,;walls
and;ceilings.;Before;the;sanitation,;a
team of technicians from maintenance
checks;and;fixes;any;issues;with;the
equipment.;This;sanitization;process;can
take;a;whole;shift;of;8;hours;(usually
during;third;shift).
Microbial Contamination
Because;microbial;growth;directly
depends on moisture content, among
other factors, in the particular case of
the;salty;snack;industry,;bacteria;are;not
a;big;issue.;Considering;that;moisture
content of all products typically should
be;lower;than;2.5%,;with;this;amount;of
water;in;the;product,;microbial;growth
is;almost;negligible.;There;is;a;reason
to have products with that very low
moisture;content.;In;the;traditional;salty
snack industry, which mainly produces
potato, tortilla and corn chips, when
moisture;content;is;higher;than;2.5%,
the product loses its characteristic
crispiness;and;crunchiness.;It;becomes
soggy.;Actually,;during;shelf-life;studies,
moisture content is one of the critical
variables;to;define;the;end;of;the;prod-uct;life.
Another;approach;to;“cleaning
practices”;that;has;been;achieved;at;low
or almost no cost is related to the neat-ness;and;cleanliness;of;the;workforce.
Personnel;are;required;to;wear;white
cotton uniforms, hairnets, face masks,
safety;glasses;and;work;boots.;The;use
of jewelry, makeup and perfume is not
allowed inside the facility, and nails
should;be;not;enameled;and;as;short
as;possible.;Every;time;a;worker;returns
to the facility for any reason, he or she
should wash their hands and then apply
sanitizer;to;be;allowed;to;return;to;the
production;line.;The;main;goal;of;these
techniques is to come out with food
products;that;both;the;producer;and;the
workers;would;feel;proud;of.
Product Transport
Some;small;businesses;do;not;have
a;continuous;process;line.;Sometimes,
they have to manually transport the
product from one operation unit to the
next;one.;The;easiest;and;cheapest;way
to transport the product is to use a huge
plastic;bag;and;slide;it;across;the;floor.
However,;the;risk;of;punctured;bags;with
consequent;microbial;contamination;of
the;product;is;very;high.;One;solution
to;this;problem;has;been;to;place;the
plastic;bag;in;a;metallic;cart;to;safely
transport;the;product.;Sometimes;this
metallic;cart;is;handmade;by;the;techni-cians;from;the;maintenance;department.
Even;though;the;use;of;plastic;bags;is
not;allowed;according;to;the;GMPs,
that was how small producers solved the
product;transport;problem;in;a;noncon-tinuous;production;line.;Other;small
producers;have;solved;the;problem;by
making metallic cart containers, usually
of;stainless;steel.
Room for Improvement
One;of;the;weak;GMP;categories;in
the;snack;industry;in;Latin;America;is
employee;training.;Many;small;compa-nies send their employees to short cours-es;for;GMPs,;HACCPs;or;Sanitation
Standard;Operating;Procedures;training.
However,;that;information;sometimes
goes no farther than the employee who
attended;the;training.;Many;times,;it;is
not shared with the line operators and
other personnel involved in the produc-tion;process.
As;mentioned;above,;many;small
producers;started;their;business;by
buying;used;process;equipment;and
installing it in a place that was not
initially intended or designed to house
a;factory.;As;a;consequence,;the;plant
layout constantly changes when new
pieces of equipment are added or a new
production;line;is;installed.;The;shape;of
the;new;layout;is;mainly;driven;by;the
availability;of;room;inside;the;plant;and
by;trying;to;achieve;the;requirements;of
the;GMPs.
Unfortunately, the quality assurance
assessment;is;one;of;the;GMP;catego-ries with which small produces struggle
frequently.;Again,;many;small;producers
started;their;business;with;a;minimal
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