Control at pig abattoir
Control of pig meat
The control of health and hygiene of pig meat
is done partly by the public veterinary inspection at the slaughterhouse and
partly by the plant.
Self regulation
Self regulation means that the companies do a large
part of the food control themselves. This is done according to clear guidelines
that are approved and monitored by the authorities. The slaughterhouse plants
have all implemented a self regulation programme according to the HACCP concept,
which is approved and monitored by the Veterinary and Food Administration.
The areas that are critical for food safety are identified and described as part of the approved self regulation programme. Surveillance procedures have been adjusted to the self regulation programme to maintain control of the food safety risks.
The self regulation programme is designed individually for each production plant and includes control of:
- Raw materials
- Production
- Finished products
- Cleaning and disinfection
- Personal hygiene
When the companies create a self regulation programme, the following aspects are dealt with:
- Detailed description of the products
- Detailed description of the processes
- Risk analysis according to the HACCP concept
- Decision about the risks that can be controlled (find critical control points)
- Determination of critical limits for each critical control point
- Determining effective surveillance procedures for critical control points
- Establish corrective actions if critical limits are exceeded
- Verification of the function of the system
- Documentation
The companies have for several years been able to fulfil a number of these points that are part of the quality management systems. Each company has thus described its process flow and has via a risk analysis identified the critical control points (CCPs) in the production chain.
HACCP
HACCP (abbreviation of the English term: Hazard Analysis
Critical Control Points) is a method for organising food control, where the
possible risks in the production are analysed first, i.e. the meat can be
contaminated with pathogenic bacteria or the temperature can be too high so that
the bacteria can multiply. In the next stage the places in the production where
the problems can occur are identified, e.g. at the evisceration where intestinal
bacteria can contaminate the meat or by transport of the meat in the
slaughterhouse where the temperature chain can be broken resulting in too high
temperatures. By targeting the control to the critical places in the production,
the food safety can be controlled.
Risk analysis
Risk analysis is a systematic way of dealing with
risks. In the analysis it is first determined what can go wrong and where; then
it is determined how often it might go wrong and how big the damage could be. On
this background it is decided whether something should be done about the risk in
question, and in case it should, how it should be controlled.
Surveillance of critical control points: An effective surveillance procedure is determined for each critical control point; it will state how often the point should be checked and the acceptable limits for the risk - e.g. an acceptable temperature interval.
The self regulation system has determined what must take place if the surveillance procedures discover an error. It has for example been established which corrective actions should be taken to avoid a repetition of the error. There is also a clear distribution of responsibilities for the execution.
Verification and documentation: In order to ensure whether the limits that are laid down are acceptable, the efficiency of the surveillance procedures must be verified, i.e. confirmed through other investigations. This can be done by microbiological analyses or visual inspections.
If the production is changed - and at least once a year - the company must make a critical review of the risk assessment and surveillance procedures for the complete production. The reason is that it must be ensured that the self regulation always provides maximum safety and that new knowledge is incorporated into the risk assessment.
Public inspection of the approved self regulationsystem
The
public veterinary inspection service supervises all parts of the company's
approved self regulation system both via prior agreed supervision and
unannounced supervision. During the prior agreed supervision the complete system
is examined systematically once a year. Verification of the self regulation
programme entails:
- Review of critical control points (CCP) with critical limits and corrective actions
- Visual inspection of operations and processes
- Review of the disagreements found and the corrective actions that have been made
- Possibly spot check sampling and analysis
- An inspection report is made with all relevant comments from the review of the self regulation programme, e.g. data verifying correct function of the CCPs and measuring equipment
The public supervision ensures that the company's approved self regulation system is carried out as described in the self regulation programme.
The veterinary inspection
In addition to monitoring the abattoir's
self regulation system, the public veterinary inspection service also controls
that the slaughter procedures are performed correctly. In connection with the
slaughter, the veterinary meat inspectors examine both live and slaughtered pigs
to ensure that the meat is free from disease. The inspectors also take samples
for residue analysis. Veterinarians and lay meat inspectors are employed by the
Veterinary and Food Administration, but the cost of the control is paid for by
the slaughterhouses.
