Welcome to HACCP Mentor Review Episode 16. This week we cover allergen control in vending machines, challenging your metal detector, checking non-conforming food products and getting to know your food business neighbours.
Allergen Control and Vending Machines
A common question is how far do you go to ban allergens on site when it comes to vending machines and the food that people bring in from home? Like anything, I would suggest that you undertake a risk assessment to identify the likelihood of allergen contamination from this source.
The key is to make sure that you have adequate controls in place. Controls include:
- Effective hand washing prior to entering the food manufacturing environment and handling food.
- Avoid peanuts or peanut containing products in staff vending machines.
- Educate staff on the basics of allergen management and control.
Challenging your Metal Detector 
A good test to challenge your metal detector is to embed different types of metal into your product and run it through your metal detector. This will show you how effective your metal detector is in actually picking up metal in your product.
Action Item
This week’s action item is to get out in the production area and check that non-conforming product is clearly marked and/or stored within the designated quarantine area. In this situation you do not want contaminated or non-conforming product getting into the marketplace.
Know your food business neighbours
Knowledge of the surrounding business activities should be taken into consideration when identifying hazards around your food business. This knowledge is needed when you are developing your business contingency plans and other food safety hazard controls. Things to consider include:
- Surrounding rivers and water bodies – these can be a flood hazard.
- Industries that may be a higher fire risk – including gas tanks, refinery’s, petrol stations.
- Businesses that may produce adverse environmental contaminates through odours
The easiest way to document the businesses surrounding your business is through mapping. You can get a google map and then indicate the type of business. A risk assessment can then be documented to show that potential hazards have been assessed and suitable controls or mitigation strategies identified and implemented as required.
Wrap Up
That wraps up this episode of HACCP Mentor. If you have any feedback, I would love to hear from you. Just leave a comment below this episode.