We've Got SALSA Sussed!

We’ve got SALSA Sussed..! Week 34 Traceability Traceability – this is very important for every business to get right. Why is it so important? Because, if you have a problem with a contaminated Finished Product, you have to Trace the Product, Recall it and get it back out of the Supply Chain. All this costs time, trouble and money, so Traceability needs to be efficient. There are many ways to tackle Traceability. I am going to show you, what I call the ‘Keep it Simple’ method, the 3 Steps to Traceability. Ingredient Traceability You need to be able to Trace the Ingredients used in the Finished Product. This is so that if you or your supplier finds an issue with the Ingredient, you can find out the batch number of the Ingredient concerned. This element of traceability starts at Goods In and flows into Production Traceability . You will need to know which Finished products you used the Ingredient in. Finished Product Traceability Coding Applying a Batch Code to your Finishe...

We’ve got SALSA sussed..! Week 33 Corrective Action Corrective & Preventive Action is important to any business. If your business has any sort of Incident or Complaint, it is important to follow it through with Corrective and Preventive Action. Incidents are sometimes serious, such as a Withdrawal or Recall. Sometimes, however, they are not as serious, they happen on site before the product has left the building, therefore is still under your control. However, it still needs ‘Actioning’ to Correct and Prevent. If you were to have a Recall or Withdrawal, it is imperative to ensure the immediate issue is addressed and the product is taken off the market. And obviously, you would want to prevent it from happening again. An investigation into why it happened would highlight the reason, so you can action the Preventive Controls. For less serious Incidents which might happen on site, such as the Non-Conforming Materials we spoke about last week, we still require immediate Cor...

  Week 32 Non-Conforming Materials  We've Got SALSA Sussed This week we will discuss Non-Conforming Materials. Non-Conforming Materials can come in many forms. We need to know what to do with them, no matter what stage or condition they are in. Having a Procedure which deals with every eventuality of a Non-Conforming Material, is the right way to achieve this. It is also a SALSA requirement. I will explain what you need to think about so that you can make sure you have everything covered. What’s coming next…  Week 33 Corrective Action   Non-Conforming Materials - what do you need to show your SALSA auditor? Non-Conforming Material Procedure Quarantine Record / On Hold Notice / Non-Conforming Material Record (or similar) Quarantine Area   Quarantine Area Having a specifically designated Quarantine Area in which to put Non-Conforming Materials is a very good idea. If you do not have the space, then having DO NOT USE or QUARANTINE tape to wr...

Week 31 Food Safety Systems Review   We’ve got SALSA sussed..! Happy New Year! I think….! Well, what a Christmas and New Year. Yes, I’m sure we all made the best of it, but it just means we will have to celebrate more next Christmas …… hopefully! Seriously, I really hope everyone enjoys a better 2021. We are starting the New Year with a topic that many people forget to attempt, especially at first audit…. Food Safety Systems Review, or Internal Audits. First thing to say is: This is NOT a Tick List. You need to audit your paperwork and practical systems effectively, otherwise this could become a pointless exercise. Internal Audits are an annual check to make sure you are doing the following: 1.        Following SALSA Requirements 2.        Following YOUR Procedures 3.        Evidence you are following them through RECORDS Let’s get started on how to achieve this. ...