Good Manufacturing Practices

Good Manufacturing Practices

According to the existing food laws in most of the importing countries, any foods processed under unsanitary condition is considered adulterated because the food may be contaminated with filth or substances that could render the food injurious to heath. The current good manufacturing practices (GMP) regulations were issued to help prevent these problems. These laws continue to be applicable to all food product manufacture and exported to countries like US, EU etc. These outline the basic condition and practices that must be followed in order to avoid adulteration due to unsanitary condition.

            The production of safe food products requires that the HACCP system be built upon a solid foundation of prerequisite programs. Each segment of the food industry must provide the condition necessary to protect food while the food is under that segment’s control. This protection has traditionally been accomplished through the application of good manufacturing practices (GMP). GMP may include, but are not limited to:

Facilities:- 

            The establishment should be located, constructed, and maintained according to sanitary design principles. There should be liner product flow and traffic control to minimize cross-contamination from raw to cooked materials.

Personnel:-

             The plant management should take all reasonable measures and precaution to ensure disease control, cleanliness, education and training of personnel employed in the organization.

Sanitary facilities and control:

            This includes general maintenance of facilities, cleaning and sanitation of surface (food contact surfaces and others), pest control etc. Besides this each plant shall be equipped with adequate sanitary facilities and accommodation. The plant should have adequate supply of water, good plumbing, efficient sewage / offal disposal arrangements, toilet facilities and hand washing facilities

Equipment and utensils:-

This includes the design, specification and cleaning methods of all equipments and utensils installed for production.

Process control: All operation including receiving, inspecting, transporting, segregation, preparing, manufacturing, packaging and storing of food should be conducted in such way that it does not lead to contamination.

Personal hygiene:

All employees and other person who enter the manufacturing plant should follow the requirement for personal hygiene.

Training:

            All employees should receive documented training in personal hygiene, GMP, cleaning and sanitation procedure, personal safety and their role in the HACCP program.

Chemical control:

            Documented procedure must be in place to assure the segregation and proper use of non foods chemicals in the plant. These include cleaning chemicals, fumigants and pesticides or baits used in or around the plant.

Traceability and recall:

            All raw materials and product should be lot-coded and a recall system should be in place so that rapid and complete traces and recalls can be done when product retrieval is necessary.

Pest control:

             Effective pest control program should be in place. Other examples or prerequisites programs might include quality assurance procedure; standard operating procedure for sanitation, processes, product formulation and recipes, glass control, procedure for receiving, storage and shipping, labeling, employee food and ingredient handling practices.