FISH PLANT SANITATION

FISH PLANT SANITATION

“Fish plant sanitation has been defined as the controlling of all condition or practices within the plant so that the fish processed in free from disease producing microorganism & foreign matter”.

Consumers expect the foods they buy & consume to be pure, safe & processed, handled & served in a sanitary manner.

Essential elements of an effective sanitation program have been enumerated as follows.

1)      Management must be aware of the need for good sanitation.

2)      The plant should be suitably constructed & located.

3)      There must be approved plant water supply.

4)      There must be adequate facilities for raw material washing.

5)      There must be smooth working surface.

6)      There must be a good or sound clean up policy.

7)      There must be adequate sanitary facility.

8)      There must be good personal hygiene habits on the part of plant employs.

9)      There must be an effective rodent & insect control program.

10)  Plant should be well ventilated & near to fishing harbor.

While these requirements have been written for a sea food processing plant, careful consideration reveals that these basic requirements apply to any sanitation program. Many of these requirements are controlled through the various regulation imposed by the regulatory bodies who are charged with responsibility for ensuring the production of acceptable seafood products.

            “Sanitary food can be defined as one that is free of agents that cause disease or illness (e.g. typhoid) and free from objectionable extraneous.

HYGIENIC PRACTICES

            Proper hygienic practices in the part of food handlers is of critical importance, since man is one of the fundamental sources of microorganisms responsible for food borne illness e.g Staphylococcus. This organism is important, since it produces a poison that causes the particular food to bring about Staphylococcal food poisoning in anyone who ingests it.

            It should also be noted that some of the pathogens for which food is a vehicle of transmission may remain in the human carrier, for prolonged periods of time.(e.g. typhoid fever, dysenteries, salmonellosis & hepatitis ).

            The following list provides typical hygienic practices required of seafood plant employees, along with the reasons for such requirements & where appropriate ways in which the requirement can adequately be satisfied.

Sr.No.	Practice	Reason
1.	Employee Health :- No employee who a)      Is known to be suffering from any communicable disease. b)      Is known “carries of any diseases”. c)      Has any an infector wound or open lesion on an exposed of his or her body. Shall work in the processing hall or areas of the plant. Note:- 1)      An employee’s who is suffering from common cold and who is observed to be coughing or sneezing or wiping him or she must be restricted in working areas. 2)      Employees having infectious wounds on exposed parts of the body are not permitted in working areas.	A person from a communicable disease is likely to be noticed by supervisor. A person suffering from communicable disease or who is a carrier can infect the food products with bacteria capable of causing food poisoning. Person who have open infected wound must not be employed in the working areas because there is a danger of contamination to the food products.
2.	Employee appearance:- Employee shall present themselves for work exhibiting a clean & tidy appearance.	Clean hair, clean finger nails, clean skins, clean garments and clean hand habits are essential to reducing contamination of the products with the microorganisms. The main reason for this rule is of course for product protection. However, product protection combined with smart appearance is most desirable condition for efficient production. Note:- “ hands habits”  employees must be trained to keep their hand away from their nose, mouth, hair, clothing or other potential contaminating surfaces  after they have washed and sanitized their hands.
3.	Fingernail Polish: Employees engaged in the handling of the product shall not wear fingernail polish. Jewelry: Employees shall not wear rings, earrings or other jewelry while processing fish Smoking/Spitting/gum on Tobacco Chewing: No person shall smoke, spit or chew gum or tobacco in the processing areas.	The prolonged contact of finger nail polish with a moist or wet environment may cause the polish to peel and therefore; contaminate the product. They are frequently cleaned & disinfected they become a serious source of contamination. Friends, relatives, boat crew members & other people may not feel obliged to comply with established sanitary rules. Food dips can be a very valuable asset to a sanitation program. These structures are generally provided in heavy traffic areas in order to guard against the introduction of contamination to processing areas by way of footwear.  If tiotering in toilet areas is permitted, these areas tend to be come meeting places. Where in employees lean against walls or sit on the floor. It has been well documented that the walls doors & floors of toilet facilities are subject to contamination with M.O. associate with sewage. There for if employees are permitted to loiter, the risk in the transfer of contamination from the toilet areas to the processing areas increase drastically.
4.	Jewellary Employees shall not wear rings, earrings or other jewelry while processing the fish.	It is very easy in case of jewellary such as rings, earrings etc. may get loose or fall into fish products which contaminate the finished fish products.
5.	Smoking/Spitting/chewing gum/ Tobacco Chewing: No person shall smoke, spit or chew gum or tobacco in the processing areas.	Smoking is objectionable because of danger of contamination to the products with ash, cigarettes stubs, matches and the smoking saliva. Spitting is objectionable because of aesthetic reason, it is also objectionable because of public health significance, since even a healthy person may carry microorganisms of public health significance and through the act of spitting these microorganisms may contaminate the product. Chewing gum or tobacco is objectionable because of aesthetic reasons.
6.	Hand Washing: Employees shall thoroughly wash (with warn water soap) & dip their hands following each absence from duty.	The presence of the food poisoning organism associated with sewage or human diseases or infection is highly objectionable. Poor sanitary practices may vary sub sanitary contributed to the spread of contamination. Adequate hand washing is most important single factor in established sanitation. Every healthy person may carry microorganisms of public health significance on or in his or her body. These microbes when allowed to contact with food and multiply may cause serious food born diseases.
7.	Head Gear: Employees, while in the processing areas, shall wear head gear that completely covers the hair.	Head gear is necessary to protect the products from contamination with hair. Hair coverings of female employees shall be of such a nature that the use of bobby pin is not required to hold them in place, since the pins themselves may inadvertently find their way into the products.
8.	Bearded Employees:  Male employees bearing beards or mustaches shall wear head gear that completely covers these features.	Same as that of head gear.
9.	Outer Garments: 1)   Employees wearing smocks, coats, rubber aprons, etc. shall ensure that these garments are clean before reporting to their work stations. 2)   These garments shall not be worn off the establishment or inside toilet areas. 3)   These garments shall not be placed on processing tables or equipment during breaks. 4)   Employees must keep their shirt, blouse & sweater sleeves rolled up past the elbow.	1. Unless the clothing of employee handling the product is clean, there is a danger of contamination of the products. 2.  It is undesirable to allow the worker to travel to work in uniform, since the garment may become quite unsatisfactory enroot. The risk in allowing these garments to be taken into toilet areas is given greater and therefore must not be tolerated. 3.   If employees outer garments are placed on processing tables or equipments during break, there is a chance of these garments contaminating the processing surfaces and ultimately contaminating the products.
10.	Protective hand gloves or covering   protective hand covering (i.e. gloves) shall be washed & disinfected at each break & at the end of each shift.	Unless they are frequently clean and disinfected, they become a serious source of contamination.
11.	Personnel permitted in processing areas.            Any authorized personnel are permitted in the processing areas.	Friends, relatives, boat crew members and other peoples may not feel obliged to comply with established sanitary rules.
12.	Food dips   Employees shall make use of foot dips where these structures are provided.	Foot dips can be a very valuable asset to a sanitation program. These structures are generally provided in heavy traffic areas in order to guard against the introduction of contamination to processing areas by ways of foot wears.
13.	Toilet areas Employees shall not loiter in toilet areas	If loiter in toilet areas is permitted, these areas tend to become meeting places. Where in employees lean against the walls to sit on the floor. It has been well documented that walls, doors and floors of toilet facilities are subject to contamination with the microorganisms associated with sewage. Therefore if the employees are permitted to loiter, the risk in the transfer of contamination from the toilet areas to the processing areas increases drastically.