How to Prevent Australia and New Zealands’ Most Common ‘Unsatisfactory Findings’ During Food Safety Inspections

Since 1956, the AIB International Consolidated Standards for Inspection have compiled the best good manufacturing and food safety practices in alignment with leading regulatory requirements to provide a unifying, comprehensive framework for inspection. The consolidated standards are outlined in a single document, and include a scoring system that allows companies to clearly evaluate how well they perform against the standards. They have been designed to unify standards for different stakeholders throughout the food supply chain, both in the U.S. and abroad.  

During a review of our worldwide food safety inspection finding database, we identified a number of common unsatisfactory findings at plants in Australia and New Zealand. As regulators continue working to strengthen the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (FSANZ), it’s critical for plant stakeholders to mitigate unsatisfactory findings before compliance becomes even more complex. Fortunately, it’s possible to address many food safety gaps just by improving protocols in three essential food plant programs:  

1. Pre-Operational Inspections 

Pre-operational food safety inspections are typically conducted after sanitation has concluded and prior to resuming production operations. The person(s) assigned this responsibility must be familiar with equipment and able to identify any conditions that create contamination risks or could otherwise threaten food safety, such as hard-to-clean areas of the equipment. 

This means checking for over-lubrication, metal-to-metal wear, proper reassembly of parts that may have been removed for sanitation, the condition of equipment surfaces for both food contact and non-food contact areas, damage to brittle plastic and glass items, and a check of the condition of overheads, particularly those directly above exposed product and packaging (in the product zone). Also remember to inspect the condition of ingredient bins, scoops, interim storage vessels, and other food contact utensils.  

This preliminary food safety inspection should confirm that all components, utensils, and tools have been removed following the completion of maintenance and sanitation procedures. Prior to startup, any issues considered non-compliant with defined standards and a hazard to the final product that will be produced using the equipment must be corrected and verified. 

2. Self-Inspections 

The second line of defense against the most common non-compliances in Australia and New Zealand is the self-inspection carried out by a multidisciplinary food safety team. This team takes a broad look at the entire operation, but must still focus on the details of equipment conditions.  

Scheduling self-inspections during downtime easily allows the disassembly of more complex equipment most likely to harbor undiscovered food safety issues. Pumps, pipes, mixers, tanks, and fillers are the most high risk, because their damaged impellers, gaskets, spray balls, and metal-to-metal wear might go unidentified and lead to foreign materials entering the product stream.  

It’s critical to train the food safety inspection team to thoroughly inspect, identify, and correct any equipment and structural issues. They must take prompt corrective action and prioritize according to a risk assessment. Where issues are found, they must conduct a root cause analysis to prevent the recurrence of the condition. 

3. Preventive Maintenance 

The preventive maintenance program is essential to avoid wear and tear conditions becoming food safety issues. This also applies to both equipment as well as the facility’s structures, including the overheads, floors, and drains. Team members should complete all preventive maintenance on schedule as planned to ensure the manufacturing environment is kept in a hygienic condition. Base the frequency of these activities on risk and historical records, and adjust as needed to maintain equipment and the facility in-line with standards. 

It’s critical for stakeholders — frontline workers and supervisors alike — to take full ownership of standards to ensure the equipment and structures are suitable for operations. This means everyone working in the production and packaging areas must be aware of anything that is not up to the expected and documented standard. Employees must feel empowered to speak up when they identify an equipment or structural condition that may negatively impact the quality and food safety of the product being produced. All employees in the facility must understand that food safety comes first. 

Bringing Food Safety Inspections Up to Standard 

Meeting and exceeding standards is an ongoing project that requires dedication to continuous improvement. Regularly review self- and third-party food safety inspections and take note of trends over time. If you are seeing the same types of unsatisfactory findings repetitively, it means you have not successfully identified and corrected the root cause of your problems.  

Assemble a team knowledgeable about your plant processes to get to the real reason the conditions exist so you can correct them for the long term. Make sure everyone in your organization understands that ensuring food safety is a daily responsibility. The success of your business depends on managing and controlling all the details, including those related to maintenance. 

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