Pest Management SOPs for Food Processing Plants and the Importance of FSMA
Sanitation encompasses many areas and functions within a food processing plant, even when not in production. However, certain sanitary procedures must be addressed and maintained daily to prevent direct product contamination or adulteration of ingredients within the plant. Good sanitation is essential in these areas to maintain a safe food production process—a practice made even more crucial with the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
One key aspect of sanitation is the prevention and immediate elimination of any and all pest infestations in a food plant. Typically, unsanitary conditions tend to provide the perfect environment for pests by allowing them access to food, water and nesting sites. Nearly everyone is familiar with the conditions and pest violations inside the Peanut Corporation of America’s processing plant that led to a massive Salmonella outbreak in 2009, the eventual shutdown of the plant, bankruptcy and liquidation of the company and judicial action against management. This example and countless other recalls are the reasons why every food processing plant should develop strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) relating to sanitation and pest management.
Pest Threats and Management Challenges
The pests most commonly found in food processing facilities are cockroaches, flies, beetles, ants, moths and rodents. Each of these pests presents a different set of problems for the facility, from equipment and food contamination to consumer backlash and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fines and possible plant closures.
Pest management in food plants can be challenging due to numerous factors. Whether it’s that some pests may enter the facility through the delivery of raw food items and packaging materials, the presence of food odors and exterior lighting or the sheer size of facilities, which provides numerous harborage sites for pests, each of these underscores the importance of a strict program.
The most successful approach to pest management in food plants is the use of integrated pest management (IPM), a process involving common sense and sound solutions to treat and control pests. These solutions incorporate three basic steps: inspection, identification and treatment. IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interactions with the environment, and are essential in detecting and controlling pests in food processing facilities.
Establishment of SOPs
Because of the crucial role pest management plays in sanitation inside food plants, it is important that facility managers work with their pest management company to develop and establish SOPs, including methods of inspection and treatment, as well as provide appropriate documentation. At a minimum, all protocols and procedures shall include the following:
• Procedures for all current or anticipated pest management activities, including inspections and audits. The written procedures should be detailed and include frequency of action.
• Pest sightings and pest activity logs. These logs should contain the exact dates, times and locations of pest sightings, as well as the type of pest.
• Treatment records. These should contain the details of each performed treatment, ensuring they’re accurate and up to date, and include both inspection dates and the locations of treatments performed.
• Trend reports. Because the final determination of a pervasive pest problem requires expertise, pest technicians will develop these reports based on the inspections, pest sightings and activity logs.
• Plant layout. The pest technician and plant managers should keep an updated layout of the facility listing pest management activity information.
• Responsible individuals. Those persons who are in charge of recordkeeping and pest management oversight between professional inspections.
• Corrective measures. Should there be a need for a change in or a deviation from the pest management program, these measures will outline what must be done instead.
The Impact of FSMA
FSMA is easily the biggest reform of U.S. food safety laws since the 1930s. The act mandates stricter measures for food made in the U.S., while also giving FDA unprecedented authority in enforcing these regulations. Of most importance is a shift in the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to proactively preventing any and all dangers.
Although the final implementation of FSMA was scheduled for June 2015, an agreement between FDA, the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Environmental Health set a new schedule for the following four regulations: