Meat and Poultry Processing Standards

The flow of the process from intake to dispatch must be controlled in order to prevent cross contamination between production areas, by people, equipment or waste

Systems must be in place to thaw frozen products in a controlled manner

Equipment settings must only be completed by trained and authorised staff (New)

Where online check weighers are used, a procedure must be documented to cover operation and testing (New)

Packaging must be purchased from approved sources (Revised)

Packaging must be suitable for its intended use, as confirmed by up to date specifications (Revised)

A documented procedure for the receipt of packaging must be in place detailing checks that must be carried out

Packaging must be stored in a suitable, clean, pest-free area

Packaging must be able to be moved to the point of use, without the risk of contamination

Systems must be in place to prevent the use of obsolete packaging, including labels (New)

Systems must be in place to ensure that products are packed and labelled with the correct packaging/ labelling (Revised)

Cooking instructions on packaging must be validated (New)

Systems must be in place to minimise the risk of contamination of product by metal (Revised)

Documented procedures must be implemented when the metal detector or X-ray equipment detects contaminated product (Revised)

Where a product is found to be contaminated with metal, the source of contamination must be investigated and action taken to prevent a reoccurrence

Metal detectors or X-ray equipment must be tested regularly for correct functioning, in accordance with a documented procedure (Revised)

Where a test on a metal detector or X-ray equipment fails, corrective actions must be implemented

Where a site is handling known allergens, risk assessed procedures must be in place to minimise the risk of allergen contamination of products (Revised)

A risk assessed schedule of finished product testing must be in place (Revised)

Where testing identifies non-conforming products, corrective action must be implemented (Revised)

Any testing carried out that is critical to product safety and legality, is to internationally recognised methods in appropriately accredited laboratories

Non-conforming products must be dealt with appropriately, in accordance with the site’s documented procedure

Systems must be in place to check the fitness of livestock for human consumption (Revised)

Systems must be in place to ensure that livestock are of suitable cleanliness at slaughter

Where the monitoring identifies suppliers failing to meet the sites requirements, corrective action must be implemented (Revised)

Systems must be in place to prevent cross contamination between species on the slaughter line in multi species abattoirs

Risk assessed systems that minimise contamination of the carcase must be implemented

Systems must be in place to identify, isolate and deal with diseased, dirty or otherwise contaminated carcases

Risk assessed systems that minimise contamination of the carcase must be implemented (Revised)

Systems must be in place to identify, isolate and deal with diseased, dirty or otherwise contaminated carcases

Systems must be in place to minimise the risk of staff handling raw poultry meat coming into contact with packagings