As on the farm and in the abattoir, processing plants need to comply with minimum standards to be able to use the Pork 360 quality assurance mark. The aim is to ensure full traceability as well as the safety and quality of Pork360 meat, throughout the supply chain.
The aim of this section is not to discuss each of the requirements, but to give mere insights into some of these strict measures.
Amongst others, management needs to accept responsibility for the hygiene and safety management systems employed at a plant and provide resources to enable and maintain these systems. Staff need to be informed and trained to comply and correctly implement the systems. Any problems and hazards should be reported as soon as they are identified.
The plant needs to be government-approved and comply with all legal regulations applicable to the processing of meat. A detailed map should be available of all the premises in the plant, with the design and construction of the plant conforming with certain minimum specifications to reduce hazards and ensure food safety.
The processes used during the processing of the meat should also be clearly defined and follow the minimum standards.
For traceability purposes, good records should be kept of all activities, and meat quality needs to be monitored continuously to ensure product safety. As part of this, meat product safety managers need to be appointed, who should inspect all sections and processes at the plant at regular intervals. They should also verify and record outcomes and corrective actions to ensure prescribed meat product safety outcomes are met.
Sound cleaning, sanitisation, water safety and pest control measures should be implemented throughout the plant. The standards also relate to customer complaints, returns policies, the reworking of processed meat and so forth.
Protocols should also be in place to control access to the plant, ensure a safe work environment and reduce worker-related hazards and health threats.
SouthAfrica.co.za offers a guide to pig farming in South Africa. The commercial pig industry in South Africa is relatively small with a few ...