Planos HACCP numa empresa de embalamento de especiarias e ervas aromáticas no âmbito da norma IFS FOOD 7.0

Abstract

The current market demand is notorious, considering the history of foodborne outbreaks in Europe and worldwide in the 1990s and 2000s. The food safety and quality management systems are fundamental in this sector, promoting the competitiveness of companies and increasing their concern in making food production systems and distribution chains increasingly sustainable and safe for the final consumer. The focus of this internship was based on updating the HACCP plan since it was the one that needed the most attention since the old one was not complete enough to meet the requirements of the IFS Food standard. This standard is essential to the profitability of the company due to the demands of major customers, but also because it ensures transparency for the consumer throughout the supply chain, in terms of food safety and food quality. The activity field of Navires is the grinding and the manual and semi-automatic packaging of herbs and spices in small bags (g), bags (kg) and bottles formats. It also commercializes canned food, dried legumes, and various products such as fried onions and breadcrumbs, however these are not handled inside the factory. A research was carried out, according to the applicable legislation, of all the possible hazards that could contaminate the products, from the reception of the raw material to its shipment and distribution. A critical control point was identified in the metal detector stage because it is an essential step for metal hazards to be at an acceptable level, and five control measures known as control points. These control points, despite controlling less specific and significant hazards than the critical control points, have a high probability and severity, so they should be monitored to reduce the probability of appearance and proliferation of certain hazards. The hazard of wood splinters from pallets used in the reception of raw material and in the filling and grinding stage, the absence of allergen information (mustard and sulfites) on labels, the presence of foreign bodies not segregated by the sieves (structure incorporated in the equipment) in the automatic filling stage and, finally, the introduction of foreign bodies due to failures in the sealing by electromagnetic induction (bottle filling), were the five control points identified. After this identification, critical limits, monitoring procedures, corrective actions and verification plans were established for both the critical control point and control points. The goal of the internship was achieved placing the certification by the standard closer to being obtained, in addition to which other skills were developed outside the field of Food Engineering such as organization, interpersonal relationships and versatility.

Date of Award	7 Feb 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Timothy Hogg (Supervisor)