Foodborne Illness Risk Factors & Risk Control Plan Tool
Risk Factor: Contaminated Equipment/Protection From Contamination Data Item #4: Food Contact Surfaces Are Properly Cleaned and Sanitized
What's the Rule? Food contact surfaces must be cleaned and sanitized to eliminate germs. Clean and sanitize all food contact surfaces prior to use, when chance of contamination might have occurred, periodically during continuous use (at least every 4 hours), and after use. Follow the manufacturer directions for chemical and equipment use. Refer to FDA Food Code: 4-501, 4-601, 4-602, 4-702, 4-703 What’s the Risk? To prevent foodborne illness, food contact surfaces must be kept free of dangerous germs. Non food- contact surfaces must be cleaned often to prevent an accumulation of soil or debris that could attract pests. Equipment and chemicals for cleaning and sanitizing are safe and effective only when their specific directions are followed (e.g., temperature, contact time, concentration.)
Why Do You Need a Risk Control Plan? A Risk Control Plan can reduce your risk of causing a foodborne illness outbreak. The process has three parts: 1) identify your chronic issues, 2) determine the root causes, and 3) create a food safety management system. This guidance document can be used to complete an agreement between you and your local regulator to plan for long-term food safety success.
PART 1: Identify continuous or chronic out-of-compliance issues • List all cleaning and sanitizing issues from previous inspection reports
• Identify any pattern or similarity among the citations • List the corrective actions that have already been tried PART 2: Use the table below to determine the root causes. • Chronic issues can have multiple root causes • Identify all the people, equipment, economic, or procedural factors that play a role in your recurring issues • This table includes a few examples, but it might not include your specific root cause
PEOPLE
EQUIPMENT
ECONOMICS
PROCEDURES
People not trained on cleaning and sanitizing procedures People not maintaining chemicals on-site and connected for use People not following sanitizer testing procedure People not monitoring and documenting test strip results Person in charge is not a trained food protection manager
Insufficient time committed to train staff on procedures Insufficient staff scheduled to execute procedures Purchasing equipment that is not designed for commercial use No budget for repairs and preventive maintenance
Written procedures incorrect or unclear to understand
Sanitizer test strips not available or not usable
Food-contact equipment not maintained as easily cleanable
Written procedures not followed
Procedures are not monitored, monitoring is not documented
Equipment is inoperable
Equipment not functioning to manufacturer data plate or design Equipment not used according to manufacturer instructions
No process for conducting and documenting corrective actions
No budget for replacing unserviceable equipment
No process for taking and documenting corrective actions
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