Two-Barrier – Supporting Documentation
Logs
- As a method of documenting tasks, logs are a means of tracing production history. In HACCP plans, logs are used to document monitoring of critical limits for CCPs and other required food safety processes. These documents must be kept onsite for health authority review, and the HACCP plan must provide details of log completion (what is documented, who is responsible, documentation frequency), maintenance (how long the log will be kept), and verification (who is verifying and how often).
- Cold Holding/ Refrigerator Log
- Cold Holding/Refrigeration Logs are used at least once daily to document ambient air temperatures of cold holding units
- Thermometer Calibration Log
- Thermometer Calibration Logs are used at a frequency set by the facility (a minimum of once per week) to document calibration of thermometers
- Food Safety Checklist
- A Food Safety Checklist is used daily to monitor food safety and sanitation practices, such as personal hygiene, hand washing, labeling, shelf life, cleaning and sanitizing, and eliminating bare hand contact. The Food Safety Checklist is used as a tool by the Person in Charge (or management) to ensure food handlers and other personnel are adhering to proper procedures/policies at all times.
- A sample Food Safety Checklist can be found here
- Transport Log (if transporting to additional outlets)
- Transport Logs are used to document food temperatures immediately before transport from the processing facility and upon delivery to holding outlets.
- Cooling Log (may be requested for ready to eat foods)
- Cooling Logs are used to document food temperatures during the cooling process. Ready to eat food, such as cut leafy greens, cut melons, cut tomatoes, must cool from ambient temperature to 41°F within four hours.
Other Supporting Documents
- Employee Health Policy
- An Employee Health Policy is a document that encourages practices and behaviors that can help prevent food employees from spreading viruses and bacteria to food. It details symptoms and diseases that food handlers must report to management. Develop and implement an Employee Health Policy at the facility.
- The policy must include symptoms of food borne illness such as vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever, and infected cuts and burns on hands and wrists.
- The policy must include pathogens known to cause food borne illnesses such as E. coli 0154:H7, Shigella, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, and Norovirus
- The FDA Employee Health and Personal Hygiene Handbook, may be used as a resource.
- A sample Employee Health Policy can be found here.
- Training Plan
- Training plan must contain details of the method of training, when/how often training will be conducted, and topics covered during training. In addition, the training plan must include a training log with space to document employee and trainer names and training dates. Be sure to specify the length of time that the training log will be maintained onsite (throughout the employee’s tenure, six months, etc.).
- Unless separate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are provided, the training plan must include details of all the following topics:
- Eliminating Bare Hand Contact
- Clarify that bare hand contact with food that will be placed in ROP is not permitted at any time and what is done with ROP food touched with bare hands
- Personal Hygiene
- Address wounds/sores, jewelry, fingernails, hair restraints, clothing (i.e., uniform, apron), tasting food, eating/drinking, what is done with affected food when employees do not follow the personal hygiene information
- Hand Washing
- Clarify when, how, and where to wash hands, and any necessary corrective actions
- Labeling
- Include details of all applicable dates (packaging, expiration, freezing, thawing, etc.), what is done with food that is not labeled or is incorrectly labeled
- Cleaning and Sanitizing Food Contact Surfaces
- Specify how to properly clean and sanitize food contact surfaces, and what to do with food contact surfaces that have not been properly cleaned and sanitized
- Thermometer Use and Calibration
- Address the method and frequency of thermometer calibration and what is done with thermometers that cannot be calibrated
- Provide details of documenting thermometer calibration, including who is verifying and how often the log will be verified
- All CCPs detailed on the HACCP worksheet, such as cooling, cold holding, and transport
- Eliminating Bare Hand Contact
- Lab testing results (i.e. pH or water activity) from a certified lab required for ready to eat foods to identify the second barrier
Updated on: May 29, 2019