Sous Vide – 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).
- 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
- Cooking Log
- Cooking Logs are used to document food temperatures for each batch during the cooking process
- Bagging Log
- Bagging Logs are used to document food temperatures for each batch during packaging. Cook chill products must be packaged at or above 135°F.
- Cooling Log
- Cooling Logs are used to document food temperatures during the cooling process. Cooked products must be cooled from 135°F to 41°F within six hours total time, including 135°F to 70°F within two hours. Further cooling, such as from 41°F to 34°F within 48 hours, may be required depending on the cold storage parameters.
- Cold Holding/ Refrigerator Log
- Cold Holding/Refrigeration Logs are used at least twice daily to document ambient air temperatures of cold holding units
- Reheating Log
-
- Reheating Logs are used to document reheat time and temperature at least once per batch. This log would be required in the product is reheated in a sealed oxygen permeable packaging (ROP).
-
- Hot Holding Log
- Hot Holding Logs are used to document food temperatures during hot holding. This log would be required if the product is hot held in a sealed oxygen permeable packaging (ROP).
- 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.
- Transport Log (if transporting to additional outlets)
- Transport Logs are used to monitor food temperatures immediately before transport from the processing facility and upon delivery to holding outlets
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.
- Ensure to include symptoms of food borne illness such as vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever, and infected cuts and burns on hands and wrists.
- Ensure to 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.
- 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 cooking, bagging, cooling, cold holding, reheating, hot holding, and transport
- Eliminating Bare Hand Contact
Updated on: May 29, 2019