Commercial Food Processing
Food Safety and Sanitation for Food Manufacturers
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The food processing industry is one of the United States’ largest manufacturing sectors, accounting for over 10% of all domestic shipments. Keeping up to date with commercial food safety standards is crucial. Make good use of Penn State Extension’s vast array of resources covering topics such as commercial food processing best practices, food-borne illness outbreaks, product marketing, regulations, preventive controls, and more.
The Food Processing Industry in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is a world leader in agriculture, food, and lumber production. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has been aggressively marketing agriculture, food, and wood products in recent years. In 2000, an all-time high was set with more than $1 billion in exports. Pennsylvania is also known as the “Snack Food Capital of the World”, generating more than $5.1 billion in sales annually.
With 2,300 food-processing companies located in the state, it’s also a world leader in food production. It’s number one among the 50 US states for shipments that include chocolate and cocoa products, potato chips and pretzels, specialty products, canned fruit, and vegetables.
In this section of the Penn State Extension website, you will gain an understanding of the essentials of food safety throughout the supply chain. This includes FDA requirements of a preventive system for food safety and good manufacturing practices, analyzing food safety risks, commercial food safety regulations, information relating to the latest food safety standards and safe transportation.
HACCP and Good Manufacturing Practices in Commercial Food Processing
Training and certification play a crucial role in ensuring all food produced for human consumption meets recommended standards. For people who work in the food processing industry, gaining an understanding of the legal aspects of food production is also fundamental. Penn State Extension has a wide range of resources owners, managers, and food production staff can use to ensure the industry produces food of the highest quality that meets all relevant food safety standards.
Fundamentals of HACCP, for example, is a 2-day course taught by certified instructors, aimed at increasing people’s knowledge of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. The course is certified through the International HACCP Alliance. Preventive Controls for Human Foods Certification is also available, in order to meet FDA requirements for the development and implementation of HACCP systems. Food manufacturing facilities are required to have a written food safety plan prepared by Qualified Preventive Control Individuals.
An understanding of the science behind food-borne illnesses and sanitation ensures the risks are eradicated or kept to a minimum and food manufacturers and industry professionals are able to ensure the highest levels of food safety.
Rules and regulations are in place throughout the food processing supply chain, from animal welfare through to sanitary transportation. The FDA has ruled on the Sanitary Transportation Regulation for the Food Safety Modernization Act, in an effort to protect food from farm to table. Penn State Extension’s Sanitary Transport of Human and Animal Food online course meets the FDA’s training requirements.
Commercial Food Safety Regulations and FMSA
To ensure the safety of food, it’s crucial for food manufacturers and food processing facilities to follow Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP). Rules and regulations cover aspects such as appropriate personal hygiene practices, design, construction and maintenance of food plants and plant grounds, equipment, sanitary operations, facility sanitation, and production and process controls during food production.
A fundamental part of the regulations is the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, focusing on food processors being more proactive rather than reactive. The Act also recognizes that the safety of the food supply is a shared responsibility among all those in the food supply chain. Using the video resources and FSMA resources provided by Penn State Extension, you can gain a better understanding of the seven major rules of FSMA, compliance requirements, FSMA rules and regulations, and find the answers to frequently asked questions on the regulations.
