Meat Safety Act, 2000 (Act No. 40 of 2000)

Red Meat Regulations, 2004

Part III : Hygiene Management and Evaluation Systems [Section 11(1)(e)]

55. Hygiene Management Programmes (HMP)

Purchase cart Previous page Return to chapter overview Next page

 

The owner of an abattoir must implement -

a)a HMP for ante-mortem inspection, including control measures to -
i)ensure that all animals which for some reason or other cannot be processed into safe meat are identified and handled in accordance with Part VIII;
ii)identify animals with diseases and conditions of which symptoms may not be visible during post-mortem meat inspections;
iii)identify animals with zoonotic diseases;
iv)identify animals with highly contagious diseases or diseases controlled under the Animal Health Act, 2002 (Act No. 7 of 2002); and
v)identify animals that pose a high contamination risk, such as those with septic conditions or animals that are excessively soiled; and
vi)ensure that injured animals in obvious pain are presented for emergency slaughter or preferential slaughter without undue delay;
b)a HMP for slaughter and dressing, including -
i)control measures (CM) to ensure that no contamination of meat and edible products occur from -
aa)the external surface of the animal slaughtered;
bb)wind and dust;
cc)the contents of hollow organs;
dd)persons working with edible products; or
ee)contact with unclean objects;
ii)slaughter and dressing procedures which must limit any contamination to the absolute minimum;
iii)training of all workers in correct slaughter techniques including principles of hygiene practices which must be monitored;
iv)a programme for the daily checking of carcasses for soiling to provide for regular checking of a representative sample of carcasses throughout the day on a random basis and to determine the levels of contamination of carcasses;
c)a HMP for meat inspection, in terms of which the supervisory registered meat inspector (SMI) assisted by the registered veterinarian must monitor meat inspection by means of implementation of written control measures to ensure-
i)that meat inspection is done according to Part VI;
ii)the competency of the meat inspectors and meat examiners;
iii)the personal hygiene of the meat inspectors and meat examiners;
iv)that heads, red and rough offal are correlated to the carcasses of origin;
v)the security of detained carcasses and organs;
vi)the security of provisionally passed carcasses and organs;
vii)the security of the stamp of approval;
viii)the security of condemned material;
ix)the implementation of standard operational procedures (SOP’s) for -
aa)emergency slaughter;
bb)preferential slaughter;
cc)provisional slaughter;
dd)slaughter of cattle which have reacted positively to Brucellosis and Tuberculosis tests done on the farm and branded with the "C" and "T" brand marks;
ee)dirty animals; and
ff)dropped meat;
d)a HMP for personal hygiene of workers in terms of which-
i)a general code of conduct , approved by a registered inspector, for personnel and in particular for workers who come into direct contact with meat and edible products, must be available;
ii)a training programme, as well as registers of attendance, for all personnel to apply the principles of the code of conduct referred to in subparagraph (i) must be available; and
iii)records of surveillance and supervision including records of disciplinary action in cases of repetitive misconduct or non-compliance must be available;
e)a HMP for medical fitness of workers in terms of which-
i)records of initial medical certification that workers are fit to work with meat and edible products, prior to employment, must be available; and
ii)records of daily fitness checks, including corrective actions applied in cases of illness and injury, must be available;
f)a HMP for the temperature of water in sterilizers and maintenance of sterilizers in terms of which control measures to ensure the continuous availability and accessibility of sterilizers in good working order at water temperatures of 82°C, including registers for daily checks indicating frequency of checks as well as corrective action procedures in cases of noncompliance, must be available;
g)a HMP for the availability of liquid soap and soap dispensers, toilet paper, and disposable towels, in terms of which control measures to ensure the continuous availability and accessibility of liquid soap and soap dispensers for hand-washing purposes, toilet paper and disposable towels at pre-identified points must be available;
h)a HMP for sanitation and continuous cleaning including a cleaning schedule providing-
i)a list of all the areas to be cleaned;
ii)a list of all the rooms that have to be cleaned within every area;
iii)the name of the person responsible for the cleaning of each area, section or room;
iv)for each room within a Particular area, a detailed description of the cleaning of each structure, including -
aa)the frequency of cleaning;
bb)step by step methods of cleaning;
cc)data of the chemicals which are used, such as registration data, safeness, dilutions, application prescriptions;
dd)the correct application of the detergents such as dilution, temperatures and contact times;
ee)the rinsing off of applied chemicals; and
ff)the results to be obtained as an objective of the cleaning programme;
v)an addendum for each room in which the cleaning of each structure must be described in detail including aspects such as method, frequency and target results;
vi)for the training of cleaning teams in the execution of these programmes;
vii)for control over the storage of detergents to prevent contamination of edible products;
viii)a detailed description for continuous cleaning on the processing line during processing, which must include-
aa)a list of all the actions in this programme including the cleaning of moving equipment and crates; and
bb)a step by step description of each action;
ix)for these programmes to be approved by a registered inspector; and
x)for laboratory checks as control of effectiveness of the cleaning programmes to be instituted and documented;
i)a HMP for availability and quality of water in terms of which -
i)the owner of the abattoir must account for the source of water supply and the status of such water;
ii)the owner must be able to demonstrate the water distribution system within the abattoir and provide an updated schematic plan of the water distribution on the premises;
iii)a sampling programme must be followed to ensure that all outlets, including water hoses are checked on a repeated consistent basis within an allotted period of time, and the sampling procedure must be described; and
iv)the owner is responsible to ensure that water used in the abattoir is potable and that records of microbiological and chemical water test results are available;
j)a HMP for vermin control in terms of which the owner of the abattoir must provide a written control programme for each vermin type for approval by the provincial executive officer, and such programme must include-
i)schematic drawings indicating the position of bait stations;
ii)a poison register, including specifications for the use of different poisons; and
iii)training programmes for persons working with poisons;
k)a HMP for waste disposal, including condemned material, in terms of which -
i)the owner of the abattoir must provide a written control programme for the removal of each different category of waste material including general refuse removal for approval by the provincial executive officer; and
ii)security arrangements to prevent condemned material from entering the food chain must be described;
l)a HMP for in contact wrapping and packing materials in terms of which -
i)the owner of the abattoir must provide a written control programme addressing the suitability as well as the storage and handling of all in contact wrapping and packing material;
ii)control measures to prevent contamination in store rooms must be provided; and
iii)control measures to prevent contamination of wrapping materials must be provided;
m)a HMP for maintenance, providing for the owner of the abattoir to provide a document addressing the routine maintenance of all equipment and structures; and
n)a HMP for thermo control in terms of which -
i)a plan must be provided that indicates the layout of all the chillers, freezers and processing rooms where temperature control of the rooms is required including-
aa)each temperature controlled room or area;
bb)the number of the room or area;
cc)the temperature requirement of each room; and
dd)the throughput of each room;
ii)each room must be equipped with a recording thermograph, or equivalent means of monitoring and recording must be used, that indicates the temperature measurements in the room on a continuous basis;
iii)the graphs or data must provide the actual time and temperature as well as the correct date;
iv)annual calibration and certification to this effect must be available;
v)records in respect of regular testing of digital thermographs and meters against a certified fluid in glass thermometer, done by the owner, must be available;
vi)placing of the thermo-sensors within a room must be representative of the temperature in that room;
vii)if a centralized computer system is used for this purpose all the relevant temperatures must be recorded on an ongoing basis at least every 30 minutes;
viii)the temperature status of every room must be checked at least every 12 hours by the owner to ensure maintenance of temperatures and all deviations must be accounted for;
ix)checks by the owner must be recorded on the temperature control records;
x)any deviations from the required temperature must receive immediate corrective attention;
xi)the hygiene manager must be notified immediately in every case where a temperature breakdown has occurred;
xii)records must be available for inspection by the national executive officer or provincial executive officer; and
xiii)the hygiene manager must indicate daily control checks by way of signature on the records.