Food Inspection
Food inspection can be used as a dedicated quality management tool and as a checkpoint to safeguard the quality and safety of your goods directly in your sourcing countries, at the earliest logistical stage.
Globalization and advances in technology have both created a complex food supply chain with numerous and diverse stakeholders facilitating the process.
A lack of quality monitoring processes, complex logistics structures, food handling methods and other factors can effect the safety and quality of food products.
As a manufacturer, supplier or caterer, it is important to monitor and maintain healthy, hygienic and conducive environments along the supply chain in order to safeguard the quality and safety of your products.
By implementing food inspection you can control a given number of samples within a defined lot and follow a fixed sampling plan according to specific points of control in order to identify issues at their source, maintain product consistency, ensure local and legal regulations are followed during transportation and to enhance your company image.
The inspectors at LSQA Middle East can assist with During Production Inspection (DPI), Final Random Inspection (FRI) and Loading Supervision (LS) to ensure that all quality and safety requirements are met and other inspection services.
Food Inspection Services
The first step for a food business in order to achieve high food safety standards is to carefully plan the layout of the food areas and the equipment in the most efficient manner. Our food safety professionals assist you design the most suitable layout depending on the type of your business, its size and its location.
Our food safety professionals will sit with you and your kitchen designer to carefully study the layout of the food facility you are planning to construct or the layout of your current food facility and will assist you meet the food safety requirements as set by local and international standards. Our food safety professionals will review all the points that affect the efficiency of your layout with focus on:
➟ The site and location of your business: this will be chosen based on the capacity of service required
➟ Spatial planning: adequate space must be provided for food and equipment storage, food preparation, movement of staff, equipment, materials and waste, etc
➟ Flow of work: must be continuous with physical separation of the high-risk ready-to-eat food products, equipment, utensils and tools.
➟ The structure: the floors, walls, ceilings, lighting, utensils and equipment, food contact surfaces, temperature and humidity, pest control, utility and mop room, laundry, employee facilities, receiving area, dry storage area.
➟ Food preparation and storage facilities: chilled and frozen storage facilities, cooking and hot holding facilities, food displays etc.
➟ Pot washing and dishwashing facilities
➟ Personal hygiene facilities
➟ Ice supply facilities
➟ Other business specific facilities
This service is provided periodically according to the request of business operators, ultimately, every 2-3 months. LSQA Middle East food safety experts will visit the premises and conduct a detailed inspection to evaluate the standard of the structure and of the practices then raise a report with suggested course of action covering:
➟ The facilities
➟ Water and ice
➟ Calibration of measuring equipment
➟ Personal hygiene
➟ Stock rotation
➟ Cleaning and disinfection
➟ Pest management
➟ Waste management
➟ Food storage
➟ Temperature control and monitoring
➟ Receiving
➟ Housekeeping
➟ Segregation
➟ Food safety communication and awareness
➟ Thawing (in catering)
➟ Manufacturing and preparation
➟ Cooling
➟ Heating & Reheating
➟ Allergens management
All findings will be communicated to the establishment’s management in an easy to follow recommendations report with a detailed objective grading system covering all the details of the international good hygiene practices with a final mark for each section that will be summarized in an easy-to-read follow-up graph for each inspection to clearly represent the progress/ retreat of each section helping the management focus on areas that require improvement.
Manufacturers must go beyond taste and consider shapes, sizes, textures and packaging risks when designing new food items. Intertek can analyze food product characteristics to determine their potential to cause choking such as:- size or shape;
➟ hardness;
➟ elasticity;
➟ lubricity or slipperiness;
➟ dissolvability; and
➟ tack.
Contamination of food from foreign materials such as metal, glass, plastic, or food packaging can occur at many points of the production process and potentially present a hazard to the end consumer.
Our experts can help you understand the potential hazards associated with a foreign material, the severity of those hazards, and the ultimate risk to your brand.
Our services include:
➟ risk assessment;
➟ medical expert review; and
➟ hazard identification and severity.
Understanding how quickly burns can happen and the critical factors that affect the temperature of the skin is vital to designing safer products for consumers.
Food packaging, cooking instruction (or self-heating technology), consumer behavior and the food or beverage itself all play a role in the potential of your product to burn a consumer.
LSQA Middle East can analyze how quickly a consumer may receive a burn from interacting with your food or food packaging and consult with your company to reduce the potential hazard severity or probability of a burn occurring.
Understanding how quickly burns can happen and the critical factors that affect the temperature of the skin is vital to designing safer products for consumers.
Food packaging, cooking instruction (or self-heating technology), consumer behavior and the food or beverage itself all play a role in the potential of your product to burn a consumer.
LSQA Middle East can analyze how quickly a consumer may receive a burn from interacting with your food or food packaging and consult with your company to reduce the potential hazard severity or probability of a burn occurring.
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Management Systems Consulting Disclaimer
LSQA Middle East does not provide consulting services for management systems certification.
Certification Body Complaints And Appeals Process
LSQA Middle East is committed to a fair and transparent Complaints and Appeals process regarding our certifications. If you would like to learn more about this process, or to initiate an appeal to our Certification Body, please visit this page to get started!
