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This information can be used to develop food safety and quality programs that meet the requirements of modern Regulatory, Customer and Industry Standards:
When considering the development, documentation, and implementation of Water and Ice Quality Standards within food safety and quality management systems, the following information should be considered to ensure effective outcomes:
An adequate supply of potable water with appropriate facilities for its storage, distribution, and temperature control should be available whenever necessary to ensure the safety and suitability of food. Potable water is a water source that meets the analytical criteria of the most recent edition of World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, or water of a prescribed higher standard. Water used within food businesses must meet the potability standards of the countries in which the associated food products are processed and sold. Non-potable water for use in fire control, steam production, refrigeration, and other similar purposes where it would not contaminate food should have a separate controlled system. Non-potable water systems should be identified and should not connect with, or allow contact into potable water systems. Chemical additives for such systems should also be of an approved food grade where applicable.
Only verified potable water, should be used in food handling and processing applications, with the following exceptions:
With improved water systems technology, monitoring, and regulatory control, treated water supplies are generally consistently potable, but contamination can potentially occur as a result of system failure or cross-connections.
In this regard, it is important to give special attention to the following aspects:
Water used within food businesses can be pumped from many different sources. It is important to consider the scope of water use from each source to ensure all potential hazards are identified through the risk analysis process. All water sources must also meet relevant guidelines, whether such water is being utilized for crop irrigation, cleaning, and sanitation within high-risk areas or within sealed water heating systems.
Common water sources and treatment methods include:
Municipal water is a water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. Municipal water sources are generally classed as potable water supplies and are by far the most widely used water source by food businesses.
Municipal water is commonly tested by food businesses for microbiological, chemical, and physical contaminants regularly to ensure appropriate standards are maintained.
Bore water is water accumulated in aquifers below the earth’s surface but available for food business use by sinking a bore pipe into the aquifer and pumping to required areas of use. Bore water is commonly filtered and treated when used directly on food or food contact surfaces to reduce the risk of product contamination.
Bore water is commonly tested by food businesses for microbiological, chemical, and physical contaminants regularly to ensure appropriate standards are maintained.
Reverse osmosis is a process used to purify concentrated solutions of dissolved minerals and salts and is commonly applied in water desalination plants. Reverse osmosis involves forcing water through a semi-permeable membrane under high pressure, leaving the dissolved salts and other solutes behind on the surface of the membrane.
Water obtained through Reverse Osmosis is commonly tested by food businesses for microbiological, chemical, and physical contaminants regularly to ensure appropriate standards are maintained.
Filtered Water is water that has been purified by filters using sieving, absorption, ion exchanges, and other processes. Unlike a sieve or screen, a filter can remove particles much smaller than the holes through which the water passes. A variety of water filtering substances are commonly used within food businesses, including sand, carbon, and synthetic membranes. Filter inspections and changes must be scheduled and conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the water filtration systems employed by the business.
When water filtration systems are used within a food business, it can be beneficial to create a flow process “map” of the process, to ensure adequate risk assessments can be applied for the safety and quality of the water output. Filtering systems must be maintained, including filter changes regularly to ensure the safety and quality of the water being filtered.
Filtered water is commonly tested by food businesses for microbiological, chemical, and physical contaminants regularly to ensure appropriate standards are maintained.
Rainwater is water that has fallen as rain and contains little dissolved mineral matter. This is commonly collected, filtered, and treated for use as a potable water source
Rainwater is commonly tested by food businesses for microbiological, chemical, and physical contaminants regularly to ensure appropriate standards are maintained.
Spring is a natural occurrence where water flows onto the surface of the earth from below the surface, for example, where an aquifer meets the ground surface. Springwater is generally considered potable in its natural state and is commonly bottled for use at its source.
Springwater is commonly tested by food businesses for microbiological, chemical, and physical contaminants regularly to ensure appropriate standards are maintained.
Water is desalinated to convert saltwater to freshwater so it is suitable for human consumption or irrigation. Desalination processes commonly involve either reverse osmosis or distillation technologies.
Desalinated water is commonly tested by food businesses for microbiological, chemical, and physical contaminants regularly to ensure appropriate standards are maintained.
The type of control and supervision required for water sources will depend on the size of the business, the nature of its activities, and the types of foods involved. Managers and supervisors within food businesses should have at minimum a basic knowledge of food hygiene principles and practices to be able to identify and control potential hazards with any water supplies being used. Key team members should also have the skills and knowledge to take appropriate preventative and corrective action and ensure that effective monitoring and record-keeping takes place for water management and supervision.
The water used to produce ice and steam used by food businesses must also meet the requirements of accepted potability standards. Ice and steam should be produced, handled, and stored to be protected against contamination, which may then contaminate foodstuffs. Steam used in direct contact with food or food contact surfaces should not constitute a threat to the safety and suitability of food.
The systems used to create and supply ice and steam must be appropriately constructed and maintained so as not to create a contamination risk for the relevant foodstuffs in or around which such ice or steam will be used.
Where approved suppliers are used for the supply of ice into any food business, the approved supplier process should include specifications for the ice received. These may include confirmations of microbiological and chemical criteria for the ice supplied to the business and may be supported by certificates of analysis or outcomes of analytical testing at regular intervals.
Proper sanitary controls for water supply systems and sewage and liquid waste disposal systems are necessary for all types of food businesses to prevent the contamination of food and the creation of public health hazards. Water sources within food businesses are so commonplace that it is often overlooked, and not given much thought as to their availability, purity, and safety.
Most water supply systems must generally comply with two important requirements:
Despite the protection initially provided through compliance to these two regulations, hazards may potentially occur through repairs, emergencies, changes, or alterations in the water delivery and distribution system within a food business. Custom water systems, potable water systems, and recycled water systems present special challenges which must be identified and managed to ensure the production of safe foods.
Food business owners, operators, and supervisors must ensure that:
Sewage and liquid waste disposal are strongly regulated because many disease organisms are found in human and animal excrement. Improper disposal of sewerage and liquid waste contributes to insect, rodent, and other pest problems and water pollution; all of which may potentially contribute to the production of unsafe foods. The septic tank of on-site sewage disposal systems must be pumped regularly to ensure adequate performance. Failure to do so will result in system malfunction that contributes to sewage backup, pooling at the disposal site, or drainage into a nearby watercourse. Plumbing for sewage and liquid waste in all types of food establishments must be sized, installed, and maintained as per the applicable plumbing regulations, and all installations, repairs, and alterations must be facilitated by a licensed plumber.
Liquid waste must be hygienically disposed of to ensure contamination of foods does not occur. Liquid waste sources such as mop bucket water, equipment cleaning, and sanitation water, and food preparation must not be poured onto the external premises at a food business, or otherwise, be disposed of in any manner other than through the sewage disposal system. Utility sinks, floor sinks, and the occasional use of the toilet should be used for the disposal of liquid waste. The disposal of mop water and similar liquid waste in food preparation sinks, hand-washing facilities, and ware-washing facilities is not acceptable, as it may contribute to the contamination of foods.
One of the greatest problems with sewage and liquid waste disposal in food establishments is direct connections between the sewage plumbing systems and drains originating from equipment. All such equipment must have an indirect connection consisting of a physical break in the drain line.
Cross connections are of major public health concern in all types of food operations as these are situations that contribute to backflow and back-siphonage of contaminated water into the safe water supply system. Hoses connected to water outlets without a backflow prevention device are one of the most common cross-connections found in food establishments. Units such as, manual or mechanical sprays, injecting units, dishwashing pre-rinse spray units, wash-down stations, power spray cleaning units, that are connected to the water supply system without a back-siphonage device are potential cross-connections. Submerged inlets in garbage grinders and other equipment are also cross-connections.
The maintenance of specified Water temperatures is of utmost importance for achieving required Food Safety and Quality outcomes. In most water usage scenarios within any Food Business, the temperature of water used for product contact, product contact surfaces, and for personal hygiene has a direct impact upon the maintenance of suitable microbiological outcomes.
Chilled water must be maintained at required temperatures as scenarios involving higher temperatures may permit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms and spoilage organisms. Higher water temperatures may also have quality impacts where the temperature of chilled water (particularly as an ingredient or processing aid) facilitates technological functionality.
Warm potable running hand washing water is generally specified to be provided for use within most food businesses. The focus on the provision of warm water for handwashing not only contributes to higher levels of hygiene but also allows confidence that hand washing is completed to a suitable level of compliance. After all, if hand washing water is too cold, people washing their hands may be less likely to complete the required full hand washing process, particularly for the required timeframe for an effective validated hand washing process.
Hot water is often specified to be provided for use as part of food sector Cleaning and Sanitation activities. This scenario for hot water usage is often implemented for the facilitation of a kill step for microorganisms in conjunction with the use of Cleaning and Sanitation chemicals. In cases where the temperature of hot Cleaning and Sanitation water does not meet specified standards, the effectiveness of Cleaning and Sanitation outcomes may not achieve its intended goals of the reduction of Microbiological Loading to a suitable safe level. This may in turn contribute to the microbiological contamination of product or product contact surfaces which leads to food safety non-compliance.
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Water and Ice Quality Standards Development requirements in relation to their items.
Document: A document provides guidance and/or direction for performing work, making decisions, or rendering judgments that affect the safety or quality of the products or services that customers receive.
Documented policies, procedures, work instructions, and schedules form the basis of any food safety and quality management system. The following documentation formats may be considered to ensure ongoing compliance with specified requirements for Water and Ice Quality Standards:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Water and Ice Quality Standards Documentation requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Water and Ice Quality Standards Templates section of haccp.com for examples of Water and Ice Quality Standards documentation, record, and resource formats commonly applied within food safety and quality systems.
Implementation: Implementation is the application of documented food safety and quality system elements into the actual business operation.
The implementation of Water and Ice Quality Standards within any food business requires genuine commitment from senior management, staff, and visitors to ensure the nominated goals of implementation are achievable on an ongoing basis. It is a step that requires significant planning and consideration of general and specific food business circumstances to ensure the outcomes of Water and Ice Quality Standards do not negatively impact the safety and quality of the food items dispatched from the business.
Implementation of Water and Ice Quality Standards must include a clear definition of responsibilities and authorities for all levels of participation by senior management, staff, and visitors to the site.
When implementing Water and Ice Quality Standards within food safety and quality system, you may wish to consider the following requirements before completion:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Water and Ice Quality Standards Implementation requirements in relation to their items.
Monitoring: Monitoring is the act of reviewing and confirming measurable parameters of a defined process or product status.
Monitoring requirements within food industry sectors are generally identified against limits of acceptability defined within HACCP plans, implementation procedures, and work instructions. Monitoring usually includes some element of record-keeping, which may be maintained manually or through digital systems. It is important to consider that advancements in technology have spawned many systems and processes which are self-monitored and or self-adjusted when variances are identified. Regardless of the system used; The goal of any monitoring activity is to provide sufficient evidence that any limit of acceptability has been met.
Traditional Water and Ice Quality Standards monitoring requirements include manual recording and the application of corrective actions when the results of monitoring are found to be outside acceptable limits. Corrective Actions should also generally be strongly linked to the monitoring process where applied to ensure full traceability of the applied actions.
Common monitoring activities and record formats may be applicable to Water and Ice Quality Standards:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Water and Ice Quality Standards Monitoring requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Water and Ice Quality Standards Templates section of haccp.com for examples of Water and Ice Quality Standards documentation, record, and resource formats commonly applied within food safety and quality systems.
Corrective Action: Corrective action is mandatory action to be taken when a deviation to the Quality System occurs, particularly in relation to a Critical Control Point.
Preventative Action: At any step in the process where a hazard has been identified, preventative action must be put into place to prevent re-occurrence.
Corrective Action and Preventative Action is implemented to ensure that any identified non-conformance issues are documented, investigated, and rectified within appropriate time-frames. Corrective action is any action applied to regain control over a product, process, policy, or procedure that has been identified as being non-conforming outside nominated limits of acceptability. Preventative action is any action applied to prevent any identified non-conformance from reoccurring.
The outcomes of corrective and preventative actions should result in regained process control after effective application. Specified corrective actions are commonly linked to the HACCP Plans and the food business certification process.
Below are Corrective Action and Preventative Action examples which may be associated with Water and Ice Quality Standards related non-conformance:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Water and Ice Quality Standards Corrective Action requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Corrective Action and Preventative Action section of haccp.com for examples of best practice applications for this food safety and quality system element.
Verification: The act of reviewing, inspecting, testing, checking, auditing, or otherwise establishing and documenting whether items, processes, services, or documents conform to specified requirements.
Verification is the detailed review of all food safety and quality system elements to confirm that they are effectively developed, documented, implemented, monitored, and reviewed. All food safety and quality system elements, including documented policies, procedures, training, HACCP plans, and their operational applications must be verified on an ongoing scheduled basis. The verification process commonly includes a defined schedule for which verification activities are required, how often they are conducted, who is responsible, and detailed documented procedures for each nominated verification activity.
The general goal of an established verification process is to ensure any systemic non-conformance issues are identified and rectified within an appropriate time frame. When non-conformance issues are identified through the verification process, Corrective Actions and Preventative Actions should be implemented to ensure they do not impact the effectiveness of the food safety and quality system.
The following examples of verification activities may be applicable to Water and Ice Quality Standards:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Water and Ice Quality Standards Verification requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Verification Activities section of haccp.com for examples of best practice applications for this food safety and quality system element.
Validation: The process of gathering evidence to provide a scientific basis for the documented act of demonstrating that a procedure, process, and activity will consistently lead to the expected results. It often includes the qualification of systems and equipment.
Validation is the provision of evidence to support the limits of control or acceptability for food safety or quality parameters nominated within systemic elements. Limits of control or acceptability are commonly included within documented food safety and quality system elements such as procedures, HACCP plans, and specifications.
Common sources of validation include regulatory and legislative standards, finished product specifications and customer requirements, industry codes of practice and guidelines, verified and validated research, historical product, and process control outcomes, and analytical testing.
The general goal of an established validation process is to ensure any systemic non-conformance issues are identified and rectified within an appropriate time frame. When non-conformance issues are identified through the verification process, Corrective Actions and Preventative Actions should be implemented to ensure they do not impact the effectiveness of the food safety and quality system.
Validation activities are commonly defined within the verification schedules and procedures of established food safety and quality management systems.
The following examples may be applicable to the validation of the limits of control or acceptability for Water and Ice Quality Standards:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Water and Ice Quality Standards Validation requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Validation Activities section of haccp.com for examples of best practice applications for this food safety and quality system element.
Skills and Knowledge: Skills and knowledge are attributes of human interactions commonly linked to competency within any specified job-related task.
Training and competency requirements for Water and Ice Quality Standards must be ongoing, including regular scheduled reviews to ensure the effectiveness of training and competency outcomes.
Team members who have defined responsibilities regarding Water and Ice Quality Standards should have knowledge including:
Team members who have defined responsibilities regarding Water and Ice Quality Standards should have skills including:
Team members who have defined responsibilities regarding Water and Ice Quality Standards should have access to resources including:
If your food business supplies foodstuffs manufactured to a customer’s specifications, it is important to consider any specific Water and Ice Quality Standards Training, Competency, and Resources requirements in relation to their items.
You may wish to visit the Training, Competency, and Resources section of haccp.com for examples of best practice applications for this food safety and quality system element.
haccp.com was created to support food businesses and food industry professionals in achieving and maintaining the stringent requirements of food industry compliance.