C H A P T E R
4.1
Food Safety Management System—
HACCP—Risk Assessment
Philippe Girardon, Flora Gabard, Heinz Peyer
Air Liquide, Paris, France
4.1.1 INTRODUCTION The commitment to quality management
must ensure, among other aims, compliance
The production of foodstuffs is subject to with HACCP regulations applying to the pro-
compliance with regulations designed to protect duction and distribution of food gases, record-
consumer health. In addition, food producers ing of critical parameters and their verification
and distributors need to take measures to ensure on a regular basis, compliance by staff with all
this compliance with food safety legislation by appropriate procedures, providing to customers
using ingredients, processing aids, and addi- information concerning nonconformities, and
tives, including gases designated for this pur- the recalling of products if required. These cri-
pose. In 2000, food industry leaders created teria may be the subject of key performance
the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), a foun- indicators (KPI).
dation aiming to provide continuous improve- The first stage in the introduction of a food
ment in food safety management systems so as safety management system consists of the estab-
to ensure consumer confidence while at the lishment of a competent and readily available
same time protecting their brands. multidisciplinary project team, including repre-
Among the standards proposed by the GFSI, sentatives of the production, quality, operations,
the Food Safety System Certification 22000 and food markets as well as marketing
(FSSC 22000) is the most appropriate for manu- departments.
facturers of ingredients such as the CO2 used for Once the system is in place and the food
the carbonation of fizzing beverages. safety team is established, its multiple roles
FSSC 22000 combines the requirements of ISO include the following: monitoring of compliance
22000 (the international standard for food safety with regulation; ensuring the compatibility of
management) with programs defining prerequi- product specifications (e.g., in terms of Euro-
sites for hygiene and good management prac- pean directives, etc.) with customers or market
tices for production processes (PAS 220 and requirements; the organization of audits by
ISO TS 22000-1). customers, certification entities, or public
Gases in Agro-food Processes 105 # 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812465-9.00009-8
106 4.1. FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM—HACCP—RISK ASSESSMENT
authorities; preparation of commercial docu- hoses must be previously purged and closed
mentation concerning quality (product sheets); off when not in use. During these operations,
training of operators; communication plans; it is important to ensure that there are no returns
managing nonconformities; preparation of cer- to the gaseous phase in the stocks from the
tificates; and improvements to the system to take production plant.
into account changes in production and distri-
bution methods.
4.1.3 METHODOLOGY FOR THE
RISK ANALYSIS
4.1.2 PREREQUISITES
Methology for food gases risk analysis is spe-
PAS 220 and ISO TS 22002-1 explain the key cific to each production site and type of process
elements that constitute prerequisites for satisfy- studied. On the basis of the production diagram
ing the basic conditions for a healthy environ- and the position of each inspection or analysis
ment at every stage in the food-production point, it is essential to define values for the oper-
chain. The requirements expressed in these doc- ational prerequisite program (O-PRP) and the
uments are adapted to this type of production control of critical points (CCP).
but do not specifically deal with the production The risk matrix involves values from 1 to 5 in
of gases for use in food and beverages. terms of seriousness, probability, and detectabil-
Such gases are produced in dedicated instal- ity (with a maximum score of 5 5 5 ¼ 125), as
lations and are stored under pressure in an presented in Table 4.1.1.
atmosphere devoid of humidity in order to When a potential risk is identified, it may be
avoid any risk of physical, chemical, or biologi- classified as a CCP value. At this stage in the
cal contamination. This is why the requirements process, a specific inspection must be conducted
of PAS 220 and ISO TS 22002-1 could be taken as on a permanent basis, or alternatively this part
a basis for adaptation to this field of activity. of the process could perhaps be modified. The
Seven prerequisites can be taken for the pro- various sources of production of CO2 (alcoholic
duction of gases for use in food and beverages: fermentation, ammonia production plants,
infrastructure, cleaning and disinfection, good hydrogen production plants) need to be classi-
manufacturing practices, staff hygiene, instru- fied by means of an exhaustive analysis of the
mentation, maintenance, and purchasing. impurities that may be found in each source,
These criteria differ very little from those together with continuous checks after purifica-
applied to the production of foodstuffs. A few tion and liquefaction of the impurities identified
specific details are provided as examples below. in the source concerned.
A preventive and curative maintenance pro-
cedure must be defined in accordance with a
previously completed risk analysis. In the case TABLE 4.1.1 Risk Matrix
of CO2 production, this concerns the materials
Level of
coming into contact with the gas, the consum-
Risk Score Risk Measurement
ables used in the equipment applied to the
procedure, the utilities, and the analytical Low <16 Prerequisites (good hygiene
equipment. practices)
To avoid cross-contamination when the liq- Average 16–30 O-PRP
uefied gases are loaded from the cryogenic High >30 CCP/O-PRP
delivery truck to the onsite customer tank, the
4. GASES MONITORING, SAFETY
REFERENCES 107
4.1.4 DISTRIBUTION/DELIVERY of the liquefied gas “mother” tank used for fill-
ing the cylinders.
As in the case of gas production, the method- The batch number allows for identification of
ology of risk analysis may be used to evaluate the following elements: the place of production,
the distribution of the gas concerned. In accor- the reference of the cylinder filling tool, the date,
dance with this analysis, procedures adapted and the serial number for the day.
to the level of risk are put in place to avoid The procedure for filling the cylinders
cross-contamination. takes into account the detection of the main
In all cases, some rules are systematically chemical impurities of the guaranteed specifica-
applied to the distribution of gases: trucks tions and proper percentages of elements in the
assigned to each type of molecule, together with gases mixes.
filling hose connections that are also specific to
each type of molecule.
The risk analysis also makes it possible to 4.1.6 CONCLUSION
define some criteria such as the recovery or oth-
erwise of the gaseous phase during unloading. The analysis of food-grade gases, including
In the domain of gases defined as food and carbon dioxide, is a specialist task. The demands
beverage ingredients (e.g., the CO2 used in the on analytical systems within an industrial envi-
carbonation of fizzing beverages), some deliver- ronment are severe as the specified levels of
ies are systematically carried out accompanied impurities are regularly at low ppm and ppb
by a certificate of analysis or at least a certificate levels, such as the limit for benzene in food
of conformity to local regulations and to the food and beverage grade carbon dioxide is 20 ppb.
safety management plan in place at the gas The sample handling systems require special
supplier. consideration. Risk assessment is required to
establish the checks required, which are depen-
dent on the source type. A total chain of quality
4.1.5 TRACEABILITY is required with attention to detail at every step
from source assessment through plant design
The definition of a batch is the tank of a lique- and process control to final product batch
fied gas distribution truck. This is linked to the release. This quality chain and a formal food
batch production system corresponding to each safety management system are required to
production plant. This batch may be directed ensure that customer and consumer demands
toward various different customer storage tanks, are met.
depending on the type of delivery journey. The
batch number is provided with the administra-
References
tive documents relating to the delivery.
For gas cylinders (compressed or liquefied Boisrobert, C., Stjepanovic, A., Oh, S., Lelieveld Huub, L.M.,
2010. In: Boisrobert, C., Stjepanovic, A., Oh, S., Lelieveld
according to the molecule species), the batch
Huub, L.M. (Eds.), Ensuring Global Food Safety, Explor-
number corresponds to the cylinder (liquefied ing Global Harmonization. Academic Press.
form in the case of CO2) or the pack of cylinders Hopper, D., Girardon, P., 2014. Assurance-qualite du diox-
filled by the same device and the same operator. yde de carbone pour les aliments et les boissons. Indus-
The batch is assigned to a batch number in terms tries Alimentaires et Agricoles. 10/12. Paris, France.
4. GASES MONITORING, SAFETY
