Minutes of HACCP Steering Committee Meeting March 2003
DATE: 13th March 2003
TIME: 11.00am
LOCATION: FSAI Boardroom
ATTENDEES:
Dr Wayne Anderson, FSAI (WA) [CHAIR]
Dorothy Guina-Dornan, FSAI (DG-D)
Anne-Marie Kierans, FSAI (A-MK)
Annabel Tergny, FSAI (AT)
Noel Donnelly, NAHB (ND)
Rita O'Grady, NWHB (RO'G)
Gwen Neary, ECAHB (GN)
John Hanily, WHB (JH)
Ray Parle, SEHB (RP)
Richard Fitzgerald, MWHB (RF)
John Moynihan, SHB (JM)
Karl McDonald, FSAI (KMcD)
Anne-Marie Part, SWAHB (A-MP)
Tom Maguire, NEHB (TM)
SECRETARY
Ms Eileen Lippert, FSAI (EL)
APOLOGIES:
Dr Lisa O'Connor, FSAI (CHAIR) (LO'C)
Mari Greene, MHB (MG)
Sean O'Connor ECAHB (SO'C)
Al Donnelly, NEHB (AD)
AGENDA ITEMS
1. Minutes and Matters Arising
The minutes of the last meeting were approved without any changes being made.
Noted: The 'Cook/chill document will be circulated to members when it is available.
2. Legal Opinion
A confidential letter from Arthur Cox regarding the legal issues surrounding the National HACCP Strategy was circulated to the members and has been circulated to all PEHO's.
Noted: This issue was discussed at length and the discussion raised several points of interest:
• Some health boards are ahead of the timetable of the National HACCP strategy. This isn't a problem from a legal standpoint, the strategy in no way limits the ability of a Board to take a legal action if they so wish.
• The issues raised in the letter from Arthur Cox will need to be kept in mind by the HACCP steering committee when constructing new documentation.
• The National HACCP strategy might benefit from additional exposure in trade magazines, etc
• Clear instructions from the HACCP steering committee should be noted in the minutes as this would facilitate communication to all Environmental Health Officers.
Noted: There were some queries regarding the HACCP summary sheet of compliance and the use of the HACCP compliance document.
Agreed: This issue will be brought up when the HACCP compliance document is being reviewed later in 2003.
3. Review of Assessment
WA informed the members of results received to date and has undertaken to circulate these results to the members before the next meeting. He thanked all those who have returned assessments and urged those who have not made returns to do so as soon as was possible. Feedback was sought on the forms and suggestions to amend them were made.
Agreed: The members agreed to liaise with their colleagues in order to reach a consensus on some of the proposed changes to the HACCP survey form.
Agreed: Members who have not made their returns were asked to do so by 21 st March 2003 and the FSAI will analyse them and send the feedback to the members.
4. HACCP Terminology
Version 1.6 of this draft document was circulated to the members for comments. The members agreed that they need the views of their colleagues on this document. It was stated that the document was originally supposed to be simplisitic, but others felt more science should be incorporated. There was also a debate as to whether the HACCP Terminology document should be separate to the HACCP Pre-requisites.
Noted: There was a discussion about the fact that the temperature for the control of pathogens had been reduced from 74 o C to 70 o C for 2 min. This is in an effort to harmonise in line with other documentation from FSPB and the NSAI and has a basis in science.
Agreed: The FSAI will explain the scientific reasons for lowering this temperature to EHOs. The FSAI will send an email about this to the members, who in turn will circulate it to their colleagues.
Noted: The members complimented KMcD on the report and some constructive criticism regarding the format was put forward.
Agreed: The document was signed off by the HACCP Steering Committee and will be circulated to EHOs and the FSAI for comment. The deadline for receipt of comments is 17 th April 2003 .
5. HACCP in Catering
A confidential draft document on Guidelines for Food Safety Control in the Food Services Sector from NFC (on behalf of FSPB) was circulated for comments on its practicality. It was stressed to he members of the need for this document to conform with other existing documents from the FSAI and the FSPB.
Noted: A confidential draft document from the FSPB was circulated to the members and they were requested to return their comments if any by 28 th March 2003 to the FSAI, who will pass them on to the FSPB.
The Steering groups document on HACCP in catering premises was discussed
Noted: Several suggestions were made and KMcD will incorporate this into the amended version of the document. While it was acknowledged that the document was very user-friendly for industry, some alternative texts will be supplied by TM and it was also suggested that more examples of HACCP plans should be included.
Noted: The document should seek to address the issue of a CCP and what it is and this is a cause of much confusion. It should explain how to properly identify a CCP and to encourage industry to consider if the have used the proper processes. This could also be clarified in the Compliance document when it is being revised later in 2003
Noted: KMcD will amend the document as per the suggestions put forward at the meeting and it will then be circulated to the members who in turn will ask their colleagues for comments. Final comments to reach the FSAI by 17 th April 2003 .
6. FSAI Update
The members were updated on:
• Publicity campaign for HACCP. The members were informed that the campaign cannot start until the HACCP documents are published.
Agreed: AMP to provide WA with a list of trade journals in which the FSAI could advertise about HACCP.
7. Health Board Update
The Southern Health Board held a number of meetings with EHOs with a responsibility for HACCP. While carrying out the survey they noticed that a very low number of premises/people who carried out a hazard analysis was very low. Verification was also identified as a problem area.
Agreed: The FSAI will issue a short, one-page note to Members explaining what Hazard Analysis is. This could then be circulated to EHOs to give to businesses if Members see fit.
Noted: The North Western Health Board spoke about some of its current projects and threw out the idea that it might be useful for the FSAI and the Health Boards to liaise with LEADERS.
Noted: The North Eastern Health Board confirmed that it has checked out private food safety trainers and it has a list of endorsed trainers.
Agreed: The training section of the FSAI will investigate liaising with LEADERS. It was noted that training needs to be aimed at managers and proprietors as they have more influence in advancing systems in an organisation.
Noted: The FSAI is in the process of compiling a third training guide, aimed at managers and supervisors, and it is hoped that it will be available by the end of 2003.
Agreed: WA to meet with the Training and Compliance division of the FSAI to discuss influencing the change of direction in training. An update of his progress will be given at the next meeting of the HACCP Steering Committee.
8. Any Other Business
RP produced a letter on the issue of training from the Association of
Craft Butchers in Ireland (ACBI) and this letter was discussed. It was stated that the
ACBI training is rather expensive.
Agreed: WA will compile a letter to ACBI on behalf of the HACCP Steering Committee
Noted: It was noted that the EHOA conference will take place on the 7 th , 8 th and 9 th May. The next meeting of the HACCP Steering Committee was scheduled to take place on the 8 th May. The meeting on the 8 th May to be cancelled.
Agreed: The next meeting of the Steering Committee will take place on the 6 th May at 11:00 at the FSAI offices.
Last reviewed: 11/5/2011