Table 1. Wastes generated by the meat and food industries in the United States Amount Source (million pounds) Inedible by-products removed at slaughter 39,047.6 Downstream Fat, bone, and trim from processing 23,850.7 Expired meat from retail stores 3,960.4 Used cooking oil 5,629.4 On-farm and pre-slaughter 3,702.4 Total 76,190.2 during loading. Apply tamper evident seals to carrier access and discharge points before the carrier leaves the premises. Carriers are required to certify that trucks haul only feedgrade materials so insist on verification of last product hauled. Implement “one up – one back” product traceability procedures for both raw material and finished products, and include lot numbers for ingredients such as antioxidants and antifoams in the traceability process. When it comes to housekeeping and sanitation, rendering plants should have written cleaning schedules and document the completion of cleaning to ensure a workplace that is free of debris and pests that could potentially contaminate rendered products. Pest control is essential for ensuring product integrity and preventing contamination/infestation (i.e., eliminate rodents as a potential vector for Salmonella contamination). Use color-coded tools (i.e., shovels, scoops, brooms, etc. that are red for raw, green for finished product) to help avoid cross contamination issues from raw to finished product areas of the plants. Avoid employee traffic from the raw material to finished product areas of the plant, and keep finished product areas as dry as possible to prevent postprocess microbial contamination. It’s imperative that renderers have in place and implement a written emergency response plan to address the handling and management of biosecurity threats. This should include emergency contacts, an action plan to respond to suspicious substances or threats, and a recall plan. Conduct mock recalls to test the process for traceability and retrieval of product. All the above programs need continual maintenance and verification to ensure compliance with inspections by FDA and audits by the United States Department of Agriculture, customers, and third parties under such programs as the Animal Protein Producers Industry Code of Practice and the American Feed Industry Association’s Safe Feed/Safe Food. Conducting an internal audit will help ensure programs are being met as intended. In conclusion, it comes down to a few simple procedures to make certain rendered products are of the utmost safe and quality ingredient for feed customers: • Analyze raw material streams for risks that are likely to occur. • Design processes and programs to minimize hazards and to prevent intentional and accidental contamination. • Maintain and strengthen existing programs by way of employee training. • Verify programs are doing what they are designed to do with internal and third party audits, mock recalls, and customer complaint reviews. R protection among staff. The first line of defense for renderers to ensure feed ingredient safety is the raw material. The cleaner the raw material is, the cleaner the finished product will be. Educate suppliers so they know what is expected of them and why various types of contamination must be avoided. Work with suppliers on improvements by providing feedback on contaminants found and the quality of the raw material. Audit suppliers to evaluate their feed safety programs (with a focus on higher risk raw material streams) and put in place supplier agreements/raw material contracts on specifications and avoidance of hazardous substances in raw material. Suppliers should also provide annual certification of the integrity of raw material, such as being ruminant free, no harmful levels of heavy metals or mycotoxins, and no polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, or rodenticides. In addition, train and have collection drivers inspect raw material upon pick-up to look for uncharacteristic odors; suspicious raw material containers; powder, pellets, or granules; CMPAF material (brains/spinal cords); metal, wood, or plastic; and cattle ear tags. Provide a process so the driver can document and report any possible contamination. These same procedures can be applied to material that arrives at the rendering plant. Biosecurity for finished products should consist of documented risk-based feed safety programs that include, among other things, a cooking critical control point of 240 to 255 degrees Fahrenheit (F). Using Clostridia perfringens as a marker organism for validation, it has been documented that rendering temperatures kill conventional pathogens (e.g., the avian influenza virus is killed at 230 degrees F for 15 seconds). Enterobacteriaceae testing of finished products confirms that thermal inactivation during cooking eliminates microbial hazards and plant sanitation programs are effective. In addition, fats, primarily tallow and recovered cooking oil, should be monitored for signs of pesticide and PCB contamination. Written procedures for compliance with FDA’s bovine spongiform encephalopathy feed rule and CMPAF regulation must be in place to prevent prohibited material from entering animal feed and the commingling of ruminant and non-ruminant material. Make sure non-feed chemicals and substances that are used in and around the plant are locked in a secure area with access limited to authorized personnel; take routine inventories of these substances. A finished product biosecurity program should also include: • product hold procedures to control non-conforming product and document disposition; • documentation of customer complaints and the corrective action taken (monitor trends in types and frequency of complaints); • examination of production samples for signs of chemical and physical contaminants; and • procedures for product testing and retention. To ensure finished product meets customer specifications, renderers should have onsite capability to test for protein, fat, ash, moisture, and free fatty acid levels; peroxide value; oxidative stability; and in-vitro indicators of digestibility. Biosecurity and traceability of finished product distribution can best be met with load out procedures to document the cleanliness and condition of carriers (i.e., do doors/hatches close tight) and the inspection of product www.rendermagazine.com Render October 2013 11
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