ALINORM 97/13
ADDENDUM
January 1996

JOINT FAO/WHO FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAMME

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION
Twenty-Second Session
Geneva, 23–28 June 1997

CX 4/20.2

The 28th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene revised the Draft Code and recommended its adoption by the 43rd Session of the Executive Committee at Step 5 of the Procedure, (ALINORM 97/13, para. 39).

The Draft is being distributed separately, but it should be read in conjunction with the main Report i.e. ALINORM 97/13 and the circular letter CL 1995/48-FH (Part A (4))

Governments wishing to propose amendments or to submit comments on the Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Refrigerated Packaged Foods with extended shelf-life, should do so in writing, in conformity with the Codex Alimentarius Commission Procedural Manual, to the Chief, Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy, not later than 30 April 1996.

Hyperlinks to non-FAO Internet sites do not imply any official endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data or products presented at these locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. The sole purpose of links to non-FAO sites is to indicate further information available on related topics.

ALINORM 97/13
APPENDIX IV

PROPOSED DRAFT CODE OF HYGIENIC PRACTICE FOR
REFRIGERATED PACKAGED FOODS
WITH EXTENDED SHELF LIFE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

Section I - Scope

Section II - Definitions

Section III - Hygiene in production and harvest areas

Section IV - Design of establishment and installations

Section V - Establishment : hygiene recommendations

Section VI - Hygiene for personnel and sanitation specifications

Section VII - Processing hygiene recommendations

Section VIII - Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point

Section IX - Records management

Appendix 1 - Hurdles

Appendix 2 - Examples

Reference Texts

FOREWORD

Refrigerated packaged foods with extended shelf life are foodstuffs that are kept refrigerated to preserve them. In general, the heat or other preservation treatment that these products receive is not sufficient to ensure their commercial sterility. Refrigeration is an important hurdle that retards food spoilage and prevents growth of most pathogens.

However, there are possibilities for temperature abuse during manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and handling by the consumer. These temperature abuses may allow the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, refrigeration alone is not always sufficient to minimize microbiological risk, since some microorganisms are psychrotrophic (grow at refrigeration temperatures), for example, certain strains of Listeria monocytogenes or Clostridium botulinum, which can grow at temperatures of 4°C or lower. Therefore, in the absence of additional hurdles, there is a risk that some of these undesirable microorganisms will proliferate at refrigeration temperatures.

There are other potential risks with certain refrigerated foods. For example, with Modified Atmosphere Packaged (MAP) foods, the anaerobic environment limits growth of aerobic flora. Aerobic flora compete with pathogenic microorganisms; since these aerobic flora are limited or do not grow in MAP, certain pathogenic microorganisms may proliferate. Aerobic flora are also often the flora that cause product spoilage. Because significant growth of aerobic microorganisms is prevented, MAP products may become unsafe without any visible signs of spoilage.

Moreover, heat or other preservation treatments and refrigerated storage are not necessarily the only factors to be controlled. Microbiological hazard can be controlled by a combination of inhibiting factors, called hurdles. These hurdles can assist in retarding or preventing growth of some microorganisms, including pathogenic microorganisms. Some of the hurdles which may be used in addition to heat or other preservation treatments are: refrigeration, pH, a_w, preservatives, competitive microflora, modified atmosphere, etc.

The purpose of this code is to set out recommendations for processing, packaging, storage and distribution of refrigerated packaged foods. Its aim is preventing the outgrowth of pathogenic microorganisms and it is based on the principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). Section VIII of this code discusses the application of HACCP principles to refrigerated packaged foods with extended shelf life. The HACCP method is described in Codex document “HACCP system and guidelines for its application”.