Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 6048 BREWING & BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES BUSINESS With over 1500 smaller scale ‘craft’ breweries all over the UK producing a superb range of beers, the consumer is embarrassed for choice, and the brewer has eager and interested customers waiting to drink the beers. However, you are only as good as your last pint. If you supply a poor pint, then the consumer will move on, possibly never to sample any more of your brands again. In terms of meeting consumer’s expectation this largely revolves around taste and appearance of your beer. If you keep your brewery clean, taste your beer before dispatch, carry out basic quality checks and have a good relationship with your retailer, i.e. visit the pubs where your beer is on sale, then you should not experience too many problems provided you keep on top of the quality of your product. That will be the topic of a future article. Food and drink producers are governed by a number of UK government Quality Systems designed to ensure the products supplied to the customer are safe and wholesome. Producers found to be in breach of these regulations risk being shut down or sued by their customers. So quality matters. This article will focus on the regulations around food manufacture notably Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Feed Materials Assurance Scheme (FEMAS) which deals with brewery co-products such as spent grains fed to animals which then goes on to form part of the human food chain. HACCP was originally developed between NASA and the Pillsbury Food Company to avoid any illness during the space programme. Since then it has almost universally been adopted by all food and drink producers to safeguard consumers and to satisfy regulators that have a programme to prove “due diligence”. Fortunately brewing is a very robust process and in the nature of beer and brewing many of the risks are avoided. However, there are still some risk to consumers which have to be identified check or eliminated and this is best achieved through a HACCP system. Before embarking on a HACCP scheme it is recommended that you either attend a HACCP training course or engage the services of a suitably qualified consultant. This can save a lot unnecessary time and confusion. HACCP is a formal system of examining processes and methods to establish safe methods of producing foods. It identifies hazard which is anything that can cause harm, microbiological, chemical or physical. It establishes the critical control point which is the point in the processing of beer, identified during hazard analysis, where control can eliminate a hazard or reduce it to a safe level The methodology to follow for HACCP is published by Codex Alimentarius Commission (1997), with the following steps l Conduct a hazard analysis, which involves looking at the whole brewery, often best achieved by following a process flow chart and identify any hazards which could present a risk to your customer. Remember it is only serious health hazards which need to be considered, which pose a serious risk like dangerous chemicals in a cask which could burn a customer’s mouth. Fortunately there are very few serious risk in breweries. Quality issues which may make the beer un-palatable but would not harm anyone should be classed as “pre-requisite” and not listed as a Hazard. l Determine the Critical Control Points (CCPs) which is usually the last stage in the process where checking would identify any contamination. For example in an empty cask immediately before it was filled. l Establish critical limits – i.e. how much chemical carry over is permitted – expect no visible traces. l Establish a system to monitor the CCPs – how do we check, it could be visual with a light wand looking in each cask, or it could be random checks by some chemical method such as pH paper or titration l Establish the corrective actions to be taken when monitoring indicates that a CCP is out of control. If liquid or dirt is observed in the cask it will be removed from the line and not filled. It will be inspected for any faults before being re-cleaned and rechecked l Establish procedures for verification to confirm that the HACCP system is working effectively. Every day or every shift the process is checked. If titration is used then a known contaminated keg will be checked to see that the process is working and a positive reaction is observed. Having completed the routine checks then it should be recorded. This does not have to be an elaborate procedure and can simply be added to the brewing sheet saying – 09.00 Check cask positive – 148 cask washed and inspected all clear. Many retailers require their suppliers to have a HACCP programme in order to business with them and will actually audit the supplier to make sure they have an appropriate HACCP system and that it is being followed. Although HACCP is not legally required to sell beer, it is an industry standard and in the unfortunate circumstances that a critical event occurs as a result of your product, for example broken glass is found in a bottle of beer which goes on to harm a consumer, then in the ensuing Court Case it would be expected that you would have a suitable HACCP programme in place. If you do not, then you have a much harder task proving that you took proper precautions to safeguard your customer. Beer is not the only product from your brewery. You will produce spent grains and possible surplus yeast which could go to feed animals and hence enter the human food chain. The supply of co-products is legally regulated through FEMAS and applies to all feed ingredients intended for direct feeding to animals and it does not matter if it is sold or taken away for free. The same regulations apply. To meet the FEMAS requirements you must ensure that: l A sample of spent grains is available from each load dispatched. This is usually achieved by keeping a small sample in a fridge or freezer for 3 months l That the spent grain handling system is cleaned at least once per week l That there is a record kept of the previous three loads carried in the collection truck or container l That the container is clean before filling l That there are suitable records of the co-products produced with an audit trail. In practice many of these regulations are simplified for the smaller scale brewer. You should keep a sample and records of spent grains removed from your brewery and you should ensure the spent grain bin or wagon is clean. Your records are likely to form part of any inspection of your premises. As brewers enter the industry and expanding it is very easy to become solely focused on meeting demand and making a profit, instead of finding time for quality systems and paper work. It is important that we develop a professional and responsible industry which understand and meets its obligations. This is best achieved by creating a professional industry with qualified brewers. There are various training options such as University Degrees, attending brewing training courses and taking professional qualifications such as those offered by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. Tim O’Rourke is a Master Brewer with over 35 years’ experience in the interna- tional brewing community, including product and business development, marketing and promotion, and running his own business The Brilliant Beer Company. Quality matters, but so does safety! Get serious about HACCP, says Tim O’Rourke Hygiene, Health & Safety 48_Layout 1 28/07/2016 13:47 Page 1