SUPPLIER DETAILS

SUPPLIER
Name
Address
Location City
Country
Phone number:
Email address:
Certification scope (incl.
Scheme name country, units and products Certificate Number Certificate Expiry Date
covered by the certificate)

Certifications:
IFS. BRC, GFSI, ISO 9001,
ISO 22000, ISO 14001,
Others..

Others

Name Title Email

Name of the people doing the self assessment &

Job Titles

Completed by: Date Name Title Email

Other comments:

Version1 |14-03-2016 Nestlé Confidential | COPYRIGHT © 2016, NESTEC S.A

 SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL
HOW TO PROCEED?
OBJECTIVE OF THE SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL

The aim of this tool is to provide guidance on how to ensure best practices allowing to reduce microbial load and avoiding cross contamination
during the drying of produce. It should be used in conjunction with the guidance booklet entitled "Drying of produce: guidance to minimize the
microbiological risk". The self assessment builds a picture of the compliance status of a supplier drying process before a Nestlé auditor
assesses the production area of the supplier (e.g. drying of fresh basil) and gives the supplier potential room for improvement.

HOW TO PROCEED WITH THE SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL?

1- Enter information in sheet 1 "1- Supplier details"

2- Fill the sheet "3- Checklist Drying":

The checklist consists of a number of questions covering topics related to four parts of the process:
- Starting point (GMPs)
- Processing
- Maintenance of equipment
- Validation and verification
Column B contains questions for the four topics mentioned above.
Column C gives guidance on how to answer the question and provides additional information

In column D, each question, should be answered, evaluated, and scored on a three score scale (0, 1 and 2).
--> 0 : The answer to the question is NO --> Enter score 0 (red colour), this is considered as a CRITICAL GAP:
- A failure to a requirement of the assessment list which has a high probability to have an impact on the expected Log reduction during the drying of
the produce. Any critical gap leads automatically to a gap in the assessment of the drying during the Nestlé audit.
Action must be taken to eliminate or mitigate the identified risk (s) and provide clear evidence of corrective actions to the Nestlé assessor.

--> 1 : The answer to the question is YES but it is not done according to the guidance given (PARTIALLY in accordance) --> Enter score 1, the cell will
turn yellow or red if this is considered a Minor or a CRITICAL gap, respectively.
Any minor gap may lead to a lower performance of the drying if not considered and corrective actions not followed.
Minor gaps are opportunities for improvement and MUST be addressed.
--> 2: The answer to the question is YES and the guidance is completely followed --> Enter score 2 (green colour), this is considered to be NO GAP:
- Completely in accordance to the requirement and the guidance.
In case the score is 1 in a critical question (questions 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15, 16), the score will be automatically shown in red and is considered as a
CRITICAL GAP (see above definition).
In column E, add corrective actions if cells in colum D are red or yellow. Fill Who (column F) and When (column G). Add comments and notes
(column H) if necessary and link to documentation (column I) if needed.
 SELF-ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

Yes (2)/
n° Question Guidance on how to answer the question Partially done (1) Corrective actions Who When Comments/Notes Documentation
No (0)/

STARTING POINT- DRYING

Do you follow Good Manufacturing GMPs, as defined by CODEX (General Principles of Food Hygiene) are a collection of generally recognised
Practices (GMPs)(e.g. zoning, cleaning, rules, procedures and practices that together provide guidelines stating what is and what is not acceptable
1 environmental monitoring) in your in the food industry.
processing plant?

Which technology do you have in your For technologies 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 go to PROCESSING.

processing plant? For technologies 6 and 7 the checklist is not applicable (technologies cannot be considered as a CCP).
1- convective air
2- in-pack pasteurization of dried fruits
3- osmotic dehydration (candying)
4- fluidized bed
2 5- microwave (also with vacuum) not applicable
6- sun drying
7- freeze drying

PROCESSING
Were critical process parameters Temperature profiling must take into account the worst processing conditions. These are represented by
(temperature, time) identified in the the highest product bed depth, processing on half load mode, the beginning (start-up) and the end (shut-
product bulk during commissioning? down) of the process. Temperature measurements should be done in different points of the machine
Not applicable to technology 3, 4 and 5 using Recording Temperature Devices (RTD) or dataloggers. This will give a set of temperature points or
lines. The worst parameter to be considered is the lowest temperature taken from the cold line.
3 For machines using conveyor belts, measurements should be taken across the belt and also at the surface,
bottom and middle point of the product bed.

Do you continously record the air and The coldest line (for convective air) and the coldest point (for in-pack pasteurization) should be
product temperature at the cold line(s)? continously monitored and recorded by using commercially available RTDs. Some driers are equipped with
Not applicable to technology 3 and 4 RTD (eg. Bühler).
4 If the RTD is not fitted on the drier, it should be installed taking into consideration the hygiene / cleaning
design requirements.

Do you continously record the air velocity For air drying, the product bed depth and the air velocity are important elements that directly affect the
5 and bed depth during every production product temperature. They should be continously monitored and recorded.
run?

Do you continously record the residence Residence time is one of the key parameters for microbiological inactivation. It should be continoulsy
6 time during every production? monitored through recording of belt motion and electrical engine rotation.

Do you have a procedure that regulates the At the start-up the product must not start the drying before the target air temperature is reached. During
start-up and shut-down? shut-down the product must not be treated because the temperature is decreasing below the set point.
7 Not applicable to technology 2 and 3

Do you have a procedure that regulates the In case of a process deviating from the set parameters, a clear procedure must be present to regulate the
management of product coming from rework or disposal of the product.
8 process deviations?

Do you verify the pH of your raw materials The level of acidity has a high impact on the total inactivation. For some technologies, pH is a critical
9 on each batch? (only for technology 3) element that should be kept under control.

Do you record process data (Tprod., Tair, Records show evidence that a specific control action has been taken at a specific time. It is important to
time...)? collect them in a timely manner (every 10 seconds for continous recording or once for every batch for
10 manual recording) and keep them over time.

MAINTENANCE OF EQUIPMENT?
Do you follow regular calibration programs
for temperature probes? All recording devices must be calibrated at regular frequency. This should be done at least every six
months. For temperature probes an accuracy of ± 0.5°C is recommended.*
11
*Guidelines for the Safe Production of Heat Preserved Foods, Department of Health, UK
Industry Handbook for Safe Processing of Nuts, GMA (2010)

Do you regularly verify the power output of To know the exact microwave power transmitted to the food it is necessary to continously monitor the
microwave generators (only technology 5) forward power (as generated from magnetrons) and the backward power (reflected back from the drier).
12 The difference between the two values is the power really transmitted to the food.

Do you have a verification plan for

operational conditions after reassembly of Critical operational parameters should be checked after reassembly of the line. The most common
parameters to consider are: temperature, time, air speed above and below the belt, air dumpers (when
13 the line? present), side guides, microwave power generators.
Any additional element that can be critical to the food safety of the process must be considered.

Do you have a verification procedure for Cleaning is a critical activity for controlling the hygiene of the machine and maintaining good operational
effectiveness of cleaning? conditions. To ensure that air flows are fluent, conveyor belts must be free from product cloggings.
A procedure should be in place based on the technology considered to assess the effectiveness of
14 cleaning. This is usually done through visual inspection of specific critical points.

VALIDATION AND VERIFICATION

Did you validate your process parameters
and define the log10 reduction achieved?
15
A 4 log10 reduction of pathogenic bacteria like Salmonella is a generally recognized safe target for
validation of pasteurization processes on low moisture foods.*
A microbiological validation study is needed if the processing conditions applied are milder (shorter time,
lower temperature, lower air speed or both) than the ones reported below or if another product is used.
For convective air drying of basil at 100°C (product temperature), with an air speed of 1 m/s, >4 log10
reduction of Salmonella are reached after a time of 70 minutes.
For convective air drying of onion at 100°C (product temperature), with an air speed of 1 m/s, >4 log10
reduction of Salmonella are reached after a time of 90 minutes.
Osmotic dehydration (candying) of blueberries at pH 3.0, using a 75% sucrose solution at a temperature of
40°C for a time of 15 hours is sufficient to reduce Salmonella and STEC by >6.0 log10.
In-pack pasteurization of dried raisin (moisture 12-16%, pH 3.7-4.2) delivers >6.0 log10 reduction of
Salmonella after a time of 2 hours at 62°C (product temperature).
When a microbiological validation is needed, a surrogate microorganism must be identified. For air drying,
internal research has shown that Escherichia coli P1 (ATCC BAA1427) has a similar heat resistance to the
target pathogen (Salmonella spp) and can be considered a suitable surrogate for this process.
*Almond Board of California, Guidelines for Using Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as a Surrogate Microorganism in Almond
Process Validation.

Is there a clear link between the level of The results of a validation study are valid exclusively for the process parameters applied to a specific
inactivation achieved in the validation product. Only if this connection is established is it possible to safely apply the process parameters on a
16 study and the process parameters applied daily basis. To do so, a deep understanding of the process is mandatory.
(time, temperature)?

Do you have verification plans for Verification should be done at an appropriate frequency on the finished product. Enterobacteriaceae as
microbiological specifications on finished representatives of pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and Shiga Toxin Producing Escherichia coli
17 products? (STEC) and target pathogens should be used for finished product testing.

Do you regularly review analytical data and Data should be collected and reviewed overtime to analyse trends.
18 do trend analysis?

Version 1/ 14.03.2016 Nestlé Confidential | COPYRIGHT © 2015, NESTEC S.A 3