How product moves through a pork cutting plant, and what an audit checks

The regulatory framework behind each step

Every establishment placing fresh pork on the EU market works to the same body of law. These are the instruments a buyer’s quality department asks about, and what each one governs.

• Reg (EC) 852/2004

  General hygiene. Article 5 requires a permanent procedure based on HACCP principles; the Annexes set the conditions for premises, water, waste, pest control and personnel.

• Reg (EC) 853/2004

  Specific rules for meat. Article 4(2) requires approval of the establishment by the competent authority; Annex II Section I governs the identification mark, which carries that approval number; Annex III Section I sets the temperatures meat must hold during cutting, storage and transport.

• Reg (EC) 178/2002 and (EU) 931/2011

  Traceability. Article 18 of 178/2002 sets one step back and one step forward; 931/2011 fixes the information that must accompany food of animal origin, including the reference identifying the batch and the date of dispatch.

• Reg (EC) 2073/2005

  Microbiological criteria. Food safety and process hygiene criteria, the sampling frequencies that go with them, and the action required when a result falls outside the limit.

• Implementing Reg (EU) 2015/1375

  Trichinella, at the slaughter stage. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1375 lays down the rules for official controls for Trichinella in meat. While a result is pending, a carcase may be cut into no more than six parts, in a slaughterhouse or in a cutting plant on the same premises, and only where full traceability is guaranteed.

• Reg (EU) 1169/2011 and Implementing Reg 1337/2013

  Consumer labelling. 1169/2011 applies to food intended for the final consumer or for mass caterers (Article 1(3)): mandatory particulars, storage conditions and, for frozen meat, the date of freezing (Annex III). At that same stage, 1337/2013 requires “Reared in” and “Slaughtered in” on fresh, chilled and frozen pork.

What a plant audit looks at

A second-party audit before contracting covers much the same ground as a certification audit. Knowing the list makes it easier to say in advance what evidence you need to see.

• Approval and scope

  An audit starts with the establishment approval number, the activities and species its scope covers, and the authority that issued it. Article 148 of Reg (EU) 2017/625 obliges each competent authority to keep a public list of approved establishments, so scope can be checked at source.

• HACCP plan and control-point records

  The hazard analysis, the control points drawn from it, the critical limits set at each, and the records showing they were monitored and verified.

• Temperature records

  Chill rooms, cutting hall, cold store and loading bay, with probe calibration certificates and evidence of what happens when a reading goes out of limit.

• A traceability exercise

  Taking one carton and reconstructing it back to the incoming batch and forward to every consignee, with a mass balance, inside the time limit your standard sets.

• Sampling and foreign-body control

  The microbiological sampling plan and its results, surface swabs verifying sanitation, and the registers behind blade, glass and brittle-plastic control.

• Non-conformance and recall

  How a deviation is recorded, corrected and closed, and a tested withdrawal and recall procedure with the contact chain it depends on.

Documentation a buyer can ask for

Most of this identifies a specific consignment or is commercially sensitive, so it belongs in a buyer’s file rather than on a web page. Which of it applies depends on the product and the destination market.

• Technical data sheet →What a data sheet covers for one of the 80 coded specifications: family, HS heading, condition and preparation.
• Approval and scopeAsk in writing, before contracting, whether an approval applies to the supply and what activities it would cover.
• Certification documents →A certification standard is named on this site only where a current certificate supports it. Ask which certification is relevant to your supply.
• Traceability procedure →How batch identity is carried under Article 18, and what a buyer can ask for about a consignment.
• Packing configuration →Carton type, liner, piece count, target weights and pallet pattern are points to state in an enquiry, code by code.

Requesting a visit or an audit

The location is San Esteban de Litera, in Huesca, north-eastern Spain. Send the points below with a request for a visit or an audit, so what you need to see is clear from the start.

1. 01Set out the scopeThe product codes or families under evaluation, the destination market, and whether the visit is commercial, technical or a formal audit.
2. 02Name the standardIf you audit against a specific standard or against your own supplier questionnaire, send it in advance so the records it calls for can be identified before the visit.
3. 03Request the documents firstMuch of a supplier-approval file can be closed on documentation alone. Ask for it before travelling and audit what is left open.
4. 04Propose a date windowGive a range rather than a single day: which days are useful depends on what is running and on the areas you need to see.