Is footwear change and foot baths required in cold storage of meat?

HI Guys,

Can you please give me clarity on this topic. We have been audited by Department of Agriculture. They require us to have a footbath at the entrance. 

Our company is a cold store that does storage and distribution of imported meat. There is no processing. Product is sealed, in boxes, then palletised and shrink wrapped before it gets to us. We do not do any packing or repacking. We just do re-distribution. 

Is there a need for a foot bath or for staff to change their footwear each time they leave the cold room. 

Does someone have a risk assessment that can guide me in order to send corrective action for this non - conformance. 

Thank you. 

Hi!

We are in cold storage business and we comply with foot bath standard and changing of footwear when entering inside the cold storage warehouse. The reason for this is cross contamination and potential biological hazard on the product. Even if the product is sealed, the environment which we are working on should be kept clean and free from pathogens. There are bacteria that are present in cold storage, particularly listeria.

Hope this helps!

HI Guys,

 

Can you please give me clarity on this topic. We have been audited by Department of Agriculture. They require us to have a footbath at the entrance. 

 

Our company is a cold store that does storage and distribution of imported meat. There is no processing. Product is sealed, in boxes, then palletised and shrink wrapped before it gets to us. We do not do any packing or repacking. We just do re-distribution. 

 

Is there a need for a foot bath or for staff to change their footwear each time they leave the cold room. 

 

Does someone have a risk assessment that can guide me in order to send corrective action for this non - conformance. 

 

Thank you. 

Hi Rosanna,

If the footbath is (somewhere) considered as a Regulatory requirement, you probably have no choice. It's usually (rightly or wrongly) as simple as that.

I agree with above - regulatory requirements trump all, so it would be easiest to just comply. Check to see if you can use a dry (quat powder or similar) footbath instead of a liquid footbath - they are infinitely easier to maintain. 

That's a great topic, My facility contracted a SQF consultant and until now has never suggested or mentioned that we needed a footbath. We are a Freezer storage facility and no production id done here nor the product gets touched. I will look more into this, but by what I was told is we don't require one here. 

Can you please give me clarity on this topic. We have been audited by Department of Agriculture. They require us to have a footbath at the entrance. 

 

Is there a need for a foot bath or for staff to change their footwear each time they leave the cold room. 

 

Does someone have a risk assessment that can guide me in order to send corrective action for this non - conformance. 

What specifically did the auditor say? Can you share the auditing for the non-conformance?

From a food safety point of view I wouldn't think it's necessary considering the product/process. However if it's a regulatory requirement then everything else is irrelevant. I think your options depend on the requirement itself hence the wording of the non-conformance. Your asking for a risk assessment as a corrective action makes me wonder whether the auditor said that you need one, or that you don't have one but just haven't justified it.

I have seen facilities use foot baths for staff walking into the storage cool room, and the auditors are happy, but they don't seem to worry that the forklifts that go in an out without any controls. It seems silly to me.