GMO, From what I have read I have to have a third party calibration yearly to meet the BRC standard?
Hi chrisolson,
For BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 9 there are requirements for Calibration checks (6.4.2) and also for Reference measuring equipment (6.4.3). Having your instrument calibrated annually is a belt and braces approach that is quite common, in fact for pasteurisation for example there would be two calibrated thermometers on the pasteuriser to check the pasteurisation temperature and these thermometers would be cross-checked against a calibrated reference thermometer on a regular basis.
My approach to your Aw meters would be based on how critical the Aw value was to the safety and legality of the product.
See more details of BRCGS requirements below.
Calibration Checks in Clause 6.4.2:
All identified measuring devices, including new equipment, shall be checked and, where
necessary, adjusted:
• at a predetermined frequency, based on risk assessment
• to a defined method traceable to a recognised national or international standard where
possible.
Results shall be documented. Equipment shall be readable and be of a suitable accuracy for the measurements it is required to perform.
Clause 6.4.2 Guidance:
The site needs to establish the method by which the precision and accuracy of equipment is verified. This must include:
• a predefined check frequency, based on a risk assessment (e.g. historical reliability, nature of use, manufacturer’s recommendations)
• who is authorised to complete the checks (e.g. trained staff)
• the method to be used (which must, where possible, be traceable to a recognised standard,
e.g. use of a master calibration thermometer that has a certified test certificate traceable to a national standard).
Equipment must be of a suitable accuracy for the measurements it is required to perform. For example, where temperature is critical to the safety of a product (as in pasteurisation or the canning process), the measuring thermometer requires an accuracy of ±0.5°C, whereas a thermometer used to check vehicle temperatures may only need an accuracy of ±1°C.
Reference measuring equipment Clause 6.4.3:
Reference measuring equipment shall be calibrated and traceable to a recognised national or international standard and records maintained. The uncertainty of calibration shall be considered when equipment is used to assess critical limits.
Clause 6.4.3 Guidance:
All reference equipment (e.g. a master thermometer) must be calibrated and traceable to a national or international standard.
Where equipment is used to measure or monitor a critical limit, it is important that the tolerance (or uncertainty) of the calibration is considered. For example, if a thermometer
is required to measure a critical limit of 72°C, but the calibration shows an uncertainty
of 0.5°C, then a thermometer reading of exactly 72°C could in fact represent a true temperature of anywhere between 71.5 and 72.5°C (i.e. the temperature could be lower or higher than the critical limit). In this situation, to guarantee a minimum temperature of 72°C, it would be necessary for the reading on the thermometer to always be 72.5°C or higher.
Records must be kept.
Kind regards,
Tony