Protection Agency (EPA)^1 or those underOccupational Safety and Health
Administration(OSHA)^2 regardingworkersafety.
If the facilityis operating underthe HazardAnalysisCriticalControlPoint
(HACCP)system,SOPsare usuallyincluded as precursory,prerequisite,or
foundation programs.Valid SOPs are required underHACCPregulations(see
below),or as part of thirdpartyHACCPauditsor othercustomer audits.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)^3 accreditation also
requires the use of SOPs, but addresses them as work instructions. For
example,to receiveaccreditationunderISO 9000,a companymustestablish
a quality managementsystem that includes developing and implementing
SOPs.
The US ArmyVeterinaryCorpsusesSOPsas a meansto evaluate a food
establishment that is producing food destined for the US Department of
Defense.4±6Under this program, military auditors require and evaluate SOPsfor
processcontrols, foodsanitation,controlof foodsafetyhazards,and quality
systems againstthe MilitaryStandard for compliance. While auditingfood
processing facilities for compliance withMilitaryStandard3006A, SOPsare
essentialto ensure that a facility is working withinits outlinedparameters as part
of theirqualitymanagementsystem.
To be effective,SOPsshould be carefully writtensuchthat theyare usable
and are followed.Obviously,verygeneral and poorlywritten SOPsare of
limited use.In addition,well-writtenSOPsare not effectiveif theyare not
followed. As a well-implemented SOP program provides an outline of
compliance withGMPs as wellas otherpractices,carefulplanningis needed
to design a documentationand tracking schemeinto SOPs.In addition,SOPs
shouldbe clearly identified and readily accessiblefor referencein the specific
workareato thoseindividuals performingthe tasks.
Withregardto foodhygiene and sanitation,the most usableSOPsare those
that detail the workprocesses and provide documentationframeworkfor those
activities necessary to the productionof safe food products. SOPs which
specifically address sanitationconditions are often referredto as Sanitation
SOPs(SSOPs).A partial list of SOPcategories that maybe appropriateto food
sanitation and hygieneare presented in Table22.1.
22.2 The key components of SOPsand SOPprograms
ValidSOPsare importantto ensurethat sanitation programs in a foodhandling
facilityare effective. The use of SOPsis an excellent wayto demonstrate
proficiency of tasksor functions suchas a processcontrols(e.g.testingand
calibration of a pasteurizer or cooker,thermometercalibration),dailysanitation
(e.g.cleaningand sanitizingof equipment, hand-washing)or sanitationsystem
(e.g.sanitary design and constructionof equipment and buildings). Well-
documented SOPs(writtenand implemented) are a verygoodindicatorto an
auditorthat an establishment has control overtheirprocesses. However,the key
The use of standard operatingprocedures (SOPs) 349