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&FEED MILLING TECHNOLOGY
6 | September - October 2014
Added value of Early Warning System (EWS) by Johan den Hartog, managing director of GMP+ International, Rijswijk, The Netherlands
Most of the feed & food safety assurance systems are focussed on prevention of contamination of feed & food materials with undesirable substances or microbiological agents. A certification scheme has three main components: the normative references, the assurance and corrective action tools, and the rules of certification.
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he normative references determine what is considered as a safe product for consumption, or what is sustainable or responsible related to environment or society. The rules of certification are about the certification process of companies obtaining for a certificate against the involved certification scheme, which the certification bodies have to apply and comply with. The assurance & corrective action tools are the
NEWS IN BRIEF
40 per cent of Iraq’s annual production of wheat under IS control. A wheat farmer from outside Mosul, Salah Paulis and his family fled the militant group Islamic State early last month. The group overran the family farm as part of its offensive that captured vast swathes of territory in northern Iraq. Two weeks later, Paulis, who is a Christian, received a phone call from a man who said he was an Islamic State fighter. “We are in
GRAIN
instruments and procedures, which the company obtaining a certificate have to apply in the daily business operations. The assurance tools are focused on preventive actions and measurements in order to avoid the occurrence of contamination. A starting point for the control of potential risk is the application of prerequisite programs in order to create a basic level of control. The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) approach is important to identify in advance the remaining risks in the process and operations and to determine appropriate control measures, as well as a monitoring plan. A risk could be the purchased / supplied ingredients. For feed or food safety, a full control of the supply chain can be an option, like followed in the GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance certification. In case of product responsibility other supply chain models (material accounting system) can be applied, like book & claim, mass balance and segregated system. Application of a quality management system makes it possible to ensure control measures and monitoring plan in the daily operations in a consistent way. Besides the preventive measures, also corrective actions need to be applied for the case of the occurrence of contamination. It is about traceability; recall procedures, and early warning. The aim is to reduce the distribution of contaminated lot(s) of feed or food material in the market or withdraw it. EWS applied within the GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance (FSA) certification operates as follows: If a certified company determines a level
of undesirable substance(s) exceeding the maximum permitted level, it is obliged – besides taking the appropriate control and corrective measurements and informing its customers – to notify the scheme manager GMP+ International as well as the involved certification body. The primary focus of the certification body is to monitor the application of the appropriate actions and measurements by the involved feed company. The primary focus of GMP+ International is to alert the other GMP+ FSA participants about the occurrence of a concrete contamination event in the market, if the contaminated lots are delivered by supply chain partner(s), or the contaminated lots are or can be delivered to other companies in the market. In that case, GMP+ International informs all other GMP+ FSA participants about the involved product (generic name), the kind of undesirable substance(s), the detected level(s), and the country of origin. When other GMP+ FSA participants are also buying or dealing with the reported product from the mentioned origin, they can take the right measures, like sampling and analysing or asking guarantees of his supplier. In 2013, GMP+ International published 29 EWS messages, in 2014, up until end July we already have a total of 25. Sometimes more than one EWS message has been related to the same case. It was about Aflatoxin B1 in maize and copra, lead in deer meal, dioxins in pre-mixture and dried beet pulp, peas, maize and soybean extractions, non-dioxin liked PCB’s in fatty acids, dioxin liked PCB’s in apple pulp, chloramphenicol in pre-mixtures and vitamins,
your warehouse. Why are you not here working and taking care of your business?” the man asked in formal Arabic. “Come back and we will guarantee your safety. But you must convert and pay $500.” When Paulis refused, the man spelled out the penalty. “We are taking your wheat,” he said. “Just to let you know we are not stealing it because we gave you a choice.” Other fleeing farmers recount similar stories and point to a little-discussed element of the
threat Islamic State poses to Iraq and the region. The group now controls a large chunk of Iraq’s wheat supplies. The United Nations estimates land under IS control accounts for as much as 40 per cent of Iraq’s annual production of wheat, one of the country’s most important food staples alongside barley and rice. The militants seem intent not just on grabbing more land but also on managing resources and governing in their self-proclaimed caliphate. Wheat
ergot in triticale, wheat and rye, ethyl-esters in fish oil, DON and ZEA in maize and maize gluten feed, ambrosia in maize, hydrogen cyanide in linseed, biogenic amines in fish meal, etc. Only a limited number was related to a more or less serious feed safety emergency. Most of the reported issues were controlled in an early stage. GMP+ International always tries to find out the source and cause of contamination, because that could be relevant for the risk assessments and could contribute to avoid occurrence in the future. The GMP+ FSA certified companies observe these EWS messages as worthwhile, because it increases their alertness regarding specific risks. It also adds value in comparison of the Rapid Alerts System Feed & Food (RASFF) of the European Union, due to more details and sometimes quicker publication. Of course, the functioning of EWS depends on the willingness of companies to notify a perceived contamination. The increasing number of EWS notifications is a signal of increasing awareness of the common interest of EWS notification. Recently, GMP+ International tightened the obligation to notify contaminations by classifying non-conformity with this obligation as ‘critical nonconformity’. My final conclusion is that EWS is a worthwhile measurement in addition to all kind of preventive actions. It contributes to reduce the spread out of contaminated material in the market and therefor, it contributes to reduce the size of a feed safety emergency. is one tool at their disposal. The group has begun using the grain to fill its pockets, to deprive opponents – especially members of the Christian and Yazidi minorities – of vital food supplies, and to win over fellow Sunni Muslims as it tightens its grip on captured territory. In Iraq’s northern breadbasket, much as it did in neighbouring Syria, IS has kept state employees and wheat silo operators in place to help run its empire.