EX B SAFE 03 RK FK Traceability Recall Procedure.docx

REGIONAL KITCHEN | FOOD SAFETY / TRACEABILITY

SAFE-03

Regional Kitchen / Finishing Kitchen Traceability & Recall Procedure Interim turnover baseline for supplier/farm-to-receipt-to-production-to-school traceability, product hold, recall support, reconciliation and closeout

1. Purpose and Scope This procedure establishes the minimum information and actions needed to trace food through the Regional Kitchen/Finishing Kitchen operating model and to support a product hold, withdrawal, recall, foodborne-illness review, or other traceability event.

Trace product backward from a school/menu/date or RK batch to the supplier or farm, product/lot, receipt, storage and ingredient usage.

Trace product forward from a supplier lot, RK batch or product identifier to every Regional Kitchen production use, route and Finishing Kitchen/school destination.

Maintain quantity and final-disposition records so affected product can be reconciled rather than merely located.

Link traceability to SAFE-02 food-safety records, LOG dispatch/receiving records, menu/recipe records, and the branch foodborne-illness response process.

Use SAFE-04 to validate this procedure through mock-recall and incident exercises before full implementation.

2. Required Traceability Chain

3. Traceability Record Rules Use stable identifiers. A trace must not depend on staff memory, a filename alone, or an informal description such as 'Tuesday chicken.' Do not overwrite an identifier after product has moved. If an identifier changes at production or packaging, preserve the relationship between the old and new identifiers.

Record the destination actually receiving the product, not only the planned destination.

When one batch is divided among multiple routes/schools, retain enough quantity information to reconstruct distribution by destination.

When multiple source lots are combined into one production batch, record every applicable source lot relationship.

Keep held, rejected, returned or discarded product traceable until final authorized disposition is documented.

Completed food-safety, dispatch, receiving and corrective-action records are evidence and should remain available even when blank templates are later superseded.

4. Trace-Back Procedure

5. Trace-Forward Procedure

6. Product Hold, Recall Support and Disposition

HOLD / DO NOT USE: identify and segregate affected or potentially affected product so it cannot be served or mixed with available stock while status is unresolved.

Preserve identification: keep lot/batch/product/destination records attached to the held product or clearly cross-referenced.

Protect condition: maintain required storage/temperature controls while product is held unless authorized disposition requires otherwise.

Do not destroy traceability during disposal or return. Record product, quantity, reason, date/time, destination or disposal method, and approving role as required.

If product is released after review, record the basis/authority for release and update the affected quantity reconciliation.

7. Communication and Escalation Traceability information should support - not replace - the established incident/communication process.

8. Quantity Reconciliation and Closeout Account for the source or affected quantity using receipt, production-use, on-hand, distributed, returned/held, discarded and other documented quantities as applicable.

Unaccounted quantity is a traceability gap. Do not close the event simply because the named schools were contacted.

For every destination, document a final known status or explicitly identify it as unresolved.

Close traceability actions only after missing-record issues and required corrective actions are assigned, verified or formally transferred to continued State management.

Retain a final event summary showing the source identifier, affected batches, destinations, quantity reconciliation, disposition, notifications/communications, corrective actions and approving/review roles.

9. Mock Recall and Validation Conduct at least one mock recall before full implementation as required by the Operational Support scope.

Test both trace-back and trace-forward capability using real system records or controlled simulated identifiers.

Capture elapsed time, records located, destinations identified, quantity reconciliation, communication performance and any missing/ambiguous records.

Document deficiencies and corrective actions in SAFE-04 and update SAFE-01, SAFE-02, training or SOP products as needed.

Repeat the exercise when material gaps remain or the approved food-safety program requires additional validation.

10. Roles and Ownership

11. Records and Cross-References

12. Document Control and Supersession This file remains an interim turnover baseline until a final approved traceability/recall procedure is accepted.

When the Operational Support contractor or State issues an approved replacement, identify the new controlling document in the turnover binder and archive this interim version.

Do not discard completed traceability, mock-recall, incident, corrective-action or receiving/production records merely because the blank procedure/template is superseded.

Any change to menu, recipe, ingredient, supplier, equipment, process, distribution model or regulatory requirement that affects traceability should trigger review of this procedure and SAFE-01 change control.

Source Basis Used for This Interim Procedure This turnover procedure was structured from the Regional Kitchen Operational Support food-safety/traceability requirements, the Regional Kitchen turnover binder, and the existing School Food Services Branch Foodborne Illness Complaint Response process. Final regulatory requirements and State-approved procedures remain controlling.

School Food Services Branch | Interim Turnover Baseline