Lohmann Hatchery Guide

47 47 LOHMANN TIERZUCHT › MANAGEMENT GUIDE QUALITY ASSURANCE Prerequisite programmes – the basis of a quality management System In order to build a quality management system in any one organisation, some dif- ferent steps need to be followed in order to create a solid structure that can success- fully provide the company with the capa- bility to meet all quality requirements. In addition to different practices that have been developed by national gov- ernments, some practices that work as prerequisite programmes have been de- veloped to be used at international level for the purposes of facilitating fairness in global food trade, and for the protection of health of consumers worldwide. Some recognised programmes originally de- signed for the food industry are described in the “Recommended International Code of Practice, General Principles of Food Hy- giene” of the Codex Alimentarius Commis- sion, Food and Agricultural Organization/ World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) Food Standards Programme. These Codex Alimentarius prerequisite programmes cover the following sections: Primary Production; Establishment: De- sign And Facilities; Control of Operation; Establishment: Maintenance And Sanita- tion; Establishment: Personal Hygiene; Transportation; Product Information and Consumer Awareness; and Training. The following recommendation guide for hatcheries has been designed while taking into consideration some require- ments from Codex Alimentarius Recom- mended International Code of Practice, General Principles of Food Hygiene. For a better understanding, it is recommended to read the complete Codex Alimentarius guide: Recommended International Code of Practice, General Principles of Food Hy- giene. In this hatchery guide, the Codex will be referred to only on some topics regarding biosecurity, control of operation and cleaning and disinfection. Control of operation The main purpose of this section is to re- duce the risk of unsafe products by taking preventive measures to assure the safety and suitability at an appropriate stage in the operation and by controlling hazards. Product business operators should control hazards through the use of systems such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). These systems should be applied throughout the chain, in order to control hygiene throughout the product life cycle through proper product and process design. Example of a control procedure: eggs control at reception – process description In order to be sure that all trolleys with eggs from farms are received in good con- dition at the hatchery, the eggs are further collected and processed after their arrival, before being set into trays. Due to the fact that at the hatchery, only good quality eggs with no or reduced or hazards will be used, some methods and ways of control must be carried out be- sides the measures that have been taken at the farm level related to eggs hygiene; in this, eggs’ reception inside the hatch- ery is accomplished. Certain principles and techniques must be used in order to make an evaluation of the process of egg collection at farms, and also con- cerning transport in order to identify negative aspects influencing use of eggs further. This step eliminates eggs that are less likely to hatch and would nega- tively influence quality of chicks, or that are contaminated with yolk, dried blood or faeces, which pose a biological threat. Eggs are currently transported from farms by trucks. Upon arrival it is necessary to check if the eggs are being shipped se- curely so that they do not arrive broken. In order to properly receive eggs, please maintain the following procedure: 1. After the truck is positioned at the hatchery bay, open the door in order to receive the eggs from the trucks. Once the truck is docked, safely position the truck loading ramp in order to unload the trolleys. 2. Remove the trolleys with eggs from the truck and place them into the egg re- ception room.