ISO and HACCP: Tools to help you manage
your dairy business
Jeffrey Bewley, Dairy Tech Services Manager, PerforMix Nutrition Systems
As today’s U.S. dairies
continue to become more
sophisticated, the opportunity to
apply principles and techniques
that have proven successful
in other business sectors to
the dairy business increase
substantially. For some dairymen,
thinking of the dairy as a
business, rather than a way of life,
requires somewhat of a paradigm
shift.
With more progressive
dairymen, the quest for
innovative approaches to improve
the dairy business has been in
progress for years. Principles
of finance, accounting, human
resource management, risk
management, and information
management are routinely used
in dairy herd management.
Maybe you have also heard
the buzzwords “Total Quality
Management” and “Dairy
Breakthrough Management” used
in discussions of advancing dairy
herd management.
Recently, Fred Anderson
(F.B. Andersen and Associates)
presented information on an
additional concept for dairy
management in a presentation
titled “Feedlot and Dairy
Applications for ISO and
HACCP” at the PerforMix
Economic and Nutrition
Symposium. Both of these
programs fit hand in hand with
the Total Quality Management
and dairy Breakthrough
Management systems, but may
provide additional benefits.
Although they are technically
separate programs, ISO and
HACCP are closely interlinked
and often integrated into one
quality assurance and food safety
system.
Fred Andersen is a registered
ISO 9000 Specialist who has
extensive experience applying
these management principles
in the agricultural sector.
He has implemented ISO/
HACCP systems for many feed
manufacturers and has recently
facilitated registration with all of
the Agri Beef Company’s feedlots.
Andersen describes ISO as a
“quality assurance system that
provides an organization with
the structure, responsibilities,
processes, and procedures to
ensure consistent and repeatable
livestock and dairy product
quality.” In simplest terms, it is a
system designed as a better “way
to run your business.”
According to Andersen,
the international marketplace
has created the impetus for
ISO, which is standard in
most manufacturing circles, at
the farm level. The ISO 9000
standards were first adopted
in 1987 as established by the
International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) with
the primary goal of facilitating
international trade. To date,
there are over 100 countries,
including in excess of 750,000
companies, participating. ISO
9000 separates itself from other
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quality management systems in
that it is the “only internationally
recognized and independently
auditable quality management
system.”
The trend for ISO 9000
registration in manufacturing
began in Europe, progressed
to Canada, and, in more recent
years, moved into the United
States. A primary goal with
ISO is to have consistent and
repeatable product quality. An
essential part of an ISO system
is to document everything
done within the operation and
make sure those documented
procedures are followed through.
In doing this, it is necessary to
examine every process on the
dairy. This involves development
of Standard of Operating
Procedures (SOP’s), flowcharts,
control points, and other quality
records essential to the daily
operation of the dairy business.
Implementing an ISO system can
be a challenging process, but it
is worthwhile, since it requires
critical evaluation of every aspect
of a business.
As Andersen describes, the
“strength is in the development
and involvement of people.”
Ultimately, ISO provides
management with assurances
that quality controls are in place
to address issues with milking,
breeding, feeding, feedstuffs,
animal traffic, treatments,
herd health, and any other area
affecting milk quality and dairy
performance and profitability.
Andersen estimates that “the cost
of not doing things right the first
time can amount to five to ten
percent of operating expenses.”
ISO will help insure that things
are “done right the first time”
HACCP (Hazard Analysis
Critical Control Point) may
have even greater implications
for dairy operations because of
Continued on back page
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ISO and HACCP, cont’d from front
BSE and other food safety
concerns amongst consumers.
Andersen described HACCP
as “providing a documented
methodology, controls and
best management practices
to prevent, eliminate and/or
reduce biological, chemical
and physical hazards affecting
incoming materials and
processes in dairy or feedlot.”
With the recent events
surrounding cases of BSE in
North America, HACCP has
been gaining more attention.
Unlike, ISO, HACCP is a
government driven program.
In essence, HACCP helps put
systems in place to prevent
food safety hazards. HACCP
places check points around
medication, reconciliation,
chemicals, lubricants, needles,
incoming ingredients, and
other places where the end
product (in this case, milk
may be contaminated. At
the present time, some
companies may pay a premium
for products from HACCP
compliant dairies. However,
in the future, HACCP
compliance may simply be a
“cost of staying in business,”
Anderson concludes. The
HACCP system fits very
well with current consumer
demands for product
traceability and liability.
Development of a HACCP
system involves creation of
Good Operating Procedures
(GOP’s) and Critical Control
Points (CCP’s). A critical
control point is defined as “a
point, step or procedure at
which a control can be applied
and a food safety hazard can
be prevented, eliminated,
or reduced to acceptable
levels.” The prerequisites to
any HACCP program are
GOP’s designed to ensure
food safety, soundness, and
wholesomeness at all stages
of the process. Andersen lists
the requirements of GOP’s as
follows:
Buildings and facilities
must be of sound construction
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and good repair and designed
to: permit easy and adequate
cleaning and proper hygiene;
minimize pest and environmental
contamination; minimize
cross contamination; provide
adequate lighting in inspection
areas; provide portable water
supply; provide personal hygiene
practice; control surrounding
areas to reduce entry of dust,
runoff, pests, and other potential
contamination sources.
Equipment used in the process
must be designed, constructed,
maintained, and operated to
allow for: effective cleaning of
surfaces; contamination control;
calibration and maintenance to
ensure control.
Persons who process product
should establish hygiene practices
to ensure: washing of hands prior
to contact with product; training
is provided on critical control
points, allowable tolerances, and
corrective actions required.
All employees must: be
provided documented procedures
to ensure the processes do not
pose a health risk; adhere to
the documented procedures; be
involved in the preparation of a
HACCP system.
A documented sanitation
program must exist that
includes: equipment cleaning;
housekeeping audits and
associated corrective actions;
pest control; waste disposal; bin
inspections.
Incorporated into the existing
documentation there must be:
process flowcharts and critical
control points; monitoring
mechanism for these control
points; corrective action process;
traceable records.
A formalized customer
complaint process must exist that
includes a product recall process.
How can becoming ISO
registered and HACCP compliant
benefit a dairy business?
Andersen estimates that the
payback is typically one to two
years after registration. He views
the most important external
benefits to be:
1) Enhanced food
quality, safety
2) Improved customer satisfaction
3) Enhanced competitive edge
4) Increased market
However, perhaps of greater
importance are the internal
benefits of:
1) Better documentation
2) Greater quality awareness
among employees
3) Standardized procedures and
controls
4) Enhanced intra-business
communications
5) Reduced re-work expenses
By requiring an audit by
an independent, third party
organization, ISO provides a
regular “check-up” to insure
that you truly are following the
systems you have established.
Long-term benefits may
be recognized in increased
marketing opportunities for
milk as consumers demand to
have a better idea of where their
milk is coming from and what
all is involved in getting it to the
supermarket shelf. These systems
provide a great opportunity to
improve the way you run your
business today and in the future.
It will require a firm commitment
and buy-in from all employees,
along with a significant amount
of time and effort. But, as the late
Ann Landers said, “Opportunities
are usually disguised as hard
work, so most people don’t
recognize them.” PD
Reference: Andersen, F.B.
2004. Feedlot and Dairy
Applications for ISO. Proceedings
of the 1st Annual PerforMix
Economic and Nutrition
Symposium. Page 38.
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DAIRYMAN
Reprinted from June 2004
What is ISO?
ISO (International Organization
for Standardization) is the world’s
largest developer and publisher of
International Standards. ISO began
operations on 23 February 1947.
ISO is a network of the national
standards institutes of more than
150 countries, with a Central
Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland,
that coordinates the system. More
than 100 of ISO’s members are
from developing countries.
Every full member of ISO
has the right to take part in the
development of any standard
which it judges to be important to
its country’s economy. No matter
what the size or strength of that
economy, each participating
member in ISO has one vote.
ISO standards are voluntary. As
a non-governmental organization,
ISO does not regulate or legislate.
However, countries may decide to
adopt ISO standards as regulations
or refer to them in legislation.
In addition, ISO standards may
become a market requirement.
ISO has more than 16 500
International Standards in its
current portfolio. ISO’s work
programme ranges from standards
for traditional activities, such
as agriculture and construction,
through mechanical engineering,
manufacturing and distribution,
to transport, medical devices, the
environment, safety, information
and communication technologies,
and to standards for good practice
and for services.
ISO launches the development
of new standards in response to
the sectors that express a clearly
established need for them.
At the end of 2006, the ISO
standards-development system
comprised 3 041 technical bodies
in the ISO system, including 193
ISO technical committees.
The costs of developing
standards are mainly borne by the
ISO members that manage the
specific standards development
projects and the business
organizations that provide experts
to participate in this work.
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