Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Jing Yuan's Reflection for Food Safety Package 1

From package 1, I have a deeper knowledge about the food safety issues. In this package, my group had to choose a food item from the company I’m working in, Singapore food industries (SFI) and it was the Creamy Cheese Chicken Pasta. We were met with many difficulties as not able to get hold of information that are needed such as the retorting temperature and time, the exact type of food ingredients. However, through internet, books research and continuously consultation on our colleagues, we could find some relevant information about retorting procedures. I have also gained much more knowledge about the processing of retort food product, the shelf life of the retort food product (2 years without any preservatives) and how QC personnel would have to react when a problem arise. Every processing step is very important and it requires meticulous checking at each step. If any of the processing steps were to go wrong, it would end up causing the food to be spoiled, causing consumers to fall ill and this in turn affecting the reputation of the company. It is critical to think of the potential hazards, the critical points or critical control points that are likely to be found in each processing steps or even in the ingredients alone. By noting down the potential hazards and CCPs, we will then be extra careful during processing or when checking the ingredients. This will then greatly reduce the potential spoilage of the product. However, to note down the potential hazards and the CCPs, the QC personnel has to first have the knowledge of the food product such as the commonly found bacteria on the specific food, the storage time and temperature, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). But if there are still problems of food spoilage, the QC personnel should come up with the specific product recall procedures and a new HACCP plan to prevent future recurrence.

Also from package 1 project, I realized the importance of team work and communication among group mates. Without both components, the group may result in certain group members having a heavier work load. Each member was given a specific task to complete and to be handed in within the specific time frame. Hence, punctuality is another important factor that contributes to the success of the group. When one member delays her submission of work, it will not only trouble the person that is compiling it but also resulting in insufficient time for amendments. As further researching takes quite some time and this in turn, cause the whole group to rush through their work and end up producing a bad piece of work. Communication is very crucial in a group. When communication among group members is good, the group will complete the given task in the most efficient way. However, when there is communication break down, the group may end up needing another group member to substitute for original member’s work. That member who was assigned the new task could have just do it in a hurry and submit it. Therefore, it could also lead to a bad piece of work. Also, inefficient communication among group members will also result in punctuality problems and greatly reduced the group’s team work. Group work means acquiring help from one another. When any one in the group is stuck in their given task, others could lend a helping hand and this is when team work is very important. As a group, each of us cannot be selfish to only care about our own work, instead every one of us should always check with one another for the progress in work so as to help each other when in need of help. With all these factors, the group will then succeed and achieve good results.

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